how do you spend summer vacation essay

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• Happiness Hub
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing

How to Write an Essay on How You Spent Your Summer Vacation

Last Updated: January 4, 2020

This article was co-authored by Alexander Peterman, MA . Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. He received his MA in Education from the University of Florida in 2017. This article has been viewed 56,407 times.

Writing an essay on how you spent your summer vacation is a classic way of starting a new school year. Think about this essay as an opportunity to tell a story about your summer while reflecting on the experiences you had. Choose a memorable moment you had this summer and start crafting your essay, giving as many details as possible.

Choosing a Topic

• These can also make nice visual aids if you are asked to present your essay.

• A list might be full of things like babysitting, attending a camp, working at a local store, taking a road trip, etc. This type of brainstorming can help you pick major events and other important moments from your summer.

• For example, maybe you spent your summer traveling around Japan. Think of a memorable moment you had while traveling — maybe you walked up a mountain in the pouring rain — and write about this moment, adding lots of details.

• For example, if you're writing about spending time at the beach, your outline could remind you to talk about the sandcastle building contest you entered, the dolphins you saw, and the ice cream you ate every day.
• Details might be what the other sandcastles looked like, how far away the dolphins were, and what kind of toppings were on your ice cream.
• Your outline is just to help you organize your thoughts — it can be written by hand or typed.

Crafting the Essay

• Instead of saying that you worked in a pet store, ate a PB&J sandwich, and walked home every day, talk about more than just your actions. You could talk about which pets are your favorites to work with, how it felt to eat the same sandwich every day, or what you thought about on your walk home.

• Using sensory details like these will help your readers visualize and engage with your writing. These help your audience make your experiences feel real to them, even though they weren't there.

• For example, instead of saying “I went to the beach this summer,” try saying “I spent my summer swimming in the frigid water at Virginia Beach.” The more details you can provide, the more engaged your reader will be.

• Instead of saying “the burger was really good,” you could say, “the burger was juicy and filling.”

• Don't just rely on spellcheck. It will help catch some errors, but it will miss some things, too.
• Ask a parent or other adult to read over your essay too, if you'd like.
• Setting your essay aside for a little while will give you a fresher perspective when you go back to revise it.

Structuring Your Essay

• Make sure your conclusion doesn’t just copy the introduction.

Community Q&A

• Write your essay from the first person point of view, using "I." Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.citationmachine.net/resources/student-blog
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/personal-essay/
• ↑ http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/tips-for-writing-a-personal-narrative-essay.html
• ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessica-smock/8-tips-for-dazzling-an-ed_b_5498918.html

About This Article

If you need to write an essay on how you spent your summer vacation, there are simple ways to take your writing to the next level. Choose a moment that stands out to you, like playing at the park with your friends or watching a movie you enjoyed. Think about all the feelings and thoughts you had, and use them to write sensory descriptions that will take the reader on the journey with you. Use your introduction to set the scene and draw your reader in. Then, use each paragraph to explore different aspects of your favorite moment. For example, if you won a video game competition with your friends, you can talk about the rivalry between you, the rounds of the game, and how you celebrated. For more tips from our Education co-author, including how to edit your essay, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Did this article help you?

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Get all the best how-tos!

Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter

• CBSE Class 10th
• CBSE Class 12th
• UP Board 10th
• UP Board 12th
• Bihar Board 10th
• Bihar Board 12th

Top Schools

• Top Schools in India
• Top Schools in Delhi
• Top Schools in Mumbai
• Top Schools in Chennai
• Top Schools in Hyderabad
• Top Schools in Kolkata
• Top Schools in Pune
• Top Schools in Bangalore

Products & Resources

• JEE Main Knockout April
• Free Sample Papers
• Free Ebooks
• NCERT Notes
• NCERT Syllabus
• NCERT Books
• RD Sharma Solutions
• Navodaya Vidyalaya Admission 2024-25
• NCERT Solutions
• NCERT Solutions for Class 12
• NCERT Solutions for Class 11
• NCERT solutions for Class 10
• NCERT solutions for Class 9
• NCERT solutions for Class 8
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7
• JEE Main Exam
• JEE Advanced Exam
• BITSAT Exam
• View All Engineering Exams
• Colleges Accepting B.Tech Applications
• Top Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Engineering Colleges Accepting JEE Main
• Top IITs in India
• Top NITs in India
• Top IIITs in India
• JEE Main College Predictor
• JEE Main Rank Predictor
• MHT CET College Predictor
• AP EAMCET College Predictor
• GATE College Predictor
• KCET College Predictor
• JEE Advanced College Predictor
• View All College Predictors
• JEE Advanced Cutoff
• JEE Main Cutoff
• GATE Registration 2025
• JEE Main Syllabus 2025
• Download E-Books and Sample Papers
• Compare Colleges
• B.Tech College Applications
• JEE Main Question Papers
• View All Management Exams

Colleges & Courses

• MBA College Admissions
• MBA Colleges in India
• Top IIMs Colleges in India
• Top Online MBA Colleges in India
• MBA Colleges Accepting XAT Score
• BBA Colleges in India
• XAT College Predictor 2025
• SNAP College Predictor
• NMAT College Predictor
• MAT College Predictor 2024
• CMAT College Predictor 2024
• CAT Percentile Predictor 2024
• CAT 2024 College Predictor
• Top MBA Entrance Exams 2024
• AP ICET Counselling 2024
• GD Topics for MBA
• CAT Exam Date 2024
• Download Helpful Ebooks
• List of Popular Branches
• QnA - Get answers to your doubts
• IIM Fees Structure
• AIIMS Nursing
• Top Medical Colleges in India
• Top Medical Colleges in India accepting NEET Score
• Medical Colleges accepting NEET
• List of Medical Colleges in India
• List of AIIMS Colleges In India
• Medical Colleges in Maharashtra
• Medical Colleges in India Accepting NEET PG
• NEET College Predictor
• NEET PG College Predictor
• NEET MDS College Predictor
• NEET Rank Predictor
• DNB PDCET College Predictor
• NEET Result 2024
• NEET Asnwer Key 2024
• NEET Cut off
• NEET Online Preparation
• Download Helpful E-books
• Colleges Accepting Admissions
• Top Law Colleges in India
• Law College Accepting CLAT Score
• List of Law Colleges in India
• Top Law Colleges in Delhi
• Top NLUs Colleges in India
• Top Law Colleges in Chandigarh
• Top Law Collages in Lucknow

Predictors & E-Books

• CLAT College Predictor
• MHCET Law ( 5 Year L.L.B) College Predictor
• AILET College Predictor
• Sample Papers
• Compare Law Collages
• Careers360 Youtube Channel
• CLAT Syllabus 2025
• CLAT Previous Year Question Paper
• NID DAT Exam
• Pearl Academy Exam

Predictors & Articles

• NIFT College Predictor
• UCEED College Predictor
• NID DAT College Predictor
• NID DAT Syllabus 2025
• NID DAT 2025
• Design Colleges in India
• Top NIFT Colleges in India
• Fashion Design Colleges in India
• Top Interior Design Colleges in India
• Top Graphic Designing Colleges in India
• Fashion Design Colleges in Delhi
• Fashion Design Colleges in Mumbai
• Top Interior Design Colleges in Bangalore
• NIFT Result 2024
• NIFT Fees Structure
• NIFT Syllabus 2025
• Free Design E-books
• List of Branches
• Careers360 Youtube channel
• IPU CET BJMC 2024
• JMI Mass Communication Entrance Exam 2024
• IIMC Entrance Exam 2024
• Media & Journalism colleges in Delhi
• Media & Journalism colleges in Bangalore
• Media & Journalism colleges in Mumbai
• List of Media & Journalism Colleges in India
• CA Intermediate
• CA Foundation
• CS Executive
• CS Professional
• Difference between CA and CS
• Difference between CA and CMA
• CA Full form
• CMA Full form
• CS Full form
• CA Salary In India

Top Courses & Careers

• Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
• Master of Commerce (M.Com)
• Company Secretary
• Cost Accountant
• Charted Accountant
• Credit Manager
• Financial Advisor
• Top Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Government Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Private Commerce Colleges in India
• Top M.Com Colleges in Mumbai
• Top B.Com Colleges in India
• IT Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• IT Colleges in Uttar Pradesh
• MCA Colleges in India
• BCA Colleges in India

Quick Links

• Information Technology Courses
• Programming Courses
• Web Development Courses
• Data Analytics Courses
• Big Data Analytics Courses
• RUHS Pharmacy Admission Test
• Top Pharmacy Colleges in India
• Pharmacy Colleges in Pune
• Pharmacy Colleges in Mumbai
• Colleges Accepting GPAT Score
• Pharmacy Colleges in Lucknow
• List of Pharmacy Colleges in Nagpur
• GPAT Result
• GPAT 2024 Admit Card
• GPAT Question Papers
• NCHMCT JEE 2024
• Mah BHMCT CET
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Delhi
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Hyderabad
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Mumbai
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Maharashtra
• B.Sc Hotel Management
• Hotel Management
• Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology

Diploma Colleges

• Top Diploma Colleges in Maharashtra
• UPSC IAS 2024
• SSC CGL 2024
• IBPS RRB 2024
• Previous Year Sample Papers
• Free Competition E-books
• Sarkari Result
• QnA- Get your doubts answered
• UPSC Previous Year Sample Papers
• CTET Previous Year Sample Papers
• SBI Clerk Previous Year Sample Papers
• NDA Previous Year Sample Papers

Upcoming Events

• NDA Application Form 2024
• UPSC IAS Application Form 2024
• CDS Application Form 2024
• CTET Admit card 2024
• HP TET Result 2023
• SSC GD Constable Admit Card 2024
• UPTET Notification 2024
• SBI Clerk Result 2024

Other Exams

• SSC CHSL 2024
• UP PCS 2024
• UGC NET 2024
• RRB NTPC 2024
• IBPS PO 2024
• IBPS Clerk 2024
• IBPS SO 2024
• Top University in USA
• Top University in Canada
• Top University in Ireland
• Top Universities in UK
• Top Universities in Australia
• Best MBA Colleges in Abroad
• Business Management Studies Colleges

Top Countries

• Study in USA
• Study in UK
• Study in Canada
• Study in Australia
• Study in Ireland
• Study in Germany
• Study in China
• Study in Europe

Student Visas

• Student Visa Canada
• Student Visa UK
• Student Visa USA
• Student Visa Australia
• Student Visa Germany
• Student Visa New Zealand
• Student Visa Ireland
• CUET PG 2025
• DU Admission 2024
• UP B.Ed JEE 2024
• LPU NEST 2024
• IIT JAM 2025
• AP OAMDC 2024
• Universities in India
• Top Universities in India 2024
• Top Colleges in India
• Top Universities in Uttar Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Bihar
• Top Universities in Madhya Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Tamil Nadu 2024
• Central Universities in India
• CUET DU Cut off 2024
• IGNOU Date Sheet 2024
• CUET DU CSAS Portal 2024
• CUET 2025 Syllabus
• CUET Result 2024
• CUET Participating Universities 2024
• CUET Previous Year Question Paper
• IGNOU Result 2024
• E-Books and Sample Papers
• CUET College Predictor 2024
• CUET Exam Date 2024
• CUET Cut Off 2024
• NIRF Ranking 2024
• IGNOU Exam Form 2024
• CUET PG Counselling 2024
• CUET Counselling 2024

Engineering Preparation

• Knockout JEE Main 2024
• Test Series JEE Main 2024
• JEE Main 2024 Rank Booster

Medical Preparation

• Knockout NEET 2024
• Test Series NEET 2024
• Rank Booster NEET 2024

Online Courses

• JEE Main One Month Course
• NEET One Month Course
• IBSAT Free Mock Tests
• IIT JEE Foundation Course
• Knockout BITSAT 2024
• Career Guidance Tool

Top Streams

• IT & Software Certification Courses
• Engineering and Architecture Certification Courses
• Programming And Development Certification Courses
• Business and Management Certification Courses
• Marketing Certification Courses
• Health and Fitness Certification Courses
• Design Certification Courses

Specializations

• Digital Marketing Certification Courses
• Cyber Security Certification Courses
• Artificial Intelligence Certification Courses
• Business Analytics Certification Courses
• Data Science Certification Courses
• Cloud Computing Certification Courses
• Machine Learning Certification Courses
• View All Certification Courses
• UG Degree Courses
• PG Degree Courses
• Short Term Courses
• Free Courses
• Online Degrees and Diplomas
• Compare Courses

Top Providers

• Coursera Courses
• Udemy Courses
• Edx Courses
• Swayam Courses
• upGrad Courses
• Simplilearn Courses
• Great Learning Courses

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Essay for Students and Children

Every student's most eagerly anticipated period of the year is summer break. Summer breaks provide every student with an opportunity to unwind from their regular schedule and spend time with family and friends. Every year, students look forward to their summer breaks. Here are a few sample essays on ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’.

100 Words Essay On How I spent My Summer Vacation

The ideal time to have true fun is when on a summer vacation. My vacation this time gave me the right opportunity to try new things and learn new skills. I enrolled in a summer camp during my break. I took part in camp activities including karate, yoga, painting, singing, and dancing. On the fifteenth day of the training, my trainers organised a trip to the nearby park. We all had a terrific time despite the bad weather. I had my first experience with animals up close. I had a lot of memories from camp. I made some new friends and participated in all the activities.

200 Words Essay On How I spent My Summer Vacation

All of the kids who have struggled all academic year with tests and homework look forward to summer break. During this time, kids are unconstrained and free from parental or academic pressure to spend their days doing whatever they like. Most students choose to take a relaxing trip to a hill station, a hamlet, or another location with their parents or friends. However, vacations can also be enjoyed when they are spent at home.

My Summer Vacation

I made the choice this year to remain home for the summer instead of taking a trip. To use my free time productively, I enrolled in programmes where I studied canvas painting and concurrently began learning table tennis. In the afternoons, I aided my mother in the kitchen and my father with a few accounting-related jobs. I felt the most connected to and engaged with my family during this period. I then went out with pals for the remainder of the evening. Additionally, I watched a few movies and web series. These TV episodes and films not only entertained me, but also gave me some valuable life lessons.

I used my summer break to spend more time with my family and myself than I could have during the school year. I came to see how productive and fulfilling spending vacations at home truly was.

500 Words Essay on How I spent My Summer Vacation

Since there is no academic pressure or mental stress over the summer, it is thought that this is the perfect time for kids to learn more about themselves and their environment. Additionally, this provides them with much-needed relief from the sweltering heat. Summer vacations provide a terrific opportunity for kids to take a stress-relieving excursion and be outside, something they can't do with their busy schedules during the year.

My Visit to a Hill Station

This year, our family decided to take a summer vacation to a hill station. The visual splendour of several attractive locations in India is well-known, including Mussoorie, Ooty, Wilson Hills, Kufri, Nainital, Manali, Kerala, and Rishikesh. We debated which hill station to visit for a while before deciding on Shimla.

Our Trip to Shimla

My family and I drove to Shimla in our car and arrived early in the morning. We then proceeded right away to the hotel that we had reserved. Shimla has everything to entice travellers, from opulent hotels to gorgeous settings, and mall lanes to retail streets teeming with people from many cultures.

The tour was scheduled to last five days. We visited Mall Road and Jhaku Hills, two of the city's most popular tourist destinations, on the evening of our first day of travel. There are several events taking place there in the evening. Experiencing Shimla's nightlife was also incredible. We went to the Footloose Discotheque, which was packed with lively people and humming with wonderful music.

We rode the toy train the next day. This miniature train travels between Kalka and Shimla. Only 3 such trains operate in our country, and this one is one of them. Even though they move slowly, passing through them is fun. Skiing and bungee jumping were among the winter sports we engaged in that evening.

The next days were spent travelling to towns close to Shimla including Chail, Kufri, and Chitkul. Along with admiring their stunning natural beauty, these locations may be visited for some snowy adventure.

For foodies like myself, Shimla is also a nice treat. Shimla's cuisine is peculiar in that there is no middle ground, with little eateries serving just quick food, fine restaurants serving costly booze, and cafés serving a range of teas and cold beverages. Indulgent salami burgers were what we enjoyed on weekdays on our evening stroll.

We used to become exhausted in the evening after all these days full of activity, but the nightlife there or just gazing up at the stars made us feel really happy and re-energized. Curvy roads force one to see those beautiful hills from all directions, big trees that are standing erect, and that brisk air that exalts one's spirit and emotions.

After five days in Shimla, full of enjoyment, we returned to Delhi. This trip's memories are still fresh in my mind and I have taken many pictures to show to my friends. Shimla is unquestionably the queen of the hill towns. I’m definitely looking forward to the next time we visit.

Applications for Admissions are open.

