If you’re anything like me, when first reading the title to this post you chuckled and thought “how hard could that really be?” Trust me, it’s hard. This past summer, Tucker started a new job that would require him to travel for several days each week. As you know, we live together and it was very weird to be home for so long by myself. Yes, I could watch Chrisley Knows Best for hours, but I can only stare at a screen for so long. Since summer is a very long season, I had to come up with different things to do in order to keep myself entertained. That’s what I’ll be sharing with you today – let’s get started!
Cook and/or Bake
If you follow me on Insta, then you know it’s no secret that I love to cook. This summer I filled up my time trying different recipes. I use the term ‘recipes’ loosely because I use recipes to gain inspiration and/or gauge my tastes, but I rarely follow them to a T, unless the dish is rather technical. For example, in the picture above I made at-home Mexican rice. I looked at different recipes and saw that it’s basically tomatoes, onion, rice and some spices, but I just winged it when I began cooking. However, yesterday, I made pierogis from scratch. I followed this recipe to an absolute T.
(More on the blog: Recipe: Simple Broccoli Rice Bowl)
Clean and Organize (+ listen to music or podcasts)
While cleaning doesn’t sound like most fun activity you could be filling your time with, once you’re done, you’re going to feel lighter. If you don’t know what I mean by lighter, the gist is that you feeling uplifted from the clutter that once permeated through your home. Sounds pretty fancy, doesn’t it? Our last apartment was not big enough for the two of us plus Jacey, so having a clean and organized space was very important to be in order to avoid feeling claustrophobic. In order to help make the time go by faster, I would either blast early 2000’s pop and country and sing at the top of my lungs (Jacey would even join in sometimes) or I would listen to podcasts. One of my coworkers got me hooked on podcasts and I have since discovered a few pretty entertaining and interesting ones. Here are my favorites: Jenna & Julien’s podcasts, The Hidden Brain, How Stuff Works and TED Radio Hour.
Treat Yourself
In case you are seeing Jacey for the first time, here he is pictured above. He was my partner in crime throughout the summer and I would bring him everywhere that allowed him. (Check out my post on benefits of having a dog here) One of our favorite places to go: the Starbucks drive through. Don’t worry, I took this picture while parked in the parking lot next to Starbucks. When you spend a lot of time by yourself, it might seem unnecessary to treat yourself because well, it can feel like you haven’t done anything. For me, I frequently was lonely and would head to Starbucks or a local restaurant for a pick-me-up. You don’t even necessarily need to spend money. Lately, I’ve been treating myself by reading before bed rather than perusing any of my social media on my phone. If you don’t have any books on your bookshelf that you want to read, head to the library and borrow one. If you’re in college like me, check if your school has free copies of popular newspapers (this gets better, I promise). When I’m having a long day, I like to pick up a paper and turn to the crossword puzzle. There’s something incredibly satisfying about having a half-finished New York Times crossword puzzle.
There you have it! Now I want to know, how do YOU keep yourself occupied when your roommates/significant other/friends/etc are out of town for extended periods of time?