Tallentex 2025 - ALLEN's Talent Encouragement Exam

Register for Tallentex '25 - One of The Biggest Talent Encouragement Exam

JEE Main Important Physics formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Physics formulas, equations, & laws of class 11 & 12th chapters

JEE Main Important Chemistry formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Chemistry formulas, equations, & laws of class 11 & 12th chapters

TOEFL ® Registrations 2024

Accepted by more than 11,000 universities in over 150 countries worldwide

JEE Main high scoring chapters and topics

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Study 40% syllabus and score upto 100% marks in JEE

JEE Main Important Mathematics Formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Maths formulas, equations, & theorems of class 11 & 12th chapters

Download Careers360 App's

Regular exam updates, QnA, Predictors, College Applications & E-books now on your Mobile

Certifications

We Appeared in

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Meet top uk universities from the comfort of your home, here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

• School Education /

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Essay in English

• Updated on  
• Jun 24, 2024

It’s the month of May and the most anticipated time has finally arrived. Do you know why students wait all year for May? It’s summer vacation and your family has planned a trip to a hill station in Himachal Pradesh. Well, this is just a common summer vacation plan most families plan for, but I am sure you might also have a somewhat similar plan for your summer vacation. In this section, we will provide samples of how I spent my summer vacation essay in English. This will also help students in their academic writing.

Table of Contents

• 1 Sample 1: How I Spend My Summer Vacation Essay
• 2 Sample 2: How I Spend My Summer Vacation Essay
• 3 How I Spend My Summer Vacation Essay: Sample 3

Sample 1: How I Spend My Summer Vacation Essay

Quick Read: Essay on Child Labour in 1000 Words

Sample 2: How I Spend My Summer Vacation Essay

Quick Read: Essay on Summer Vacation

How I Spend My Summer Vacation Essay: Sample 3

Quick Read: Essay on Summer Season

Ans: This summer vacation, my family planned a trip to Sikkim, which is one of the most beautiful and peaceful states in India. This small state, located between the Himalayas, is home to just 5 lakh Indians and is renowned for its rich biodiversity. We booked flights from New Delhi to Gangtok and after landing, I would feel the fresh atmosphere around me. People in Sikkim speak English, Nepali, Sikkimese (Bhutia), Leptcha, and Hindi, and it was very exciting to explore places that I’ve only seen on the National Geographic Channel.

Ans: This summer, I visited a famous hill station; Nainital with my family. It is a small town in the mountains of Uttarakhand, India. We booked a traveller and the journey was long but very exciting. As we drove up the winding roads, I saw tall trees, green hills, and cool streams flowing down the mountains. We also visited a place called Snow View Point. We went there by a ropeway, which is like a cable car that goes up the mountain. From the top, I could see the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas. It looked like a picture from a storybook!

Ans: This summer vacation, I planned a trip to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh with my family. My holiday homework assignments were in math, science, and English. I decided to finish my homework early so that I could enjoy the rest of my vacation without any worries. Every morning, I dedicated a few hours to studying and completing my assignments. My mom and dad helped me whenever I needed it. They explained difficult concepts and made learning fun. By the end of the first week, I had completed most of my homework. This made me feel very accomplished and ready to enjoy my vacation fully.

Related Essay Topics for Students

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu.

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

Connect With Us

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

January 2024

September 2024

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

Have something on your mind?

Make your study abroad dream a reality in January 2022 with

India's Biggest Virtual University Fair

Essex Direct Admission Day

Why attend .

Don't Miss Out

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Essay for Children and Students

Table of Contents

Summer holidays are considered to be the best time for students to explore themselves and their surroundings more as they have no study pressure and mental stress. This also gives them the much-required respite from the scorching heat. How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Different students have different ways of spending their summer holidays. While some visit their grandparents, others join summer camps, yet others like to stay at home and catch up on their studies. Here are essays of varying lengths on How I Spent My Summer Vacation to help you with the topic of your exam. It is written in very easy and understandable language. It may be a better reference point for you, and you can also add your own experience to make your essay the best.

Fill Out the Form for Expert Academic Guidance!

Please indicate your interest Live Classes Books Test Series Self Learning

Verify OTP Code (required)

I agree to the terms and conditions and privacy policy .

Fill complete details

Target Exam ---

Long and Short Essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation in English

Below are short and long essays on how I spent my summer vacation essay in English.

The essays have been written in simple yet effective English so that you can easily memorize them and present them when needed.

After going through these how I spent my summer vacation essay, you will know what I did during vacation, what was our experience at our grandparent’s place during summer vacation, what I learned during vacation, etc.

The essays will be useful for your school and college assignments when you need to speak on something or give a speech on the subject.

Essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation At Home – Essay 1 (200 words)

Introduction

Summertime is a treat for all the students struggling the whole year with exams and assignments. This is when they can spend their days doing whatever they want without restrictions and pressure from parents or teachers. Most students and their parents or friends prefer to go to some hill station or village or for other outings to relax. But holidays can also be fun when they are spent staying at home.

Things I Did Staying at Home

This summer, I decided to stay at my home during summer vacation instead of going anywhere for the trip. To spend my time fruitfully, I joined classes where I learned canvas painting, and along with it, I also started learning table tennis. I helped my mom in the kitchen afternoons and assisted my dad with some accounts-related tasks. This was the best time when I felt close to and involved with my family. Then, for the remaining time, I went out with friends. I also spent some time watching movies and web series. Besides entertainment, these shows and movies also taught me some life lessons.

So, this summer vacation was spent getting closer to myself and my family, which I couldn’t do during my academic year. I realized how fruitful and satisfying it could be to spend holidays at home.

Essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation with My Grandparents – Essay 2 (300 words)

Summer vacation is the most awaited time in a student’s life. It is the time to relax and explore the world around us. This time I decided to spend my summer break with my grandparents. Here’s a brief account of my stay at my grandparents’ house during my summer vacation.

Our Experience at our Grandparents’ Place

My sister and I decided to spend summer vacation with my grandparents this year. They live in a small village near Kutch district, Gujarat. We were unsure about this trip because we had never visited any town before and knew nothing about their lifestyle. But as days passed, we adjusted to their way of living and enjoyed it.

Our stay was full of fun. My grandmother told us funny incidences about my dad as a little mischievous and a notorious kid. She told us how he used to play pranks on his school teachers and their neighbors. She also told us how my sister and I behaved when we were young. She told us we were as notorious as our dad.

One day my grandfather took us to the Great Ran of Kutch, located in the Thar Desert and one of the world’s largest salt deserts. We took a camel ride and stayed there till the sunset. After spending some quality time there, we went to the main market. My grandma told us about Kutch’s unique handicrafts and how many women make their living by selling different embroidered clothes. We bought an embroidered kurta for dad and a sari for mom. After this, we headed back home and helped grandma with dinner. The next day we went with our grandpa to a farm, and he taught us various farming techniques, which was fun. We indulged in different activities each day.

This was one of the best trips where we had loads of fun and learned about Kutch’s culture and heritage. I am looking forward to more trips like these.

Essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation in My Village – Essay 3 (400 words)

For those living in metropolitan cities, summer holidays mean watching movies and television series, hanging out with friends, or surfing the internet. This consumes all of our time. But, this summer, spending time at my aunt’s place in Bhiwani village was an enthralling experience. It seemed like a different world to me.

Knowing Village Culture

The houses in the village are as big as palaces, but still, people are emotionally attached and aware of what is going on in each other’s life. Eating together, understanding situations and opinions of other people, and working together are some of the small things that add to beautiful village life .

Waking up early in the mornings is a practice that most villagers follow. It keeps them healthy and makes their day more productive. So, all the people in the house are required to be awake by 6 in the morning, which initially seemed like a curse to us. My uncle owns a kitchen utensils shop; he opens it at 7 in the morning daily. He left for work before 7 am each day. Most people were seen heading for their work around the same time.

I spent my mornings in the kitchen with all the ladies of the house, doing preparations for breakfast and lunch. I also helped them clean up the house after the kitchen tasks. In the afternoon, my brother and I took a round of the village and delivered lunch at my uncle’s shop. The rest of the afternoon was spent in slumber after having a heavy diet and loads of gossip.

The evening time in the village was the time for which I waited with a lot of excitement. One evening we went to the village well where women went to fetch drinking water. It was great to see them balance the pots full of water and walk back in a row. But the main treat was to see the confidence and happiness on their faces. The village also encompassed a big playground that used to be full of kids during the evening hours.

Our aunt and uncle also took us to the farm to show us the beautiful process of growing and nurturing fruits and vegetables. Looking at the farmers putting so much effort into their harvest and faces during the harvesting time was a great sight.

I also went to one of the panchayats going on in the village under a banyan tree, where issues of the village were being solved by the elders of the village with the consent of all other people of the village. This is where I witnessed a small example of democracy.

The simplicity of life in the village is where its beauty lies. My visit to the village always teaches me compassion and love towards our family.

Essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation in Hill Station – Essay 4 (500 words)

The summer season is mainly known for the heat waves and holidays we students get. It’s a great time for students to go for a stress-relieving trip and to be closer to nature, for which they don’t get time during their hectic schedule throughout the year.

We Decided to Go to a Hill Station

Our family decided to go for a summer trip to a hill station this year. Many beautiful places in India are known for their scenic beauty, such as Mussoorie, Ooty, Wilson Hills, Kufri, Nainital, Manali, Kerala, and Rishikesh. After a long discussion about which hill station to go for, we finally settled for Shimla.

Our Trip to Shimla

We all went there via road in our car and reached there in the morning. Then, we directly went to the hotel that we had already booked. Shimla has everything to lure the tourists, from lavish hotels to picturesque locations and mall roads to shopping streets full of people from different cultures.

We had planned the trip for 5 days. So in the evening of our first day of the trip, we went to the mall road and Jhaku hills which are known as the main tourist spots in the city. In the evening, many different activities are going on there. It was amazing to witness the nightlife of Shimla. We visited the Footloose Discotheque, full of vibrant people and buzzed with great music.

Our next day included traveling on the toy train. This toy train here runs from Kalka to Shimla. There are only 3 such trains in our country, and one of them is here. It’s an amusing experience to travel through them irrespective of the fact that they are slow. The evening was spent doing snow adventures such as skiing and bungee jumping.

The next days were spent visiting places near Shimla, such as Chail, Kufri, and Chitkul. These places can be visited for some snow adventure besides enjoying their beautiful scenic beauty.

Shimla is also a good treat for foodies like me. A bizarre thing about Shimla’s food is – that tiny diners or cafes are offering just fast food, a variety of teas and cold drinks, or fancy eateries that have overpriced alcohol on the menus – there is no ground in between. We had salami burgers at Beekays, which were delicious.

During all these days filled with loads of activities to do, we used to get tired in the evening, but the nightlife there or just staring at the starry sky gave us an immense sense of joy and filled us with new energy. There is enchanting music from tall trees standing upright there, curvy roads that make one look at those beautiful hills from all angles, and that lively breeze that fills one’s soul and heart with ecstasy.

We came back to Delhi after spending five fun-filled days in Shimla. The memory of this trip is fresh in my head. Shimla is indeed the queen of hill stations. I would love to revisit the place.

Essay on How I Spent My Last Summer Vacation – Essay 5 (600 words)

Summer is the most awaited time in any student’s academic year. Despite the scorching sun and blazing heat, these months have always brought a peculiar type of calmness to my soul that oozes freedom from monotony and dullness. As it is time for vacation, it is the time to explore, wander, plan, and much more. Summer vacations are always fun, but my summer holidays were especially memorable. What made it special was that it was my first advent on foreign land or, I might say, “lands.”

My First Foreign Trip

The year 2017 was my last academic session in school. So, before going to college, a complete family gateway to exotic lands was the gift I got from my family. I could not have asked for more. Our travel plan was a perfect mixture of fairy Disneyworld and glamorous Hong Kong and then to the multi-ethnic country island of Malaysia.

On the very next day, when my summer vacation began, I found myself at terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji airport, Mumbai, looking for my flight boarding pass and posting stories about it on my social media accounts. My parents, siblings, and cousins surrounded me. There was excitement on everyone’s face. Being a full extended family vacation with all my cousins, aunts, and uncles, it seemed super fun from the time we set out in cabs to the airport. It was not my first time being amidst the clouds, but it was my first international flight giving a magnificent view of the night lights of the complete city, and looking at that, I knew that this trip was going to be a one-of-a-kind experience for me.

Landing in Hong Kong, I was taken aback by the mere sight of their airport. I think they lived to the “first impression is the last impression.” I was amazed beyond imagination, but somewhere, I knew this was just the beginning. The first day at this beautiful place mainly consisted of exploring the streets of this breathtaking city, which was rich in fashion, food, tech, and everything that screamed modern and at the same time archaic in their way of life.

The next place we visited was what all of us had dreamed of visiting for a long. It was the mesmerizing Disneyland. The first thing that caught my attention was not the people around dressed in Disney characters or the marvelous expanse of the space and rides and shops but the castle at the far end – The Disney Castle. It was just spectacular. The very charm and enchantment of it knocked me out of breath. The fireworks at night after a complete parade show make you wonder if you had crossed a line and entered the fantasy world. It had been much more than I imagined, even in my make-believe.

The next was a traveling day as we moved to our next destination Malaysia. The City gateway was the complete opposite of where we came from. This city did not have many skyscrapers, but the beautifully spread horizontal city was rich in culture and diversity. The exquisiteness of mosques, museums, and heritage sites perfectly blend with the city’s modern lifestyle and layout. The hilltop parts of the country, like Genting Highlands, could be called heaven on earth. The beaches here offer a perfect place to relax and rejuvenate. I am glad we choose this as our last destination during this trip.

This has been one of the best holidays I have ever gone on. I saw so many beautiful places, had great experiences, and spent a lot of time with my loving family. My last summer vacation was indeed the best so far.

Long Essay on How I Spent my Summer Vacation – Essay 6 (800 Words)

Summer vacation is the most awaited time of the year by the students. With almost a year of classes, schedules, tests, and examinations behind them, they look forward to a joyous and relaxed month. Summer vacation could be spent in many ways, depending on your choices and preferences—some like playing and visiting places, while others prefer watching TV and their favorite movies.

I wouldn’t say I like watching TV, even when my parents don’t object. My heart craves the woods and the serenity of nature, away from the hustle-bustle of everyday existence. I have always wanted to visit forests and similar landscapes in the lap of nature.

Below I have narrated a journey to a few places I took during my last summer vacation. Though I returned and joined the school after that, the memories of the journey and the places are deeply engraved in my heart.

The journey started with a visit from my town to my ancestral village and then to a wildlife reserve, which I am sure you too will plan to go on this vacation, after going through my experiences.

At Village with my Grandparents

The journey began on the next day of my summer vacation. My father made these arrangements well in advance, supposedly when I was preparing for my exams. When I came back home after writing my last exam, my mother and sister were already packing for the journey. Though I knew we would visit our grandparent’s village and stay there for a couple of days, I had no idea about the further planned trip.

The journey to the village was smooth. We started well ahead of the train’s arrival time and reached the platform before its arrival time. It is three hours of a train journey from my city to the grandparent’s village, passing through lush green agricultural fields and glimpses of village life.

When we got off the train, I saw my grandfather waving and walking toward us, accompanied by my cousins. After exchanging initial greetings, we walked towards our house a couple of kilometers from the station. Though there is a road to reach the house, we took rather secluded trails, passing through the fields.

Something is mesmerizing about an Indian villages ; the cool breeze, the peace and calm, the smell and sound of cattle, and the distant sound of a pumping set from the fields entices you and makes you cherish every passing moment.

The food, milk, and even water taste much better in the village than in the city. We stayed in the village for four days, during which I met many of my relatives, elders, and friends from the village. I even went to our family’s agricultural field and learned a few tips for farming. Four days passed quickly, and the day soon arrived when we had to move on a further journey. However, it appeared that a few surprises were waiting for me.

Trip to the Dudhwa National Park

When the day arrived, I was in for two surprises firstly, that we were going to “Dudhwa National Park” and secondly that my grandparents were also going with us.

Dudhwa tiger reserve is a protected area spanning over 1280 sq km in Uttar Pradesh. It stretches across the districts of Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich, sharing the northeastern boundary with Nepal.

We boarded the train to Bareilly from Varanasi, an unforgettable overnight journey spent with family and like-minded wildlife enthusiasts, traveling to the same destination as us. From Bareilly, we took a connecting train to Dudhwa, which is approximately a distance of 12 kilometers.

We reached the park in the evening and stayed in a simple yet comfortable resort, having all the comforts and basic amenities. The staff was accommodating, and the food was simply delicious. The resort was securely surrounded by forest on all s, use and was well guarded. We fell to sleep listening to the voices of jungle fowls and animals from a distance.

The next morning we all woke up early and got ready for the jungle safari. The forest deforests deforest department organized the safari in anth a guard and an experienced guide onboard. As soon as we entered the forest, we started seeing birds and animals, which we had only seen in books and television. Birds like Bengal Florican and great slaty woodpecker were a delight to watch. Different species of lizards were also seen crawling to cover.

As we progressed deeper, many species of deer- swamp deer, barasingha, and chital came into view. We were also lucky enough to spot barking deer, which is very difficult due to its shy nature. We were lucky enough to spot a tiger lurking in the bushes on our third and last day. With this last sighting, our journey ended, and we headed back home on the same evening.

Summer vacation is the best time in any student’s life. A month or more of a fun time at your disposal is nothing less than a blessing. There are several ways to spend a summer vacation, although we must spend it in such a way that we learn new things and gain new experiences. Also, take care not to harm or disregard anyone during your enjoyment.

Related Information:

• Essay on Summer Vacation
• Essay on my plans for summer vacation
• Essay on Holiday
• Paragraph on Summer Vacation

Related content

Get access to free Mock Test and Master Class

Register to Get Free Mock Test and Study Material

Offer Ends in 5:00

Select your Course

Please select class.

Talk to our experts

1800-120-456-456

• Summer Vacation Essay for Students in English

Summer Vacation Essay on English

Introduction.

Summer vacation is a time when students can relax and enjoy their free time. It is a time to catch up on rest, spend time with family and friends, and explore new hobbies or interests. For many students, summer vacation is also a time to continue learning and improving their English skills. This article will provide information about Essay on Summer Vacation, ways to spend Summer Vacation. Parents should encourage their children to read, write and practise speaking English during the summer break or take them for an outing to have fun and enjoy the sun.

Essay on Summer Vacation

Summer holidays have an important place in every person's life. especially in children's lives.

Summer is the hottest season of the year, children enjoy it very much. It is a very interesting and entertaining season for them as they get a chance to eat their favorite fruits and ice cream. They also enjoy long school closures during the summer holidays.

Summer vacation is an important time for children. This is a very happy time for them. During these holidays, children can do all that they are interested in. They have fun living with their parents, brothers and sisters through the holidays. Summer holidays are the happiest of students' lives. Because they got some rest from going to school for some time.

There are many other important things in summer vacations along with getting relief from the heat. After the exams are over, the students feel exhausted and are not interested in studying, hence, they need rest to improve their health and viability after a long year of study.

Everyone gets to learn something in the summer holidays, whether they are grown-ups or children. Everyone has their own way of celebrating the summer vacation, some like to go on a picnic with their family, some go to foreign countries and some go home and enjoy it.

Most of the girls like to play badminton, football etc. during summer vacation while boys like to play cricket in the open field. During the season there are many fruits which can be enjoyed only in summer. These fruits help to make the summer holiday more interesting, drinking fresh fruit juice and drinking fresh fruit in the body produces freshness in the body.

Everyone already plans something for the summer holidays. Especially kids start making new plans a few months in advance to make their summer holidays exciting. The summer holidays are a great relief for everyone, that's why everyone tries to make it memorable.

Ways of Spending Vacation

Some children make good use of leave by applying tutoring in their weak subject and make it better. Summer holidays become a summer fun for children who are happy when the last bell rings at school. Summer holidays become the happiest moments for children as they get a long break from the daily busy lives of school and school work. Some people go to the countryside for vacations or to visit some historical and recreational places. The time has come to get away from homework and be entertained by a good trip from home to the city, hill stations, and other quiet places to happily defeat the heat.

Benefits of Summer Vacation

The purpose of summer vacations is to give the students a little rest from the summer season. Excessive heat can cause a lot of damage, so summer vacation is the best option to study and give them a break from the heat and assist the children to recover in weaker subjects See you. Everyone usually has their own way of spending the summer vacation, but most people prefer to go to cold places. Summer vacation gives the students an opportunity to visit new places, increase their general knowledge, and get time for school project work.

Children get an opportunity to spend time with their family members as well as to understand and have fun with them.

Overall we can say that the summer vacation is very important for the complete development of all.

A Place to Visit During Summer Vacations

There are a number of destination options to visit and spend quality time with family. You can book your vacation ticket online via the reputed portals make my trip, via.com, go ibibo etc. some good place falls in: 

Kullu Manali

Munnar (Kerala)

Kodaikanal 

Mahabaleshwar

Above are a few options to choose your destination for summer vacation. It's good to spend special quality time with family and loved ones once a year apart from any workload.

Every child looks forward to the summer holidays as a time of rest and relaxation. Summer vacations provide an opportunity for children to catch up on schoolwork, visit new places and spend time with family members. Children can also improve their skills by taking tutoring classes during the summer break. There are many places to visit and enjoy during summer vacations. The most important thing is to enjoy and make the most of this time.

FAQs on Summer Vacation Essay for Students in English

1. How Can Parents Make Summer Vacation Enjoyable for Kids?

Parents should plan some fun activities and take their children to interesting places. They can also arrange for a tutor to help the child prepare for the next academic year. Parents should also ensure that the child gets plenty of rest. The summer vacation is usually quite long. Parents should plan activities that are suitable for all family members to ensure that they have a great time together. This will also help the parents to spend time with their children. Exploring new places and spending quality time with family is a good way of making the summer vacation memorable. This will make a positive impact on the child's academic performance when school resumes because the child will have had a good break with family and will, therefore, be ready to work harder and succeed academically.

2. Where Should One Go for Summer Vacations?

There are a number of places that one can visit for summer vacations. Some people prefer to go to the countryside, while others prefer to go to the city or visit hill stations. There are also a number of places in India that are worth visiting during the summer vacation. Some of these places include Kullu Manali, Shimla, Chandigarh, Darjeeling, Nainital, Munnar (Kerala), Ooty and Kodaikanal. These places offer a variety of activities that are perfect for summer vacations. They also offer a respite from the heat. People can enjoy sightseeing, trekking, boating, fishing and a lot more while enjoying their summer holidays. Doing physical activities in cooler climates is a good way to beat the heat and have some fun. Parents can also take their children to historical sites like museums, art galleries and zoos. All these places provide an interesting and educational experience for the whole family.

3. What Kind of Activities Can Children Do in Summer Vacation?

There are a number of fun activities that children can do during the summer vacation. These include going to the beach, swimming, playing games, visiting amusement parks, going for hikes and camping. Children can also read books, watch movies or play computer games. It is important for parents to ensure that their children get plenty of rest and exercise during the summer vacations in order to stay healthy. The activities will improve the child's physical and mental health. The child will also get to know his or her family members better and have some fun memories to cherish for a long time.

4. How Can We Make Summer Vacation Interesting for Kids?

There are a number of ways in which parents can make summer vacation interesting for their children. One way is to plan activities that are suitable for all family members. This will help the family to bond and have some fun together. Parents can also take their children to interesting places that offer a variety of activities. These places include theme parks, hill stations, beaches and historical sites. Children can also participate in summer camps that offer a variety of activities such as sports, arts and crafts, music and dance. These camps provide a lot of fun and learning opportunities for children. They also help the children to make new friends. These activities will help the children to stay active and have a great time during the summer vacation.

5. What Are the Advantages of Summer Camps?

Summer camps offer a variety of advantages for children. These include learning new things, making friends, developing skills and having fun. Children can learn new things such as how to swim, play a musical instrument or ride a bike at summer camps. They can also develop important skills such as teamwork, leadership and communication skills. Children can also have lots of fun playing a variety of games, doing arts and crafts or singing songs. In addition to learning new things and developing skills, children will also have the opportunity to meet other children from different backgrounds. This diversity will help them learn about different cultures and broaden their minds. Parents should encourage their children to participate in summer camps as it helps the child's physical, social, emotional and cognitive development.

6. Why Summer Vacation is Good for Students?

Summer Vacation is quite recreational activity for children, it gives them a break from regular routine i.e. homework, school, classwork etc. a kind of quality time spent with family rejuvenates children mind and make them fresh for further studies post vacations. In that case, both parents and children get a break from their busy life. This is why summer vacation is important and its really meant to celebrate by any means.

7. Importance of Summer Camps for Children?

summer camps enhance children inner traits so they can come forward to as a volunteer to perform. There are the modes to make them extrovert and make them socialize with others, during camping they explore new things, find adventure, also experience some basic home activities.

8. What Makes Summer Vacation Apart From Winter Vacation?

In summer vacation children have ample time to indulge in various activities of their choices, whereas in winter vacation there is no such options left.  During summer vacation you can plan for long holidays while in winter vacations because of the short span of time you can plan to move out of city as well.

Tips for Writing a "What I Did on Vacation" Essay

• Writing Essays
• Writing Research Papers
• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Are you required to write an essay about your summer vacation or your holiday break? This can be a tough assignment to tackle at first glance. But if you think about it, there are lots of interesting things that happen on your vacation that others might enjoy reading about. The key to success is to zero in on the experiences, people, or situations that made your vacation unique.

Summer vacation can be busy or lazy, funny or serious. You may have traveled with your family, worked every day, fallen in love, or coped with a difficult situation. To start your essay, you'll need to choose a topic and tone.

Family Vacation Essay Topic Ideas

If you traveled with your family, you may have some great stories to tell. After all, every family is crazy in its own way. Want some proof? How many Hollywood films have themes about family holidays or trips? Those films are popular because they enable us to glimpse inside the crazy family lives of others. Alternatively, you may have a more serious story to tell.

Consider these funny topics:

• Why I'll Never Go Back to (insert place name)
• How (insert name) Drove Me Crazy in Five Days
• Traveling to (insert city) Then and Now
• The Hazards of Traveling With a (person or thing)
• Why You Shouldn't Take a Dog to (insert place)
• I Left (insert city) But My (lost item) Stayed
• Why I Couldn't Sleep in (place name)

If your family vacation involved something more serious, think about one of these topics:

• The Love I Left Behind in (insert place)
• Saying Good-Bye to (insert person or place)
• Exploring (place's) Secrets
• An Emotional Trip

Summer Job Essay Topic Ideas

Not everyone gets to spend the summer having fun; some of us have to work for a living. If you spent your summer at a job, chances are you met a lot of interesting characters, dealt with complicated situations, or even saved the day once or twice. Here are some ideas for summer job topics:

• The Boss's Day Off
• The Customer From Hell
• What I Learned from My Customers
• Why I'll Never Go Into the ___ Business
• Six Things I Learned on the Job

How to Write the Essay

Once you've chosen your topic and your tone, think about the story you want to tell. In most cases, your essay will follow a typical story arc:

• The hook (the funny, sad, or scary sentence that grabs the reader's attention)
• The rising action (the beginning of your story)
• The climax (the most exciting moment in your story)
• The denouement (the aftermath or ending to your story)

Start by writing out the basic outline of your story. For example, "I started cleaning a guest's room and found that they'd left behind a wallet with $100 in cash. When I turned it in without taking a single dollar for myself, my boss rewarded me with a $100 gift certificate and a special award for honesty."

Next, start fleshing out the details. What was the room like? What was the guest like? What did the wallet look like and where was it left? Were you tempted to just take the money and turn in the wallet empty? How did your boss look when you handed her the wallet? How did you feel when you got your reward? How did others around you react to your honesty?

Once you've told your story in all its detail, it's time to write the hook and conclusion. What question or thought can you use to grab your reader's attention? For example: "What would you do if you found a wallet loaded with cash? That was my dilemma this summer."

• What Is Expository Writing?
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech (With Topic Ideas)
• What an Essay Is and How to Write One
• 67 Causal Essay Topics to Consider
• Writing an Opinion Essay
• How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
• How to Write a Response Paper
• Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
• How to Use Anecdotes to Nail Your Next Speech
• Essay Assignment: Descriptive and Informative Profile
• How to Write a Great Process Essay
• Writing a Descriptive Essay
• Study for an Essay Test
• List of Topics for How-to Essays
• An Essay Revision Checklist

• Growth & Development
• Play & Activities
• Life Skills
• Play & Learning
• Learning & Education
• Rhymes & Songs
• Preschool Locator

Essay On Summer Vacation For Children And Students – 10 Lines, Short & Long Essay

• Key Points to Remember When Writing An Essay on Summer Vacation
• 10 Lines on Summer Vacation
• Paragraph On Summer Vacation

Short Essay On Summer Vacation

Long essay on summer vacation, what will your child learn while writing an essay on summer vacation.

Summer vacations are every student’s favourite time of the year. Children eagerly wait for months for their summer vacation to start and do all the fun things they have planned with their friends, siblings and families. It is the school term’s longest vacation of the year, so students enjoy a good break from their daily routine. They can sleep late, spend more time playing with their friends, go on holidays with their family or use the time to learn something new. While they get a break from the regular classes, students get homework from their teachers to be completed during the holidays. A commonly assigned holiday homework is to write an essay on summer vacation. While older kids may find it easy to write on this subject, younger children of classes 1, 2 and 3 may find it tricky to express themselves on pen and paper.   

Here are some samples of summer vacation essays in English that will help young kids write this essay independently.   

Key Points to Remember When Writing An Essay on Summer Vacation   

Before children start writing about their summer vacation, they should know what to include in the essay. Here are some ideas that will help them in the assignment:

• Describe what summer vacation means for you.
• List the reasons why you like it.
• Write about the activities you did in your summer vacation.
• Write about the places you visited during your summer break.
• Write about the people you met during your summer vacation.

10 Lines on Summer Vacation 

Younger children may find it easier to compose an essay by breaking it into simple sentences. They can start by writing their ideas in individual sentences and then sequentially arranging them to form a complete paragraph. Here is an example of how to write a summer vacation essay in 10 lines:   

• Summer vacations are my favourite time of the year as I can do all the things I enjoy during these days.
• During these holidays, I get a chance to learn new hobbies like painting, dancing or gardening and spend more time with my friends.
• During my summer vacations, I visit my grandparents, who live in a village.
• All my cousins visit my grandparents during the summer holidays and together, we have a lot of fun!
• My grandparents have a beautiful garden, and they teach us gardening.
• My grandmother is an excellent cook and makes lots of delicious dishes for us every day.
• In the evening, all of us cousins listen to stories from our grandmother.
• We play many games like carrom, hide-and-seek and ludo.
• We also paint, draw and do our summer homework during the afternoons.
• Every year I enjoy my summer holidays with my cousins and grandparents.

Paragraph On Summer Vacation   

Small paragraphs are a great way to teach kids how to communicate their thoughts concisely. Here is an example of how you can write a ‘my summer vacation’ paragraph:    

Summer vacation is a highly anticipated time for many people, especially students. After a long and often stressful school year, summer offers a welcome break to relax, recharge, and enjoy the warmer weather. During this time, people can take trips, spend time outdoors, participate in fun activities, and create lasting memories with family and friends. Whether it’s a week-long getaway, a day at the beach, or simply lounging in the backyard, summer vacation provides a chance to step away from the daily grind and embrace the carefree spirit of the season. For many, this seasonal break is a cherished time to rejuvenate the mind and body before returning to the responsibilities of the next academic or work year.   

Writing a short paragraph about summer vacation in English can be daunting for students of lower primary classes. They are still learning to form sentences, so expressing their views in a section may be difficult. This short summer vacation essay sample will help them through the assignment:   

Summer vacations are my favourite time of year because I get to do all the activities I enjoy. During these vacations, I also get the opportunity to learn new things and spend more time with my friends. I visit my grandparents during my summer vacations, who live in a far-off village. During the summer holidays, all of my cousins visit my grandparents, and we have a lot of fun together. My grandparents have a lovely garden, and they teach us how to plant saplings and water the plants. My grandma is a fantastic cook who prepares various delectable dishes for us daily. All of us cousins gather to listen to our grandmother’s stories in the evenings. During the day, we play games like carrom, hide-and-seek, and ludo. All this fun makes summer vacation my most enjoyable time of the year.

Students in grade 3 are adept at writing sentences. However, they may still find it challenging to write a descriptive essay about ‘ M y S ummer V acation. ’ Here is a sample essay on summer vacation class 3 students:   

Advantages of Summer Vacation  

Summer vacations are the happiest time for all students. During this time, they get freedom from getting up early for school and doing homework. They also get to sleep late and wake up late with no classes to attend in the morning. Summer vacation starts just after commencing a new grade or after the final exams, making it the perfect time for students to relax after loads of studying. So, it’s no wonder every student anticipates summer vacations every year.

Most of us have elaborate plans on how we will spend our vacations. Some kids plan to go on holidays with their families, while some take up new hobbies or visit their grandparents or relatives they can’t meet during school days. And some kids get to do all of these things during their summer vacations.

My Summer Vacation  

I am one such lucky kid as my parents take me to visit my grandparents’ house in the village every summer vacation. There, I get to meet my cousins, uncles and aunts. Together we all spend a few days enjoying relaxed village life.

During the day, I play many games with my cousins, and we complete our school holiday homework. In the evenings, we help our grandfather in the garden. We water the plants and learn to plant new saplings. At night, my grandmother tells us interesting stories. She is also an excellent cook. We all get to enjoy her delicious dishes daily. My aunt is a good painter. Every year, she teaches drawing and painting to all of us kids. We also go to a nearby dance school to learn dancing.

After spending a few days with my grandparents and cousins, my parents take me on holiday. Every year, we visit different tourist places, and this year, we plan to go to Goa and spend a few days enjoying the sun, sand and the sea . We plan on exploring the lush waters while trying out some fun new water sports and activities. We also want to walk around old Goa, taking in the architecture and natural beauty and shop from street vendors. We usually return home a few days before the summer vacation ends. I use that tim e to complete my school work and prepare my books for the school reopening. I also spend time playing with my neighbourhood friends in the evening. We all enjoy playing cricket in the colony playground.  

Places To Visit During Summer Vacation  

Here are some of my favourite places to visit during summer vacation:  

• Goa: Known for its beautiful beaches, water sports, and vibrant culture, Goa is an ideal destination to enjoy the summer sun.  
• Mysore: Mysore is a city in Karnataka famous for its palaces, temples, and wildlife sanctuaries.  
• Darjeeling: Darjeeling is a hill station in West Bengal, famous for its tea plantations and toy train.  
• Kerala: The Kerala backwaters are a network of waterways that offer kids a unique experience.  
• Andaman And Nicobar Islands: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a tropical paradise known for their pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, and rich marine biodiversity.  

While writing an essay on summer vacation, your child will improve their English vocabulary and grammar. To express their views and write about their activities during holidays, they will have to learn new words and improve their sentence construction. Once they write their essay, they will grasp how to write about related activities, giving them the confidence to write compositions more easily.

1. What is the importance of writing an essay on summer vacation? 

Writing an essay on summer vacation helps students reflect on their experiences, improve their writing skills, and express their thoughts creatively. 

2. What is the purpose of writing an essay on my summer vacation?

Writing an essay on your summer vacation allows you to reflect on your experiences, practice your writing skills, and share your adventures with others. It can also help you organise your thoughts and memories from the break.  

3. What are some interesting themes for a summer vacation essay? 

Summer vacation themes can include a memorable trip, a new experience, a lesson learned during the vacation, a favourite summer activity, or how you spent time with family and friends.   

Summer holidays are most kids’ favourite time. Writing an essay on summer vacation is both enjoyable and educational for them.   

Essay on Summer Season for Kids Essay On Winter Vacation for Children Essay On Autumn Season for Primary Classes How to Write An Rainy Season Essay for Children

• Essays for Class 1
• Essays for Class 2
• Essays for Class 3

How Your Screen Time Directly Impacts Your Child

13 helpful tips to get your child to listen to you, how to build a healthy relationship with food for your child, leave a reply cancel reply.

Log in to leave a comment

Most Popular

Why playing alone is recommended for kids, recent comments.

FirstCry Intelli Education is an Early Learning brand, with products and services designed by educators with decades of experience, to equip children with skills that will help them succeed in the world of tomorrow.

The FirstCry Intellikit `Learn With Stories` kits for ages 2-6 brings home classic children`s stories, as well as fun activities, specially created by our Early Learning Educators.

For children 6 years and up, explore a world of STEAM learning, while engaging in project-based play to keep growing minds busy!

Build a love for reading through engaging book sets and get the latest in brain-boosting toys, recommended by the educators at FirstCry Intellitots.

Our Comprehensive 2-year Baby Brain Development Program brings to you doctor-approved toys for your baby`s developing brain.

Our Preschool Chain offers the best in education across India, for children ages 2 and up.

©2024 All rights reserved

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use

Welcome to the world of Intelli!

We have some FREE Activity E-books waiting for you. Fill in your details below so we can send you tailor- made activities for you and your little one.

Parent/Guardian's Name

Child's DOB

What would you like to receive other than your Free E-book? I would like information, discounts and offers on toys, books and products I want to find a FirstCry Intellitots Preschool near me I want access to resources for my child's development and/or education

Welcome to the world of intelli!

FREE guides and worksheets coming your way on whatsapp. Subscribe Below !!

THANK YOU!!!

Here are your free guides and worksheets.

• Entertainment
• Environment
• Information Science and Technology
• Social Issues

Home Essay Samples Life Vacation

My Unforgettable Summer Vacation: a Tapestry of Memories

The most unforgettable summer vacation i have ever had.

*minimum deadline

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below

Related Essays

Need writing help?

You can always rely on us no matter what type of paper you need

*No hidden charges

100% Unique Essays

Absolutely Confidential

Money Back Guarantee

By clicking “Send Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails

You can also get a UNIQUE essay on this or any other topic

Thank you! We’ll contact you as soon as possible.

Find and fix writing mistakes instantly

• Check for unintentional plagiarism
• Get instant grammar and style suggestions

How to Write a Summer Vacation Essay

Summer break is a great time to kick back, relax and enjoy yourself and, if you’re lucky, to go on an awesome trip! But how can you translate your amazing vacation into a narrative essay for English class or work it to fit a common application prompt? Here’s some tips to help you out:

Save Mementos From Your Summer

Even if you’re not the sentimental type, make sure to document your summer travels. Take pictures, write diary entries, save train stubs. This is the best way to ensure that you’ll remember your summer well enough to look back and write about it later.

Write an Outline Before Writing Your Essay

Regardless of whether you spent your summer break in Madison, Wisconsin or Madrid, Spain, you should plan out what you’re going to write before diving in. Make a list of what you’ve done over the summer so that you can later narrow down a focus for the essay itself. Keep in mind that the best essay topics aren’t always on the most exciting activities an essay about getting stuck in traffic on the way to the airport on the way to Denver could work better than an essay on hiking the Grand Canyon and looking out at the incredible view.

Be Specific

Since you’re going to keep a record of your trip and come up with an outline before writing your essay, you should be able to put some detail into your essay. Be as specific as possible when it comes to your word choice. If you’re talking about some gelato that you ate in Italy, don’t say that it was “delicious.” Instead, say that it was “creamy and chocolatey, with a note of vanilla.”

Focus on Feelings About Your Trip, Not What You Did

If you spent the summer on the beach in Cape Cod, you shouldn’t write about what you did. You should write instead about how you felt while there. An essay that reads “I went to beach, then had lobster for dinner” is not quite as exciting as one that goes, “As I went for a walk on the beach, I thought about how lucky I was to be able to enjoy nature.” Feelings translate better into text than events, and you should try to place those feelings into context.

Stick to Writing About a Small Moment

With any essay you write especially a short one it’s important to focus a narrow moment in time. Don’t write about your entire week in Paris. Instead, write about the moment you got lost in the city at midnight and fumbled your way home in the dark. You don’t have to pick a particularly glamorous moment from your trip, but you should pick one that meant something to you.

Edit Your Essay Carefully

The shorter the essay, the more important precision is. Regardless of length, make sure to carefully read over what you’ve written to make sure every sentence conveys the message you most want displayed. The editing process matters just as much as the writing process, even if it seems less so.

Writing a research or persuasive essay and need to track your sources? Create citations easily in MLA format , APA format , and more via our guides and citation tools. Click here to try it!

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

WorkSheets Buddy

Download Math, Science, English and Many More WorkSheets

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Essay for Class 4

Summer vacations are the most anticipated season for each understudy in their life. Summer vacations carry a ton of opportunities to engage in numerous things that we have wanted to do. It advises me that occasions are more helpful on the off chance that you use them appropriately by accomplishing something valuable.

We are providing two essay samples for students of class 4 on the topic ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation for reference.

Short Essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation Of 100 Words

Vacations are the best and ideal opportunity to have a good time. Moreover, it is simply the best and ideal opportunity to engage in new things and grow new aptitudes. Throughout my summer vacation, I joined the summer camp. It was the day camp directed by my school.

I have gone to moving, painting, singing, yoga, and karate in the camp. It was fifteen days camp, and on the most recent day, my educators organized an excursion to the close-by park.

The climate was not all that good; we as a whole appreciated it a ton. Encountering untamed life with so close was my first experience. I have gathered numerous recollections from the camp. Indeed, even I made new companions, and I effectively partook in all the exercises.

Engage your kid into diverse thoughts and motivate them to improve their English with our  Essay for Class 4  and avail the Simple Essays suitable for them.

Long Essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation Of 150 Words

Summer Vacations are a hotly anticipated vacation for each understudy. Understudies make the most of their vacation with their loved ones. I have spent the previous summer vacation at my home with my folks.

We didn’t go on any visits and outings this year. I played a ton with my companions and completed my summer vacation schoolwork with my folks’ assistance. Indeed, even I finished my schoolwork while playing around with my companions.

We know that I have invested the greater part of the energy in understanding books and rehearsing dance and karate. My uncle’s family gave us an unexpected visit, and I felt upbeat by meeting with my little cousin.

We went out to see a film and a close-by park. My mom coordinated a child’s gathering on my patio; we as a whole appreciated it a ton. I love watching the enlivened arrangement, and my dad gave me a few DVDs.

10 Lines on How I Spent My Summer Vacation in English

• Summer vacation is the best season as it allows me to unwind and investigate new things.
• It offers me a chance to take a break from my everyday study routine and receive new interests like planting, to move, and painting, while likewise playing around with companions.
• This summer, I visited my grandparents’ place, which is situated far away from the hurrying around the city.
• My cousins visited our grandparents too throughout their summer vacation, and we went through the entire day playing outside.
• Our granddad loves cultivating, and we caused him to plant saplings and water the plants in the nursery.
• Our grandma arranged delightful and mouth-watering dishes for us, and we savoured each chomp of the food.
• Towards the night, we as a whole used to sit together by our grandma’s bed and hear her out hypnotizing stories.
• From that point, we all used to go to the patio and mess around like find the stowaway.
• At evening time, we looked at the stars and tuned in to the intriguing stories about the moon, stars, and the sun described by our granddad.
• I made some brilliant memories going through some precious minutes with my grandparents.

Frequently Asked Questions on How I Spent My Summer Vacation Essay

Why are summer vacations significant? 

Summer vacations are the most significant and anticipated season of an understudy’s life. It offers them a reprieve from their dreary everyday practice. Besides, summer vacations shield understudies from the burning warmth and allow them to visit bumpy stations.

How would one be able to use their summer vacation? 

There a ton of approaches to using summer vacation. It tends to be done by enjoying numerous exercises. One can join summer camps which show new abilities to understudies. One can likewise visit their grandparents or to some nippy spot or abroad to appreciate it without limit.

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Essay on Summer Vacation

Updated February 16, 2023

Summer Vacation

(Image Source: Freepik)

Watch our Demo Courses and Videos

Valuation, Hadoop, Excel, Mobile Apps, Web Development & many more.

Amidst the scorching heat, everyone wants to take a break from the monotonous life and relax. We kids want to enjoy vacation time. Summer vacation is one of the best places to enjoy at hill stations, explore new activities, eat your favorite fruits, and gulp loads of ice creams! (Although we might have to come back and write an extended essay on summer vacation , the enjoyment part makes this project breeze).

Here is how I spent my summer vacation!

Firstly, I’d like to share my personal experience and the conversations I had with my friends.

This time I wanted to do something special, I took up a new hobby! There is a small garden outside my home, and I’ve always wanted to learn gardening to grow some lovely plants there. So, that is what I did –

Firstly, I talked to my parents, who helped me explore some DIY gardening videos on YouTube. I learned from those videos that gardening is one of the best things to develop our skills and educate ourselves. Gardening helped me understand the following –

• Chance to learn more about nature and its benefits for us
• Instilling responsibility and care for plants
• Understanding the different effects and causes of my activities
• Indulging in a productive and fun activity
• Learning about the actual source of food
• Finding some unique ways of growing plants
• Achieving goals and boosting self-confidence

As I kept watching different YouTube videos, I understood some essential aspects of gardening –

• Always use the right gardening tools and equipment
• Keep the process simple and not experiment in the beginning
• Take care of an elder if you are handling sharp tools
• Dig up the dirt (it would be so much fun!)
• Initially, plant flowers that are easy to grow
• Use manure and fertilizers safely
• Do not overwater the plants

As I watched different YouTube videos and started growing small plants in my home garden, I became more attached to nature and started enjoying it. I practiced every day, and the habit gave me so much more than an undying love for gardens. It improved these skills –

• Responsibility: As I am still learning to be responsible, gardening has helped a lot. It gave me a project I was solely responsible for and encouraged me to take care of it. Now I always take up responsibilities and take pride in accomplishing them!
• Nutrition: Gardening has taught me the importance of fruits and vegetables. As I started growing small plants, I realized how nutritious they are and how many great things they can give us!
• Creativity: I got creative as I learned new ways of growing plants. I found new ways and new types of plants to grow! As I explored, I realized that the garden could be a great place to grow and build new skills.
• Discovery: Throughout my summer vacations, I spent most of my time outdoors. I learned a lot about nature, its plants, different weather conditions, and their importance.

What Else Did I Do?

Gardening gave me a lot of time to spend with myself and boosted my self-confidence. But apart from that, I spent my summer vacations doing many more things. I visited my grandmother’s house, and she introduced me to many new dishes! She and I went for strolls in the park daily, and I told her about my gardening skills!

I even enjoyed new outdoor games with my friends, and we spent every evening exploring the streets and trying out fresh food. I did so much for a month, and I have so much to share. When I visited the school, my friends and I talked about our different hobbies. Some of my friends tried their hands at lawn tennis, while some learned yoga and meditation!

I had no trouble writing this essay on summer vacation thanks to such amazing stories . Now I can’t wait for my winter break to take up a new activity and share that with you!

Recommended Articles

We hope that this EDUCBA information on “Essay on Summer Vacation” was beneficial to you. You can view EDUCBA’s recommended articles for more information,

• Essay on Wonder of Science
• Essay on Artificial Intelligence
• Essay on Independence Day
• Essay on Nature

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Valuation, Hadoop, Excel, Web Development & many more.

Forgot Password?

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to our Privacy Policy

Explore 1000+ varieties of Mock tests View more

Submit Next Question

🚀 Limited Time Offer! - 🎁 ENROLL NOW

Essay on My Summer Holiday

Students are often asked to write an essay on My Summer Holiday in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on My Summer Holiday

Introduction to my summer holiday.

My summer holiday was a time of joy and fun. I spent two whole months away from school, enjoying the warm weather and free time. This essay will share the best parts of my vacation.

Playing with Friends

Family trip.

My family went on a trip to the beach. The sand was hot, and the ocean was cool. We built sandcastles, swam, and ate ice cream. It was a happy time with my family.

Learning Something New

I also learned to fish. My grandpa taught me, and I caught my first fish! It was exciting and something I’ll always remember from this summer.

250 Words Essay on My Summer Holiday

My summer holiday was a time filled with joy and new experiences. As the school year ended, I felt a wave of excitement thinking about the days ahead without homework or tests.

Visiting My Grandparents

The first part of my vacation was spent at my grandparents’ house in the countryside. Their home is surrounded by green fields and tall trees. Every morning, I would wake up to the sound of birds chirping and the smell of fresh pancakes made by my grandma. I helped my grandpa in the garden, and we would pick ripe fruits and vegetables.

Learning to Swim

During my stay, I also learned to swim. My uncle took me to a nearby lake where the water was clear and cool. At first, I was scared, but with practice, I started to enjoy moving through the water. By the end of my visit, I could swim across the lake without stopping.

Fun with Friends

When I returned home, I spent lots of time with my friends. We rode our bikes, played soccer in the park, and had picnics with sandwiches and lemonade. Laughing and running around made the days fly by.

Reading Adventures

I also read many books, which took me on adventures without leaving my room. I discovered magical lands, solved mysteries, and met interesting characters. Reading before bed became my favorite part of the day.

500 Words Essay on My Summer Holiday

Summer holidays are the best part of the year for every student. It is a time when school is out, the sun is shining, and there are no homework or tests to worry about. I always look forward to summer because it means I can relax and do all the fun things I’ve been dreaming about during the school year.

Planning for the Vacation

Before the summer began, my family and I sat down to plan what we would do. We decided to visit my grandparents who live in a small village by the sea. I was excited because I love the beach and I don’t get to see my grandparents very often. We packed our bags with summer clothes, swimming suits, and games to play with my cousins.

Traveling to the Village

Days at the beach, time with grandparents.

Staying with my grandparents was special. They have a small farm with animals that I don’t usually see in the city. I helped them collect eggs from the chickens and feed the goats. My grandmother taught me how to bake bread, and my grandfather told me stories from when he was a boy. These are memories I will always cherish.

Learning New Things

Friendship and fun, conclusion: the end of summer.

As the summer ended, I felt both happy and sad. I was excited to go back to school and see my friends, but I knew I would miss the beach, my grandparents, and the carefree days of summer. However, I returned home with a heart full of joy, a mind full of new knowledge, and a promise to myself to make the next summer holiday just as amazing. Summer holidays are a magical time, and I can’t wait for the next one!

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

A Plus Topper

Improve your Grades

My Plans for Summer Vacation Essay | Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation:  Summer vacation is the most awaited time of the year, and there is something exhilaration about the idea of summer vacations. The long one to three months of vacation provides relief to students from schools, colleges and studies.

Summer vacation holds a door filled with ample opportunities to enjoy, relax and have fun. Our everyday boring and mundane routine miraculously shift into fun and exciting plans during this period. The days during summer vacation are filled with lashing energy for adventures and activities. Here in this article, we have provided short and long essays on my plans for a summer vacation in English. The essays have been written in simple yet effective English for your information and knowledge and aim to help during school assignments or a speech on your summer vacation plans.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on My Plans for Summer Vacation for Students and Kids in English

We provide children and students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic “My Plans for Summer Vacation” for reference.

Short Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation 150 Words in English

Short Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Summer vacation is the longest and the most awaited vacation in an academic year. To me, summer vacay is a portal that offers the best opportunity to meet companions and have an exuberant time filled with happiness.

My apartment complex comprises numerous children around my age group, and each of our parents cheerfully allows us to partake in various fun yet practical activities that involve outdoor exercises. This summer break, I wanted to play football regularly with my buddies. We are a group of friends who play football in a ground nearby to our complex. We even play a few other necessary outdoor sports that require no such equipment like hide and seek and tag.

This summer vacay would be amusing and super fun as I will not be taking a summer detour with my parents due to their busy schedule. However, my parents have promised to take me to my grandparents’ place in the mountains’ foot. The lush green and calm, breezy atmosphere is the best place to drift away into the world of my books and comics.

Summer break is the most exciting period of the year since there is no need to wake up early in the morning and go to school or do piled homework and projects. It is quite a refreshing time for me, and my siblings and this summer will be a perfect get-away to a fun learning summer camp. Summer vacation is the most awaited break, and it is a sigh of relief when the final term examinations are completed. This year’s summer plan is to engage me in various fun and adventurous activities to relax my body and mind.

I will engage myself in Yoga as it has been the best of my interest to increase my concentration power. Yoga strengthens the mind and body and sets a person up for wellness, and it’s something more than physical exercise and comprises a spiritual and meditative core. Yoga presents numerous benefits, and various organizations organize Yoga classes every year. Additionally, Yoga makes a person flexible, and since I dream of engaging myself in ballet, Yoga will help achieve my dreams. Most importantly, Yoga teaches discipline, and I hope that these classes help me become a better and improvised version of myself and my overall development.

Introduction

Summer vacation marks the vacation itch and dreams about beach and adventure trips. In a fun and productive manner, summer vacations must pass by with a bit of planning to ensure a memorable and creative summer break. We can engage in several activities during summer vacations and indulge in skill improvement activities to improve our personalities.

Learning Musical Instrument

My biggest summer gig is music, and this summer break, I decided to learn a musical instrument to expand my love of music. However, I wish to discover two of my favourite instruments- keyboard and guitar. Beethoven has always been my inspiration to take up the keyboard as my first musical instrument and camp rock have been why I aspire to learn guitar. These two musical instruments will help me improve my skills thereon.

Learning Dance

Dance unwinds and refreshes your mind and body, teaches teamwork, increases the focus, and acquires improvisational skills. I love dancing and love to watch dance performances, either by a group, an immature dancer, or a professional. I enjoy dancing and never lose an opportunity to dance even though I lack professionalism and my dance is immature. This is why I decided to take dance lessons during my summer break by a professional instructor at a convenient time.

Read More: Summer vacation essay

To me, summer vacation is a break that must not be wasted, and one should always utilise the time for learning and experimenting with new things that help you improve your skills for the future.

Long Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation 500 Words in English

Long Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Summer vacation is a longing break every kid wishes to start. Summer vacations begin the onset of a break from academic obligations, and I am free to plan my most awaited holiday during this period. I am excited about this year’s summer vacation and more than glad to make my plans.

Visiting My Grandparents

The first place topping the summer bucket list is the visit to my grandparents’ house. My grandparents stay at the ancestral home in a small rural area, where my grandfather looks after the cultivation of crops and selling products in the market. I am very close to my grandparents and long to be with them and seek their advice and stories.

This summer break, I would be visiting my ancestral house to spend a few weeks of my summer break with my beloved old grandparents. I get to visit my grandparents only during summer breaks and therefore, this time of the year is the most exciting period. The ancestral house is located at a fascinating and beautiful scenic place. The weather, food, atmosphere, and the close-knit community are different from the city’s busy and noisy streets.

Meeting Old friends

Another exciting thing about this summer break is catching up with my old friends from my grandparents’ village. This summer vacay is the best time to revive my friendship developed over years of companionship. I have always had a wonderful time with my old friends visiting the farms and fields, eating raw veggies and fruits, swimming across the lake and whatnot.

Playing Traditional Games

Another exciting plan that includes my summer trip to my grandparent’s house is playing traditional village games with my old friends. Outdoor games like Gilli-danda, hide and seek, kho-kho, and kabaddi have been entertaining the village children for a very long time. I am more excited to play these games with friends, and there are times that I have lost track of time playing these games. These traditional games make you happy and excited and provide good physical exercise and good health.

Summer break is the most lively time of the year as it centred on my ancestral house, grandparents, traditional games, and village friends. I have decided that I would love to spend my summer vacation reviving bonds of love, friendship, and relationship at my grandparent’s ancestral village. There is no other way to spend my yearly break.

Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation 800 Words in English

Summer vacations are the most fun time of the year as this is the time we explore and learn new and exciting things instead of mindlessly sitting at home in front of the television or laptop. It is crucial to plan for more fun, creative, and recreational activities for the vacation. Summer breaks are highly significant as it helps students acquire new skills and become more productive. Additionally, it aids the overall development and students can explore new areas and expand their reach.

Tips to Plan Fun Summer Vacations

Here are a couple of simple yet effective and useful tips that will help you plan a fun and creative summer vacation.

• Plan your summer vacation wisely by making much use of the break for various camps, trips, or activities.
• Ensure that you don’t squander your time and do not delay your plans.
• Enlist all your plans and schedule them properly at a convenient time,
• Mark the days you wish to go out for trekking, summer camps, and family trips on your calendar.
• Plan a schedule for various fun outdoor activities such as swimming, trekking, biking, and hiking.
• Join hobby classes to learn something new or improve and enhance your skills by the end of the summer break.
• Think about the activities you want to engage and try indulging in these activities during summer vacations.

Summer Vacation Ideas

Here are a few ideas for you to plan a fun and creative summer vacation.

• Swimming: Swimming is a relaxing activity and presents a calming and rejuvenating feel during hot and scorching summer days. Swimming with friends and playing pool games are the best of the activities.
• Short Trip: Plan a short trip to your favourite location to relax, calm, and rejuvenate yourself after yearlong labour. Family trips can help you develop a strong bond and help you have a lot of fun.
• Biking: Biking is a fun activity as it not only strengthens your heart muscles, but also lowers resting pulse and reduces fat blood levels, and super fun when you go biking with your group of friends.
• Nature: During school, we never get the opportunity to explore the scenic beauty of nature. Summer break is the best time to indulge in long walks or cycling through the wooded pathways. The smell of the lush green scenery and flowers at a local park or nature camp will draw you closer to Mother Earth.
• Exploring The City: During school days, you remain constrained to examine the rest of the city and summer vacation is the right time to explore various museums, art clubs, exhibition arenas, and more. If you like shopping, you can check out different stores and malls.
• Hobby Classes: Summer Vacation is the perfect time to learn something fun and creative. You can join various classes and expand your hobbies, like painting, dancing, singing, musical instruments, sports, photography, or anything that interests you. Hobby classes are fun as you can expand your knowledge on something that you love.
• Summer Camp: Summer camp is the best place to enjoy and improve your skills and strengthen your physical and mental health while having fun with your friends. You can do your research about the various summer camps and choose what best suits your interests.
• Classic Shows And Films: If you decide to spend your summer vacations at home, the best way is to rediscover classic TV shows and movies. You can even organise a pyjama party and sleepovers and enjoy your favourite movies and Television shows of various genres.

My Favourite Summer Vacation

As a kid, I have always been fascinated by wild animals and forests and the environment. There is something so exclusive about Mother nature, and forests are the most elusive place that has always caught my attention. Whether it is the jungle folklore or the woods’ silence and beauty, I have always found them enthralling to massive proportions. Therefore, this summer vacation, I chose to visit a wildlife reserve in India. India has over 441 animal sanctuaries, referred to as wildlife sanctuaries but while selecting, select a reserve that is well-connected with road and railway transport.

My favourite wildlife animal is the tiger and India comprises around 28 Tiger Reserves governed by Project Tiger which entirely focuses on the conservation of tiger, and I want to take a safari through the forest and click pictures of the tigers we encounter.

Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation Conclusion

Summer vacation is a time not only for fun but also to have a memorable experience. Experiencing a good summer vacation impacts students positively and helps them grow socially and emotionally. It provides a refreshing holiday and a much-deserved break for the upcoming year. Parents must plan a well-scheduled plan that makes summer vacay a fun and learning experience.

• Picture Dictionary
• English Speech
• English Slogans
• English Letter Writing
• English Essay Writing
• English Textbook Answers
• Types of Certificates
• ICSE Solutions
• Selina ICSE Solutions
• ML Aggarwal Solutions
• HSSLive Plus One
• HSSLive Plus Two
• Kerala SSLC
• Distance Education

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

Garber to serve as president through 2026-27 academic year

Time to send in Goldin

Why would a busy professor take time to reread a book?

Kayla Reifel (left), Puyuan Ye, Shruti Gautam, Abel Rodríguez, and Emily Peck.

Photos by Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer; photo courtesy of Shruti Gautam

How they spent their summer vacations

Nikki Rojas

Harvard Staff Writer

A look at five projects, including a hunt for stolen coins, tracing history of long closed, Jim Crow-era beach in New Orleans

Summer isn’t only for lazing on the beach. For some College undergraduates, it’s also the time for diving into crucial research. Here are five who are participating in the Harvard Summer Undergraduate Research Village Program or received the Ethnicity, Migration, Rights Summer Thesis Research Grant. 

Puyuan “Alvin” Ye ’27

Ye, a prospective computer science concentrator, is working with the Coins Recovery Project to create a crawler bot that searches online auction databases with the goal of tracking down hundreds of  coins stolen from Harvard Art Museums in 1973 . 

“You’re basically cosplaying the FBI,” Ye joked.

The collection, which included ancient Greek and Roman coins, was on loan to the Fogg Art Museum at the time of the theft. Nearly 6,000 were stolen by a group of armed gunmen who overpowered a lone night watchman, according to news reports. Most have since been recovered by FBI agents, museum staff, Harvard students, and consultants. 

The Coins Recovery Project kicked off last fall with archival work on the hundreds that remain missing. The initiative continued into the spring with the creation of a database on the stolen treasures. Now, Ye is using his tech skills to pitch in. 

The Summer Humanities and Arts Research Program fellow is working under Laure Marest, Damarete Associate Curator of Ancient Coins, and Jeff Steward, director of digital infrastructure and emerging technology, to comb through descriptions of auction entries. Ye is working on creating an image- and description-matching bot to flag coins of interest, which will then be passed to the curator to confirm any potential match.

“This is the first time I’ve ever used my computer science skills for a real-life application,” Ye shared. “I’m learning while I’m working on this project, and I’m also preparing myself better for what I might do in the future.” 

Emily Peck ’25

Peck has spent time tutoring English language learners in Boston Public Schools during her time at Harvard. The experience illuminated many of the challenges immigrant children face in the U.S. education system. 

 “A lot of these students were being asked to do work at an English level that was much higher than the level they spoke,” said the social studies concentrator. “It seemed like there was this huge gap that wasn’t being bridged by their education.” 

Peck was inspired to research the history of bilingual education in Boston, learning about two laws that had a significant impact across the state. It turns out the city had several thriving bilingual programs in the early 2000s. But a 2002 referendum replaced multiyear transitional English education with a single year of intensive language training, effectively ending bilingual programs in Massachusetts. Fifteen years later, a coalition of advocacy groups worked to reverse the ban with passage of the 2017 LOOK Act. 

This summer, Peck — a recipient of the EMR Summer Thesis Research Grant — is investigating how support for bills such as the LOOK Act emerges in the first place. The quest brought her to the State House, where she spoke to staffers about representatives’ support of the bill and how their constituencies affect decisions to endorse particular causes. 

Her research is helping her learn more about the democratic process, but it’s also informing her views on best practices for improving bilingual education for immigrant students. 

“Public schools should assess the needs and wants of their students and parents and the achievements of their students,” she said. “From there they should decide what program would be best.”

Abel Rodríguez ’27

What began as a first-year seminar turned into a summer research opportunity for Rodríguez. The rising sophomore is participating in the Foundational Undergraduate Experience in a Laboratory (FUEL) program, which exposes students to the world of lab research. 

One of 10 students participating in FUEL, Rodríguez is studying porphyrins — a group of macrocyclic compounds that are aromatic and absorb light — and how to synthesize them for cancer treatment.

Along the way, Rodríguez, who hopes to concentrate in chemistry, is also picking up lab techniques, safety, and social norms for those working in a lab. 

“Coming to a place like Harvard, I had this notion that everything that people will do will be immaculate,” Rodríguez said. “But being in the lab surrounded by so many bright people and seeing their mistakes … It’s changed my perspective in the sense that when I make a mistake in the lab, this is where I’m really learning and growing.” 

The experience also clarified plans for his academic career. “The program was the last step I took toward figuring out what I really want to do,” he said. “It has established for me that I want to go into the sciences. I want to engage in research.”

Shruti Gautam ’25 

Interning with public defenders in New Orleans last summer led Gautam to discover a local gem known as Lincoln Beach, a former Jim Crow-era amusement park and recreation area for Black residents that was closed after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act but is still used by locals.

A year later, Gautam, a history concentrator with a secondary in neuroscience, is back in The Big Easy, this time as an EMR summer thesis-research grant recipient. Now she spends her days combing through city archives and land documents or analyzing old maps to learn about the beach’s history. 

She also is working with community members organizing to make Lincoln Beach safer, cleaner, and more accessible. 

“Histories of small properties are the best way to explain a much larger, complicated history,” the Mather House resident said. “For New Orleans, it’s incredibly important because the histories that are written about the city are often mythologized and make this city live in its past. Everything is focused on its French colonial history, or jazz … and not an actual true history of the people who are still there.” 

Before settling on Lincoln Beach as her thesis topic, Gautam learned more about its history last fall during a Harvard Law School class on labor history and the law. While researching a course assignment, Gautam learned that the privately leased and run beach under public jurisdiction had been managed for part of the 20th century by local Black community members, many of whom were also unionized.

The beach sits on Coushatta tribal land and was previously owned by United Fruit Company President Samuel Zemurray and the public-private Orleans Levee Board. 

On July 10, the beach was designated as part of the National Registry of Historic Sites, an important development in its preservation and planned redevelopment. 

Gautam was particularly interested in the site’s identity as it transitioned from tribal land to an important gathering space for Black and Latinx communities. “I came to the conclusion that it never really transforms how people associate themselves with the land,” she said. “What it does transform is who companies decide they want to be able to access the land.” 

Kayla Reifel ’26

The History of Science concentrator is spending the season processing a new series   of Polaroids of historical scientific instruments and creating a mini exhibition for display in the foyer of her department at the Science Center. 

The department is home to the collection. “It’s a pretty small museum and small staff, so we get to really be deeply involved with all different facets,” Reifel said.

The opportunity is part of the Summer Humanities and Arts Research Program (SHARP) and includes research on the instruments themselves. 

“One of the most interesting things I’m learning about is the ethics of museum collecting and displaying,” Reifel said. “It’s been really interesting to hear about what’s acceptable and what’s not when it comes to accepting donations and displaying things in a certain way.” 

Reifel has even learned how to handle the historical instruments. “My work this summer has made me think a lot harder about education and what considerations we need to have to think about when it comes to teaching science and the history of science,” she noted. “It’s also allowed me to develop this ability to really find joy in whatever I’m researching.”

Reifel feels she is now better equipped to advocate for the importance of historical research. “This experience really made me realize how important it is to tell the stories of the history of pretty much anything,” she said. “If you don’t know the history behind something, then you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Share this article

You might like.

Search for successor will launch in 2026

Nobel laureate lefty gets nod from Sox to throw out first pitch

They wade through stacks each year. But here are some that draw them back.

Finding right mix on campus speech policies

Legal, political scholars discuss balancing personal safety, constitutional rights, academic freedom amid roiling protests, cultural shifts

Good genes are nice, but joy is better

Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier

Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation for Students and Children

500 words essay on my plans for summer vacation.

Summer vacations are one of the most awaited times of the year. The school-going children especially look forward to it so they can get a break from their studies and monotonous routine. Mostly, a beach comes to one’s mind when we think of summer vacations. You go out on the beach to have fun and enjoy your day in the water or getting tanned. Similarly, people also visit hilly stations to get a sigh of relief from the hot weather. My plans for this summer vacation are a bit different. As I have mostly gone on trips earlier, this time I want to make the most of my vacations.

Yoga Classes

When we were discussing as to where to visit this summer vacation, I chimed in to suggest we cut the trip short this year so it will make time for me to pursue my interests. I plan on taking yoga classes this summer vacation. Yoga has been very interesting to me and I have tried my hand at it a number of times. However, as they say, it requires practice and technique, I thought to enroll in classes that will teach me this art form professionally.

There are numerous benefits of yoga which I wish to earn. It is known to increase the concentration power of people. I have a hard time focusing on my studies, so I thought yoga can help me with it. There is an organization that organizes yoga classes every year with participants coming in from all over the state. I have also convinced my friends to take the classes with me so they will be more fun.

In addition, yoga makes a person flexible. As I wish to become a dancer, I need to be thoroughly flexible. Thus, yoga will surely help me achieve my dream . This way I can shoot two birds with one stone. Most importantly, yoga inculcates discipline in a person. I hope these yoga classes will make me a better and improved version of myself. Therefore, I have decided to take up yoga classes for my overall development.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Dance Classes

As I have mentioned earlier I always wanted to become a dancer. Due to my school and coaching, I never get time to work on my dream. However, this summer vacation I plan to finally work on this dream of mine.

I have already talked to the instructor who will be taking up the dance classes. This way, I will go to my yoga classes in the early morning and dance classes in the evening. Dance classes will help me polish my skills and also help me perform better.

Moreover, I lack confidence in performing on stage. Thus, I need these classes, even more, hoping they will instill confidence in me to perform on stage without any fear. Therefore, this year, I intend to utilize my time to the fullest and learn new things that will help me grow as a person.

FAQs on My Plans for Summer Vacation

Q.1 What do people usually do on summer vacations?

A.1 People usually go on trips with their family to chilly places or beaches. It helps them relax and take their mind off things. Moreover, chilly places give them a break from the scorching heat and humid weather.

Q.2 What can people do on summer vacations instead of traveling?

A.2 There are so many things to do in summer vacations other than traveling. One can take up classes to enhance their personality. Moreover, it is the best time to pursue one’s hobbies so it will be a good utilization of your free time.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission

Beach Reads for Every Mood

When I’m packing for a beach trip, clothes and toiletries are a strictly day-of afterthought. However, I give a lot of advance attention to pondering the books I’ll bring on the trip and how and when I’ll go about ordering, borrowing, or buying them. In doing so I try to think about the amount of time on the trip I’ll actually have to read and what that time will be like — fractured attention as I watch my kids try not to drown themselves or long, blissful afternoons in a hammock while someone or some device entertains everyone so I don’t have to.

On my most recent weekend jaunt, I knew I wanted to read fantasy, so I asked my colleague Kathryn VanArendonk to recommend something from her vast arsenal of knowledge on this subject. I ended up happily immersing myself in the Scholomance series, by Naomi Novik, which is about a school for wizards where monsters are constantly trying to eat the students and the students must build cutthroat alliances to avoid being easy prey. I found the perpetual stress of these books paradoxically soothing, perfect for my purpose.

But there are all kinds of beach trips and all kinds of beach vibes, from the louche to the luxe, and there are perfect books for each of them. The categories here are just as important as the recommendations; they’re meant to spark the imagination so that you can go into the library or bookstore armed with more ideas about the vibe you’re looking to create or add to depending on where your travels take you, or where you want them to (you can always evoke the mood of a solo trip to Italy on a day trip to the Rockaways if the book is good enough.)

Lana del Rey Dark Beach

This book sits next to the stub of your sunset cigarette crushed into a can of gas-station spiked iced tea by your beach chair. These selections are moody, druggy, dissolute books that feature characters who don’t quite have their shit together but usually make it look good from the outside.

A weird little novella that is perfect for consuming in one long, languorous lounge on the sand, The Hour of the Star seems like a depressing read on its face. It centers on a poor young typist living in Rio de Janeiro whose life is cruel and small. But in meditating on this one woman cast aside by Brazilian society, Clarice Lispector produces something that reads more like a poem than a story. I reread it often and always come away feeling remarkably at peace with the world. — Catherine Thompson

Matthew, our point-of-view character, is at loose ends professionally, lucky to be taken in by his rich cousin Charlie and Charlie’s beautiful wife, Chloe, for a summer sojourn at their gorgeous Catskills retreat. He wants Chloe, who lightly encourages his advances, but in Charlie’s absence Matthew learns that Chloe has a secret lover with whom he then becomes obsessed. The languid mood of this literary thriller about rich people on vacation is pervasive and infectious. There’s a deeply dark heart and more than a few violent twists in the second and third acts of this novel, but what stays with me are its poetic, evocative descriptions of long days spent poolside at a beautiful house with mountain views among beautiful people in luxurious clothing eating delicious snacks. — Emily Gould

Exalted is the name of the astrology-meme Instagram account run by Emily, a 29-year-old with a claustrophobically small Los Angeles life that revolves around maintaining her outsize online presence. She supports herself by doing chart readings and writing listicles like “The Signs As Thanksgiving Dishes”; lives on sliced turkey, Mountain Dew, and hits from her weed vape; frequents a burlesque club to satisfy her basic human-contact needs; and has a distant relationship with her parents, who live in a sunny L.A. suburb. Chapters narrated by Emily are interspersed with chapters narrated by Dawn, a middle-aged lesbian who parties too hard and has a semi-estranged son, Bo. Their worlds collide when Emily’s faith in astrology’s power is briefly restored by her encounter with a client’s perfect chart, which leads her on a hunt for the surely perfect person whose stars are so aligned. Druggy and full of tawdry, burnt-out L.A. glamour, this is an ideal page-turner for a day spent in proximity to the Pacific Ocean. — E.G.

Alone In a Foreign Country

Who doesn’t love, or aspire to love, a trip where you’ll spend a lot of time wandering around by yourself, trying to figure out how to ask for coffee the way you actually like it in a foreign language, stumbling across vistas of pristine scenic beauty that seem like they came into being just for your enjoyment, and otherwise being the protagonist of your own moody little novel? These packable books are perfect for a long train ride along the coast in unfamiliar terrain.

Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk is not a thriller, but there’s an almost electric undercurrent of existential dread pulsing underneath this novel that will hook you. The protagonist, Sofia, accompanies her ill mother to a mysterious clinic on the sunbaked Spanish coast, and the novel only gets stranger and moodier from there as Sofia drifts in search of who she is apart from her mother’s caretaker. Equally perfect to read on a stormy summer day or under the oppressively hot sun. —C.T.

A whodunit about the powerful, brutish men in a village on the Czech-Polish border who keep dying violent, mysterious deaths and the eccentric astrologer who’s trying to solve their murders. It’s a good entry point into Nobel Prize winner Tokarczuk’s work and the best book I’ve ever read while lying on a beach in Sicily. —Jordan Larson

Smooth Every Wrinkle Out of My Brain

Sometimes you just want to lie in the sun and let a book obliterate every molecule of your conscious mind. Mysteries and thrillers and fantasy novels are great for this, and to my mind, the best of these are cozy, repetitive, and reassuring in their particulars even as you keep reading for the twist in act three.

It doesn’t matter which letter of the alphabet you choose; what you’ll get when you enter the world of dogged California P.I. Kinsey Millhone is sheer mind-erasing coziness. Sure, there are bound to be murders, suspenseful moments, and mysteries to be solved. But there will also be endless descriptions of Kinsey’s practical outfits, workout routines, weird single-gal snacks, and perfectly comfortable independent life in her cleverly converted garage studio apartment with its sleeping loft. Kinsey is just as happy solving crimes as she is filing away invoices and typing up notes on her trusted electric typewriter, and the books always devote plenty of pages to these soothing quotidian details while still keeping the reader turning pages to learn the mystery’s always-satisfying conclusion. Truly, they are perfect reading experiences, gifts to anyone who needs to have their brain temporarily stilled completely. It’s a tragedy that Sue Grafton didn’t live long enough to get to Z. — E.G.

You’ve been curious. Your sister’s best friend is obsessed with them. A group chat of your college friends kept texting about them, and now you don’t see their discussion anymore because they’ve spun it off into a separate group chat. Every single time you go past a Barnes & Noble there is a woman standing at the cashier, holding not just one but three books in the series. So what the hell, it’s beach week — why not try some Sarah J. Maas?

This is a good decision! Generally when people describe reading something as feeling like a lobotomy they mean it in a derogatory way, but this is exactly wrong. A Court of Thorns and Roses , which is the SJM series you should start with, will envelop you in the glorious brain-deadening sensation of complete surrender, and every time your mind tries to struggle against moments of silliness or nonsensical world-building, your lizard-brain pleasure centers will fight back. You especially want to be doing this on vacation because the real hook of these books is the one-two punch of going from book one to book two, and if you only read the first one you’ll miss out on the full appeal of the dark fairy daddy whom TikTokers have been using as the inspiration for all their knee tattoos. Plus, summer should be fun! Fun and freeing and unabashed. You could try to pretend it’s not fun to enjoy girlboss heroine Feyre surrendering to the fairy realm she first thought was evil and then discovers is full of wonder, but just like Feyre, you’d be deceiving yourself. (But also, you can skip book four.) — Kathryn VanArendonk

Like so many Hilderheads, I first read an Elin Hilderbrand novel while visiting someone else’s vacation home. I needed something to read, and Here’s To Us — her novel about a Guy Fieri But Make Him a Sexy Bad Boy chef whose exes come together in Nantucket for the reading of his will — was simply there , like the nanny named Fran. Almost as soon as I had picked it up from the bookshelf and opened it, I had finished reading. Next, I grabbed her other book on the shelf — The Identicals (Hilderbrand, a twin herself, has a thing for twins at an impasse) — and began downloading more on my Kindle. Why do they work? There’s romance, but the objects of affection are secondary. More crucial are the vividly described food, homes, and other suggestions of what we now call “quiet luxury.” Sandwiches from Something Natural, blue fish pâté from 167 Raw, and cold Sancerre “devoured” on either Hinckley picnic boats or picnics on mostly empty beaches. Sometimes there’s a murder to solve to move things along, but the sell is escapism. To vicariously go on a fancier vacation than the one you’re on right now. Or better: to not just vacation , scraping together your measly PTO days, but to summer as a verb. I’d start with The Blue Bistro , probably her best upstairs-downstairs story about a hostess at a fancy beachfront restaurant, or The Perfect Couple , a murder mystery and the basis of a Nicole Kidman adaptation coming to Netflix on September 5. — Marisa Carroll

I Finally Have Time to Commit to a Series

Maybe you’ve always meant to get around to some long, linked books but you’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity, and now you finally have two weeks with nothing to do in Greece or a daunting stretch of time on a plane and are worried about how many movies it’s actually safe for the brain to watch back-to-back. Digging into a series and swallowing all, or at least most, of it in one gulp feels like a meaningful indulgence, unlike binge-watching, which will never not feel a tiny bit dirty.

These books are long as hell but also really great and engrossing, full of intricate historical detail. They are best absorbed in one bingey sitting rather than piecemeal over the course of months, because that’s the only way you’ll be able to keep the characters, a staggering proportion of whom are named Thomas, and their agendas straight. So if you have an 18-hour flight, or just a few blissfully empty beach days, load up your carry-on with some tomes about Thomas Cromwell and the court of Henry VII! In the first book alone, Cromwell survives the tragic death of his wife and young daughters and runs interference between his boss, Cardinal Wolsey, and his ultimate boss, King Henry, as the whole “annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragorn so that he can marry Anne Boleyn” thing goes down. Cromwell nimbly plays diplomatic games that have him running circles around his fellow courtiers, and it’s easy to get fully engrossed in all the sensory detail Mantel brings to her depiction of the 1500s, which of course mostly smelled bad. By the second book, the king has moved on from Anne to Jane Seymour, whom Thomas vows to help become queen, thereby punishing Anne’s allies, who had previously sided against Wolsey. If this is already seeming like a lot, rest assured that it all plays out at a rapid enough clip that you can follow events without getting too bogged down in the details. The books themselves are doorstops, but I still encourage you not to read them on your phone; you’ll want to do some flipping around to confirm which Thomas is which, and also they’re a calming physical presence. As a plus, whenever you hear anything about Thomas Cromwell in the future you’ll always think of Thailand or wherever you were headed on that long flight. — E.G.

This best-selling series deserves the hype. It’s not just about a dragon-flying academy where most of the students die. It’s about a horny dragon-flying academy where most of the students die! Our heroine is Violet Sorrengail, a scrappy underdog who shows everyone, including her absolute most detested person in the world, Xaden, how badass she is when she bonds to not one but two dragons. Plot twist, her dragon is bonded to his dragon! How much longer can their deep-seated enmity last before their passionate hatred turns to passionate lust? Like 200-something pages, but if you enjoy a slow burn, the payoff is worth it. The second book in the series sets up a rebellion against the government of the country that runs the dragon academy, with many of its students unexpectedly rebelling and taking part, including Violet and Xander, who have been kept apart by plot machinations for most of the book (but when they do find time to get together, again, worth it). Much hotter than you’d expect given the baseline YA-ness of the initial hundred or so pages. (“I gasped when I saw the word ‘clit’!” my friend texted me). The third volume of the series doesn’t come out till next year, which is frustrating, but also gives us something in 2025 to look forward to. — E.G.

Sex! (But Make It Literary)

Sometimes you’re in the mood for a book with sex in it, but less graphic smut, more romantic longing. The wistful nostalgia associated with beaches is closely linked to this feeling; we all remember a more innocent time when an accidental hand-brush could be the highlight of your day, and these are the kinds of books that devote a page or more to that it.

First, if you’ve seen the movie, please erase it from your mind. Now, dive in fresh to the story of Elio, a 17-year-old living in a beautiful house in Italy with his parents who’s consumed with lust for his family’s houseguest, a 24-year-old American academic named Oliver who has a kind of insouciant self-possession that the awkward but beautiful (and heretofore straight) Elio aspires to possess for himself. Told in retrospect, the book is filled with a sense of pervasive longing, not only Elio’s longing for Oliver but the narrator’s — an older, wiser Elio — longing to somehow re-experience the moment of youthful innocence and transgression that can only happen once in a lifetime. I recall crying the first time I finished this book, one of the few times I can remember the written word moving me to tears. And if that’s not hot, what is? Of course they also do it a lot, and there’s that thing with the peach. — E.G.

This book is a little bit hard to find but is worth seeking out (Abebooks usually has copies). It’s a late-career masterpiece inspired by the author’s affair with her second husband’s then-teenage son, which, I’m sorry, is rendered exquisitely hot in fiction. The whole thing takes place in the south of France. Teenagers Philippe and Vinca have grown up going to the seaside together, doing innocent things like fishing for prawns and roaming the fields, but this summer they’re older and the sex thing has entered the picture. Then Philippe’s world is rocked by an older woman who seduces him. The whole thing is a sensory vacation to an idyllic, untainted seaside place, and every tactile detail is evoked in all its particularity by Colette, who is a master at evoking every minute sight, smell, sound, and facial expression in a way that situates you exactly in that particular sun-dazzled landscape. The perfect read for when you’re trying to pretend that your day at Jacob Riis is actually a sparkling, sensually burgeoning season spent on the coast of Brittany. — E.G.

I’m Going to Be Distracted By My Kids the Whole Time

This category is created out of necessity and the stark knowledge that before your kids can swim (and even after) the beach is no longer an oasis of relaxation but a site of constant vigilance. Still, you can pack a book that’s easy to pick up and put down, and bonus if it makes you laugh as you do so.

In all of Irby’s collections — Meaty ; We Are Never Meeting in Real Life ; Wow, No Thank You ; and Quietly Hostile — you’ll be introduced to the inimitable voice of the essayist and TV writer — profane, casual, inviting, and also capable of great tenderness and depth. She plumbs her life’s misfortunes for laughs that come out of sometimes objectively tragic situations: her neglected childhood, her chronic IBS, her longtime day job at a vet clinic. She’s always finding literal lols in the mundane. Good news for people who are going to be glancing up from the page a lot to make sure that no one’s drowning: These essays are short and forgiving, and you won’t be out of the loop if you miss a page or lose your spot. — E.G.

Framed as advice to her very young daughters, Wong’s book actually shouldn’t be read by anyone under the age of, say, 30 — it’s dirty as hell, but it also concerns itself mainly with the hilarious but very real indignities of pregnancy, childbirth, and early postpartum. There’s one indelible essay about the various fluid-leaking mishaps that ensue during an outing to the zoo with a toddler and a newborn that struck me as one of the most detailed documents I’ve ever read about this fleeting but intense period when your life revolves all too urgently around the amount of emergency extra onesies and wipes you’ve managed to shove into your bag. For those who have safely emerged from this phase of parenting with some of their sanity intact, it’s almost a welcome throwback — like, Yes, that really did happen, and it was as bad as I remembered it . It’s all, from Wong’s perspective, somehow immensely funny, which you’d want to expect from a comedian’s memoir but we all know that sometimes that quality of showmanship doesn’t always translate onto the page. Here, blessedly, it does, and then some. — E.G.

In this rapid-fire but profound book of easily gulpable vignettes, Cloepfil, a former pro soccer player who played overseas and had an ambivalent experience but loves the game itself, writes a memoir told in 90 short sections (like the 90 minutes in a game of soccer). Absolutely perfect for when you can’t take your eyes off the action around you for more than a brief moment at a time but still want to have a book in your hand. — Emma Alpern

• recommendations

The Cut Shop

Most viewed stories.

• The Mom Who Didn’t Know She Was Pregnant Until She Was in Labor
• J.Lo’s Inner Circle Reportedly Hated Bennifer 2.0
• What’s Going On With Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni?
• This Australian Breakdancer Stole the Show
• This Mercury Retrograde Is Turning Up the Heat in August
• You’ll Never Really Know Ballerina Farm

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

Kevin Bacon scoops Kyra Sedgwick into his arms in breathtaking new photos with powerful message — see

The footloose star and the summer i turned pretty actress mostly spend their time at their connecticut farm.

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick know how to live their lives to the fullest while also keeping their activism and grounded natures top of mind at all times.

Kevin, 66, and Kyra, 58, recently took a vacation to Sedona, Arizona, and the actress shared a few stunning shots from the trip , including a visit to the gorgeous canyons and red-rock buttes.

Kyra included a snapshot of herself pointing out to one of the canyon walls, dressed in full athletic gear, and then another romantic snap of Kevin scooping her into his arms against an awe-inspiring canyon wall.

Clearly just as much in awe of nature's beauty as we are, Kyra, who has spoken frequently about environmental preservation and climate change, captioned the snaps: "We really lucked out with this planet. Let's take care of it."

Fans gushed over the snaps, leaving responses like: "Sadly, many don't appreciate the gravity of what this planet has provided to us… love these pics….!" and: "Absolutely! Sedona our favorite! The Badlands too! America has it all. Thank you for doing all you do to help our planet," as well as: "You and Kevin are my favorite couple, I admire you guys so much."

You may also like

In an essay for Oprah.com , Kyra previously mentioned that she had never really deeply considered the ramifications of human living on the environment, having lived and grown up in New York City, until she became a mom for the first time to her son Travis, now 35 .

MORE:  Kevin Bacon posts must-see shirtless thirst trap for 66th birthday — fans react

"I carried Travis for nine months, providing him with a safe and healthy place to grow inside me, and then I gave birth and fed him my breast milk," she penned. 

"Then, when I had to give him over to the world — to food that comes from unknown places and toys that come from irresponsible manufacturers — it really hit me: I felt responsible not only for my child but for the planet."

MORE:  Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick's glimpse inside impressive kitchen that you probably missed

She continued: "I became proactive. I got involved in the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Resources Defense Council. I tried to be green and educate others about making environmentally conscious purchases." 

"Unfortunately, the movement petered out in the 1990s, and suddenly I felt like I was the only one shouting, 'We have to think about what we use! It's not enough to recycle plastic — you shouldn't be buying it in the first place. What about those nice cardboard takeout containers?'" 

MORE:  Kyra Sedgwick stuns fans with unrecognizable throwback photo that needs to be seen

"I understand that how I walk through my life on this planet will affect the world my children live in. When I go to yoga class with my stainless steel water bottle and see other people bringing plastic ones, I want to scream about it from the mountaintops!" she added.

"Mothers believe we are responsible for our children from the womb to the grave. We are connected by the longing to protect them after they leave our bodies, so the impetus for making this planet safe for them lies with us. Mark my words: It's the soccer moms who will change the world."

Sign up to HELLO Daily! for the best royal, celebrity and lifestyle coverage

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User  Data Protection Policy . You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information,  please click here .

• Celebrity Relationships
• Celebrity Holidays
• Kyra Sedgwick
• Kevin Bacon
• Celebrity Couples

More Celebrity News

Kevin Bacon posts must-see shirtless thirst trap for 66th birthday — fans react

Kevin Bacon cozies up with wife Kyra Sedgwick in rare public outing together

Kevin Bacon's steamy throwback photo with Kyra Sedgwick leaves fans saying the same thing

James Martin and new girlfriend enjoy romantic French vacation – photo

Nicole Kidman gets behind Keith Urban following his latest announcement with rare public tribute

Jennifer Aniston's incredibly romantic gesture for Brad Pitt revealed from when they were married

Kevin bacon reveals what he and kyra sedgwick are really like at home in video that melts hearts, kevin bacon reveals brave move as he and kyra sedgwick prepare to host 'lunatic' family members for thanksgiving, kyra sedgwick dazzles in au-naturel beach photo as kevin bacon pays tribute on 58th birthday, kyra sedgwick stuns in photo as husband kevin bacon declares he's a lucky man.

• H.S. Sports
• SportsbookWire
• USA TODAY Sports

Jaden Marchan of Edgewater runs solid 4-x-400 leg at the 2024 Olympics

What did you do on your summer vacation?

Jaden Marchan spent some of it in Trinidad and some of it in Paris, France. And it wasn't really a vacation.

Marchan, a dual citizen of the United States and Trinidad and Tobago who graduated from Leonia High School on June 19, traveled to Port au Spain, Trinidad, the following week to run at the Trinidadian National Championships. He finished second, in a personal-best 46.30 seconds, qualifying him for a spot on the 4-x-400 relay team that finished eighth in its heat Friday, Aug. 9 at the Stade de France in Paris at the Olympic Games.

Marchan, running the third leg, ran a personal best relay leg of 45.63 seconds, but after the team's leadoff runner, former World Champion gold medalist Renny Quow lost his shoe on the opening carry, the team never got in the race, despite having Olympic fourth place finisher Jareem Richards on the team. Marchan actually ran the team's fastest leg.

"It's just another race, hopefully two,'' Marchan said before he left for training camp in Mulhouse, France, on July 17. "It's my first time in Europe and I'm really excited. But I think my mom (Sujin Lee) is even more excited, because she knows how crazy this whole thing is.''

Marchan could be seen waving a small Trinidad and Tobago flag on the boat next to his teammates in the Opening Ceremony boat parade down the Seine on July 26. The team shared its boat with teams from Timor Leste, Togo and Tonga.

Jaden Marchan's whirlwind year

The Olympic adventure capped a remarkable year for Marchan, who turned 18 the day before the Games started on July 26.

The Edgewater resident has been one of the top sprinters in New Jersey since his sophomore year, winning the Bergen County 400 title in both 2022 and 2023 and medaling in the State Meet of Champions twice. But the 2023-24 school year led to a different level of performance for Marchan, who will run at Georgetown University this fall.

He gave up basketball in his senior year and had an immediate impact on the sport indoors, winning his first race at 600 meters in late December. That led to an invitation to run against sophomore phenom Quincy Wilson of Bullis High School in Maryland the following day at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic 600.

Marchan not only set a New Jersey state record of 1:17.66 in that race, he surprised Wilson for the win, the only loss Wilson had as a high schooler all year.

Marchan went on to win state championships at 400 meters both indoors and outdoors and became the all-time Bergen County recordholder in the event both indoors and outdoors, breaking a 36-year-old record when he ran 46.35 to win his state sectional race.

He also finished third at both the New Balance Indoor and Outdoor Nationals in Boston and Philadelphia, respectively, and took second at the Outdoor Nationals in the 400 hurdles, just missing a second Bergen County record.

History for a small town

According to Edgewater Mayor Michael McPartland, Marchan is just the second Edgewater resident to compete in an Olympics. Research shows longtime resident Bill Lofgren competed in the Kayak doubles at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the first time the event was held. A clipping from the July 16, 1936 Bergen Record confirms his participation, but where he finished is unknown.

"We're a pretty small town, but we're all so proud of him,'' said Mayor McPartland. "We put up an announcement on our electronic billboard just outside of Edgewater Commons in the middle of town and will honor him when he gets back and before he goes to school. His story is amazing and he's a terrific young man.''

Jaden Marchan's road to 2024 Paris Olympics

When Marchan became a dual citizen last summer (his father lives in Trinidad), the intent was to earn a spot and represent Trinidad and Tobago at the World U-20 championships in Lima, Peru, later this month.

But as he got faster, his goals changed, as did the goals of the National Association of Athletics Administrators of Trinidad and Tobago (NAAATT) and he was invited to run in the senior national championships on June 28-29.

"Those were the most nerve-wracking races I've had in my career so far,'' said Marchan, who qualified for the final with an easy heat win on the 28th and then ran in the final held in a driving rainstorm the following day, taking second to Jareem Richards, who finished fourth in Wednesday's 400 individual final, missing a medal by .04 seconds.

"My mom did so much for me to be in this position that I couldn't mess it up and I went out there with something to prove,'' said Marchan, who, along with the rest of the finalists was pulled off the track briefly without explanation before the final went on as scheduled.

But he almost didn't get there.

"They changed the time of the final from 8:15 p.m. to 5:15 and I never got the schedule change,'' said Marchan. "I'm sitting in the hotel and Jareem Richards called me and said, 'Where are you?'. So I got there quickly and had to get a replacement bib because I didn't have one.''

Marchanran the third leg in Paris, with Richards running on the second carry. Veteran Renny Quow, who ran on the 2017 World Championship team that won gold led off and LSU sophomore Shakeem McKay, who ran on the Tigers' NCAA medal winning relay team in June, anchored.

Trinidad ran from Lane 9 in the first heat of two, a heat that includes Botswana, Great Britain and the United States, with Marchan's high school rival, Wilson, running the first leg. They are the only teenagers entered in the event. Wilson ran a difficult 4723 leg, but the U.S. still qualified for the final as the final three legs sizzled.

"We had expectations of making finals and even getting a medal,'' said Marchan, who will skip the World U-20 championships to prepare for college.

Maybe the next time.

• Newsletters
• Account Activating this button will toggle the display of additional content Account Sign out

Will the Paris Olympics Break the Economic Curse of Host Cities?

Mise-en-seine day 13: it’s not clear the games will produce a better-than-average summer for the city’s economy..

This is part of Slate’s 2024 Olympics coverage. Read more here . If you’re enjoying our coverage from Paris, join Slate Plus to support our work.

Every day for the past two weeks, dozens of NBC staff have been brought to visit the Rue du Nil, a slice of Paris straight out of Amélie . Under the watchful eye of a private security guard at the street’s entrance, they visit the bakery, cheese shop, grocer, butcher, and fishmonger—all owned by one organic outfit, Terroirs d’Avenir—and the restaurant, wine shop, and takeaway joint across the street, all owned by the chef Greg Marchand. It’s a made-for-TV bit of Paris, and TV likes it right back.

Just a few blocks away at the bakery BO&MIE, it’s a different story. CEO Jean-François Bandet expressed the complicated feelings many Parisian merchants have in a short essay on LinkedIn the other day: “Business side, the results are clear: We’re approaching the halfway point of the Games, and BO&MIE’s receipts are down 15 to 30 percent year over year… but… how can you not be enthusiastic about what’s happening in Paris right now?”

That’s how it is in Paris this week, with a few districts on the podium of Olympic spending, and everyone else watching from afar.

There are three types of benefits that economists expect in exchange for the costs of putting on the Olympics: short-term spending, long-term growth, and the aura of good vibes.

Long-term growth is impossible to assess at the moment. Good vibes, as this diary has documented, are certainly in decent supply. (Though it’s not clear how Paris—already one of the most visited cities in the world—would benefit from the PR hit that accompanied the Games in, say, Barcelona.)

But short-term spending was the benefit that meant most to the 62,000 small businesses that give Paris its indelible street life.

These bakers, bistros, and boutiques are at the end of a long, exhausting hype cycle. It began with visions of an Olympic bonanza, then curdled into a fear of total chaos, before finally settling on: meh.

On Tuesday, I stopped into my friend Marion Dubuc’s boutique Pétrone , in Paris’s 2 nd arrondissement, and saw two familiar faces. Dubuc was there, behind the counter, helping a customer manage an exchange. On the walls, modeling Pétrone’s men’s underwear, was Paulin Riva, the captain of France’s gold medal–winning rugby sevens team.

Previously, most of the six-year-old brand’s “models” were the fittest friends of Dubuc and her partner, Nicolas Hernandez. But last year, they got Riva—who hails from southwestern France, where the company is based—into their underpants. Now he’s an Olympic champion, and the question for Dubuc is: How do they make the most of it? The International Olympics Committee’s stringent code prohibits anyone save its giant sponsors from advertising with the Olympic rings, the words Olympics and Paris Games , or pretty much anything else that has to do with the massive sporting festival that has currently taken over the city.

Not every local business has a half-naked medalist on the wall. But most of them are facing a similar dilemma, trying to take advantage of a mega-event that is happening in their midst—one they eagerly anticipated, stocking up and staffing up—but that seems to be doing virtually nothing for much of the city’s economy. “There may be an Olympic effect,” Dubuc concluded, “but not in the shop.”

It’s a familiar sight for critics of the Olympics, who say the event always overpromises and underdelivers on “secondary” economic impacts—not the ticket sales themselves, but the spending on hotels, restaurants, and shops that convinces the public such events are worthwhile. As the economists Robert Baade and Victor Matheson wrote in a 2016 paper , “The overwhelming conclusion is that in most cases the Olympics are a money-losing proposition for host cities. … If one wishes to know the true economic impact of an event, take whatever numbers the promoters are touting and move the decimal point one place to the left.”

The authors suggest three reasons for this. First is the “substitution” effect: Millions of French visitors are spending their money on Olympics tickets, trains, and hotels. But if they weren’t, a lot of that money might have been allocated for tickets, trains, or hotels elsewhere in the country. Second is the “crowding-out” effect: The Olympics often deter other tourists from visiting, and the U.K. actually counted fewer international visitors during its Olympic summer than the year before. In Paris, many other aspects of economic life may also be crowded out (many businesses have just taken three weeks off). Third is the multiplier effect: How much does Olympic spending really influence the economy? When a hotel raises its rates, it rarely raises its wages or hires more staff. If the hotel is owned by a publicly traded company, the profits are distributed to shareholders around the world.

The statistics for Paris so far are inconclusive: The hotels have rebounded to higher-than-usual occupancy after much griping earlier this summer. Airbnb listings doubled , with the occupancy rate remaining stable. According to the regional marketing agency, international travel during the Olympic period is up 8 percent compared with last year. Whether that’s enough to make up for the pre- and post-Olympic lull remains to be seen; it’s not even clear the Olympics—in spite of all the money spent on hosting—will produce a better-than-average summer for the city’s economy.

But even if they do, it won’t be a normal summer. Who’s not here? Your Marais-strolling, artisanal-buying gastronomes that have made the capital their own in recent years. Who is here? An American family of five, with kids that shout “Balls up!” before the serve in a volleyball match, eating pizza by their hotel every night. A Dutch couple, sleeping in an RV at the end of the commuter rail line, eating supermarket sandwiches between games. “They go from A to B,” one merchant lamented. “They’re not flâneurs .”

Above all, Olympic tourists are French, and less likely to fill a suitcase with purchases than are their foreign peers.

As has been observed in previous installments of Mise-en-Seine, the Games have produced a great shift in the economic geography of Paris; the whole city appears to be tipping west on its axis. Although restaurants and shops in those parts of town appear to have recovered from the weeklong opening ceremony police state, the same cannot be said for parts farther east.

“We’re unhappy. We had meetings with the city, and they told us to stay open,” said Claudia Kuhn, the owner of the restaurant and grocery Maison Maudain in the Sentier neighborhood, a stone’s throw from NBC’s tours. “There’s nobody here. It’s terrible.” Like many around town, the office across the street has enforced a mandatory vacation during the Olympics. And Kuhn’s plan to get closer to the action—a 10-day artisan food market on the Boulevard Saint-Germain—was abruptly canceled by the Paris police last month. The restaurant is losing money every day, she said. “It was a bad idea to stay open.”

• Share full article

Advertisement

Tim Walz Is Vibing

Democrats are trying to make the election about who is cool and who is weird. will it stick.

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

I’ve never really listened to Bon Iver. Only the duet with Taylor Swift that I’ve listened to 1,247 times.

Oh, the girl dad.

It’s a good song.

It’s funny. My daughter, who’s 9, was asking if she could come to the DNC with me in case Taylor Swift.

In case Tay-Tay shows up.

Oh, my god. That’s — if only she could vote. Or we reconsider the JD Vance proposal. Give her the vote.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

From “New York Times” Opinion, I’m Michelle Cottle.

And I’m Ross Douthat.

And this is “Matter of Opinion.”

Well, it is vacation season around these parts. I myself just got back from some glorious together time with my family. It was our first serious trip since before the pandemic. And we spent it several time zones away from the political insanity of the past couple of weeks, which I was kind of sad to miss, but also not at all.

But now, with our co-hosts away this week, Ross, I am thrilled we are being joined by our brilliant colleague, opinion columnist Michelle Goldberg. Michelle was out on the trail with Harris just last week and wrote a fantastic piece about the Kamala — Kamala —

Kamala-nomenon.

The Kamala-nomenon.

Well, it’s a Chappell Roan reference.

No, no doubt. I’m hopelessly out of touch. But regardless, Michelle, welcome. We are so very happy that you are here.

We are, indeed, Michelle.

Oh, thanks so much for having me.

Yeah, I actually think it helps Ross’s baby addled brain when he only has to remember one name.

That’s right. Only one name. I can’t remember. I only have two male children, and I am already calling them by each other’s name consistently. So this is actually the perfect setting.

I once went out on a date with a Frenchman named Michelle.

OK, next time, we’ll bring him in. All right, on to the big news of the week, which is Veep picks a Veep. Vice President Kamala Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. So, guys, how did we get here? Ross.

Yeah, I mean, I predicted that she would pick Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania, for sort of a mixture of the boring ideological reasons and the boring electoral college map reasons. He seemed like the potential VP pick with a kind of proven track record of generating high approval ratings in a purple state with a lot of conservative voters. And also Pennsylvania is a must win state probably for the Democrats.

To the extent that we can say that vice presidential picks do anything, it seems most likely that it makes some marginal difference in their home states if they’re popular. I think now that the pick has been made and we’ve sort of watched the ticket on the stump and watched the way it’s been responded to on social media, I think the pick makes a lot of sense for what the Harris campaign has been doing really successfully for the last few weeks, which is basically try to counteract Donald Trump’s advantage with just a really strong — I’m sorry to use the term — it’s overused — but a really strong vibes-based campaign, right?

Where the idea is you want the guy who sort of made himself a star and a contender to be VP by going on TV and calling JD Vance and Donald Trump weird and blowing up progressive Twitter and getting people really excited and being a guy who seems to know his way around a cable news hit and who’s good in front of a crowd. And that’s sort of a different kind of bet than a kind of ideological electoral college map calculation.

But it’s a bet that so far has carried the Harris campaign into a lead in some national polls. The crowds are big. The energy is great. And maybe the way to beat Donald Trump is to have a politician who can go out and stand in front of a cheering rally and make a joke about how his opponent has sex with a couch.

Maybe that’s what the Democrats have been missing all this time. I’m not being insincere, right? That could be it. The pick is of a piece with what we’ve sort of seen from both the Harris campaign and the kind of media, pop culture sort of ferment around the Harris campaign since Biden dropped out of the race.

I mean, I’m a huge Walz fan, and I was worried. I listen a lot to Sarah Longwell, who now runs Republican voters against Trump and does a ton of focus groups, and so I think is in touch with a side of the electorate that a lot of other people miss. She was very, very bullish on Shapiro because Shapiro really appealed to the kind of people that she’s talking to, which are kind of either Never Trump or soft Trump supporters.

At the same time, I do think that Shapiro could have been like an Acela Corridor idea of what a moderate is. You would have had sort of two fairly slick, super educated lawyers on the ticket. And I’m not sure how much that would have read as ideological balance to parts of the country.

At the same time, I do worry a little bit that Democrats are leaning too much on style with Walz. I’ve heard people say that Walz is a liberal’s idea of what a red state voter likes. It’s difficult for me to judge from Brooklyn, New York. And I talked to at least one Democratic operative in Wisconsin who was kind of over the moon about Walz in terms of his ability to reach the voters that they need to turn out in Wisconsin.

But I do think that on the one hand, yes, there is something very relatable about Walz, and hopefully, he can help them lose by less in rural parts of the country, which is what Democrats need to do. I also think that there is a danger of leaning so much on his persona that it veers into shtick.

And so I don’t really — I actually don’t want to hear the couch joke again. I think that they should leave the couch joke to the internet, let the internet do its thing, and sort of maybe even scale back the weird stuff. Let that kind of linger in the background. It makes me a little bit nervous if the Harris campaign is taking too many cues from the internet.

Let’s just pause because listeners may not understand the couch comments. The couch comments are that someone on the internet made up an excerpt from “Hillbilly Elegy,” in which in the made-up excerpt, Vance had —

Got jiggy with a sofa.

Exactly, and this has become maybe one of the dominant progressive memes about his candidacy.

So I’m a huge fan of vibe politics. I do think there’s a lot to be said about them. What I think fascinates me is it seems like there is an interesting experiment going on here, where the progressive politics of the guy who the Republicans, obviously, are going to pile on with this — he’s too liberal San Francisco style. Just don’t mesh with the persona. It’s just like the man snuggles piglets, wears camo, goes to the state fair, and wears ratty T-shirts, and has a better hunting record than anybody on the Republican side.

And I am fascinated to see how this pans out. Because pointy-headed folks like us spend a lot of time parsing policy, parsing political background, details along those lines, that’s never been what voters seem to be most interested in. They have an interest in relatability, what these guys seem to telegraph, whether or not they seem “authentic”— I hate that term, but that is how this rolls for me.

This is a little bit like what happened with the John Fetterman Senate election in Pennsylvania, where you had a guy who was more liberal than some of his competitors, but came across as kind of like a red state biker, and people really dug that. So this is a different kind of Middle America dorky dad vibe that we’ve got going on here. And I think it will help deflect some of the just basic Republican pile-on too liberal message.

So, yeah, I mean, I’m having made the case that this pick makes sense in vibes terms. I, too, am historically a skeptic of what Michelle Cottle just elaborated, right? The idea that voters just are basing their picks on relatability and who they want to have a beer with or go hunting with.

Adjust, but heavily.

Right. But if you look at the Democratic politicians who have tended to do well in rural America, whether it’s someone like Jared Golden, the congressman in Maine, or every liberal’s favorite senator, Joe Manchin, or even like someone like Mary Peltola in Alaska, they usually both have a sort of rural, friendly persona and a bunch of pretty heterodox positions that put them to the right of the mainstream Democratic Party.

And with Walz, what you see is when he represented a rural area, he was a bit more like that. And then when he became governor, I don’t think you would say like he’s a doctrinaire progressive, but he became governor in a progressive leaning state with a narrow liberal majority that passed a lot of quite liberal legislation. And he happily and eagerly signed it all.

And at that point, if you then look at his numbers in the last gubernatorial race, he won the state pretty easily, but he certainly didn’t overperform in rural areas. He had a pretty conventional sort of urban to suburban liberal coalition. So I think we’re pretty short right now on evidence that just nominating the guy who seems country is the ticket to overperformance. But I’m also open to the possibility that I’m mistaken, right?

Yeah, I don’t think that he necessarily overperforms among conservative voters strictly defined. But there’s another kind of voter — and again, these are all small groups of people in kind of how campaign strategists slice and dice the electorate. I don’t know, but there was such a thing as a Bernie to Trump voter. And he seems to me to be sort of very well-positioned to appeal to that kind of voter, the person who finds traditional politicians alienating.

Well, I grew up, as you know, in red state America. And I’ve got friends from high school who are like, why can’t Democrats just sound like normal people, for God’s sake? Why do they always sound like they’ve just come from a kind of film studies lecture at Dartmouth? So if you’re looking at a very blue state top of the ticket, you’ve got a biracial woman who’s, like, California all the way. If you want to talk about balancing style, then he does serve a certain purpose.

It was interesting that people who thought that Josh Shapiro would balance Harris. I was a little bit worried that the kind of voters you’re talking about, that kind of culturally feel very alienated from Harris would be reassured by an overachieving Jewish —

— law school graduate. I mean, again, I think that there’s a certain kind of voter who feels reassured on policy. But there are also, if you’re sort of alienated from the Democratic Party because it seems increasingly like the party of the highly educated and affluent, then Josh Shapiro doesn’t do much for you.

Right, although he has really strong approval ratings in Pennsylvania, which include presumably voters who voted for Trump last time. You don’t get to 60 percent approval if you’re just being approved of by Biden voters. And I think we should say something briefly about the issues around Israel and Palestine and the Democrats’ complicated dance, right?

Because there is clearly some calculation here about the risks of losing, on the one hand, sort of both younger left wing voters and Arab-American voters, as opposed to the risks of losing some Jewish voters, right? And no Democrat would come out and say it, but certainly, there are Democrats who are thinking that Shapiro wasn’t picked, not even because of his specific positioning, but because as someone who has that positioning and is Jewish, he would be sort of doubly alienating.

No, it’s not as some — no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It is not as someone who has that positioning and is Jewish. It is someone who has leaned into that positioning in a way that no other candidate has, right? No Democrat is going to wring their hands if the pick was JB Pritzker, right? It is not because he’s Jewish.

I mean, “The New York Times” did a big story about at a time when Democrats are torn over Israel and Palestine, here’s Shapiro leaning really hard into criticism of the protesters, right? And we can parse what he meant when he made the KKK comparison to some of the tent encampments.

And frankly, as somebody who is to the left of the kind of mainstream Democratic position on Israel and would like to see an administration get much tougher on Israel, I thought that Shapiro would be extremely useful there as sort of a shield if Kamala Harris — President Kamala Harris, God willing — wanted to crack down on a Netanyahu administration, if Netanyahu was still in power.

I think it was a mistake for people in the left to assume that the choice of Shapiro would have signaled a kind of much different approach in a potential Harris administration to Israel. But on the other hand, I think that to say that the opposition to him was based on the fact that he was Jewish is just a slur.

But this discussion right here is what the Democrats didn’t want to have.

Right, didn’t want to have. And it’s what I didn’t want to have. I mean, it’s what —

So, taking a step back, I don’t think we want to look at this as though Walz was picked because he wasn’t problematic in this way. Everybody’s problematic in some ways. So talk to me about kind of hat does Walz proactively bring to the table, if anything, in policy terms or if we’re just talking about vibes? So what do you see as his value added here? And Michelle, lead us off here.

Well, I mean, in governing terms, it’s that he did, in Minnesota, a lot of the things that Kamala Harris wants to do nationally, right? I mean, Kamala Harris, she still hasn’t fleshed out, I think, a really robust set of policy positions. But inasmuch as she is —

In the two weeks she — damn her.

That’s a very kind way of putting it.

Right. But in as much as we see her message evolving on the stump, she’s very focused on cost of living, middle class economics. And if you look at a lot of the things that Walz has done in Minnesota, things like free college for people who make under $80,000 a year, free school lunches, paid family leave, even things that he’s done that are a little bit more heterodox, but don’t get talked about that way, like permitting reform and building more housing to drive down the cost of housing, those are the things that she wants to do on a national scale.

No, I mean, he did a lot of progressive things, and some progressive things are favorable to the middle class. And those things are things that the Harris campaign wants to talk about to the extent that it wants to talk about policy at all. I mean, I think we clearly are going to be talking about some potentially unpopular things that he supports as a progressive. And we’re going to be talking about the debate that’s already bubbled up about the public comments he’s given that seem to imply that he had seen service in a war zone.

Oh, no, come on, Ross. That is like — I’m sorry, but we’re seeing this attempt to swiftboat him. And it’s worth noting that Donald Trump’s campaign manager was the architect of the swiftboating of John Kerry. But it just seems to me that it is in such wildly bad faith. I mean, the quotes that they’re finding, he says basically — he’s talking about weapons that shouldn’t be available for purchase by people who, say, want to shoot up their schools. And he says something like, these are weapons of war, weapons I carried in war. And that was —

Did he carry them in war?

Well, he carried them while deployed as an artillery man in Operation Enduring Freedom, but not in a war zone.

In what country?

Right, in Italy. He has never claimed to be —

Should he have said that?

Taking one step back, the difference here is John Kerry was picked and ran on his whole reporting for duty, “I’ll be a tough commander in chief.” One, we’re not talking about the top of the ticket, because if you want to talk about of the ticket, then Captain Bone Spurs is going to have to be dealt with as well on the Republican side. And two, he is not running as a military vet primarily. He’s running as a former high school teacher, and even more importantly, state champion winning football coach. So I’m just saying. There are differences.

Ross, can I ask you a question? I think that a lot of people thought that his biggest vulnerability was going to be the riots after George Floyd’s murder. Having heard the recording in which Donald Trump talks about how wonderfully he handled those riots and how much strength he showed, do you think that there is some deflation among conservatives?

I don’t know if there’s — I haven’t been on the phone with conservative strategists, so I couldn’t tell you if there’s specific deflation. I think that that helps him, obviously. The thing that immediately struck me about the pick was that you were picking a figure who was associated with what you might call peak 2020, right, which, from my perspective, looking back, was the period of maximal liberal craziness in my own life.

And here was the guy who was literally governor of Minnesota when the George Floyd protests started. But certainly, it helps him in that debate and discussion since he was criticized for how he handled the riots. To have Donald Trump praising him, I don’t think there’s any question about that.

Oh, yeah, I think he dodged a big issue here because they were gearing up to make that fit into the broader narrative of Democrats as soft on crime.

I don’t think that narrative goes away. And the story of public safety in Minneapolis thereafter for a while was not really a pretty story. So I certainly think there are still legitimate criticisms of his record on those issues. But does it help him to have that tape? Yes, absolutely.

Oh, sure. We’re talking about degrees with all of this. No attack is going away. That’s not how that works. But it does keep it from being so central. OK, so with that, we’re going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we’re going to talk about how Harris-Walz ticket stacks up against the dynamic duo on the other side of the ballot. So stay right there.

All right, so we’ve officially got both sides of the ballot filled in now. It’s Trump-Vance versus Harris-Walz. We kind of know the basic shape of things. So if you’re looking at these pairings, give us, I mean, maybe just a bumper sticker sense of what their priorities are and kind of where they stand.

I think that the top line vibes-based take is that this is joy and the future versus anger in the past.

I would say that the Democratic ticket wants it to be coolness versus weirdness. And the Republican message when it was Joe Biden was strength and economic success versus inflation, old age, and weakness. And I don’t think the Vance pick was made particularly with those narratives in mind. I think the assumption was those narratives were sort of set already, and the VP pick wasn’t that important to it.

I don’t think the Trump-Vance campaign has sort of settled on their ideal frame. They’re sort of moving back and forth between casting Harris and now Walz as sort of chameleons versus just casting them as far-left and progressive. I do think there’s certainly a big risk for the Republicans that they’re just sort of defined as doom and darkness, which sometimes plays — I mean, plays better in American politics today maybe than it used to. I don’t think you can just say, oh, the campaign of things are bad is going to lose, but that is where they are.

I mean, I think that you’re right, and I wrote about this in 2016 that I was very worried about the Hillary Clinton message of America is already great because even then, I think the vibes were kind of dark and Donald Trump was tapping into that. But don’t you think people are just exhausted? I mean, it’s been eight years of American carnage. You don’t think that there’s a part of the country that just finds joy like a really refreshing change?

Well, I think the pitch that Trump had going for him in this election and the reason that he was ahead in the polls was not the American carnage pitch. It was basically the pitch that America was better off and the world was more stable and safer in 2019 than it is in 2023 and 2024, right?

So when Harris now has her line, we’re not going to go back, right, which is casting Trump as reactionary and herself as forward-looking, I think it’s been a strength of the Trump campaign to date that some people want to go back, not to 1957 or something, but to the low inflation economy of 2019 and a world where we hadn’t had the disastrous pullout from Afghanistan, the invasion of Ukraine, and crises in the Middle East.

So I think what Harris is trying to do is to basically make Trump into the reactionary choice. And what Trump had done to date was make himself into a candidate of nostalgia for the very, very recent past. So to the extent that the Trump-Vance campaign gets stuck back in American carnage — everything is just terrible all the time — I think that’s a bad place for them to be.

I think they need the vibe of, “Trump did a good job last time. He’ll do a good job again. America can be great. Things aren’t that bad. You just have to put Trump back in power.” That’s what they need.

So I do find it fascinating to see what they’re going to do. Obviously, they’re scrambling because they had spent years building a kind of framework to go up against a guy who was older than they were and who seemed weaker than their guy. And then, suddenly, all of that has been upended. And what we have now is Trump is old. He has slipped. He is not sharp. He is once again dark.

And there’s really no kind of other way to look at it than he and Vance are the reactionary choice. I think if he had known what was happening, there is no way he would have picked Vance. He would have picked somebody who wasn’t giving the middle finger to everybody, but his kind of MAGA populist base. And they don’t really have much else to offer as a message. Now, that does not mean that he won’t win. It just means that they are having to scramble to find their footing because they don’t know how to fight against a different ticket.

And it’s been interesting over the last week. I mean, this might radically change by the time people are listening to this.

But over the last week, it’s almost seemed like a Vance-Harris race because Vance is the one out there on the trail following Harris around to all these swing states. Trump has done one rally in the last week. And so, Vance, at the moment, is really the public face of the campaign.

We should say, we’re recording this Thursday morning. Trump has announced he’s giving a press conference at 2:00 PM this afternoon, right? I mean, Trump is not going to disappear, obviously.

No, but generally speaking, if he’s not going to be out there as the front man for this campaign, then you’re left with JD Vance, who, again — let’s speak to this — has come across a little weird this race. And as you know, Ross, I am not a JD hater. I’ve sat down with him. I think he’s more earnest and certainly whip smart and kind of thoughtful.

But he has not covered himself in glory on the trail so far, whether you’re talking about how he has responded to these old quotes where he seems to be completely dissing childless folks or even making snarky remarks about people who did not biologically bear their children, which I think is one of the stupidest moves on the planet.

But also, when he does weird things, like the other day, he tried to storm Air Force 2 because it was on the tarmac and he wanted to confront the vice president. And so he had this whole pack of guys headed toward the vice president’s plane, and she’s not there. It’s just like he needs to kind of regroup. For somebody who hasn’t done this a lot, he needs a little bit more — I don’t direction — than he seems to be getting. It just makes him look weird.

I mean, I don’t actually really agree that he’s — I think if you just took his convention speech and campaign persona and separated it from the podcast clips and Tucker Carlson clips that —

But you can’t do that.

— have been —

You just can’t.

Right. But no, I’m just saying, I don’t think he’s been weird, capital W or not.

Oh, I thought it was weird. I mean, it was weird when someone threw such a softball question of what makes you happy. And I can’t remember what the answer was, but it was something like not having to answer dumb questions from journalists or something like that.

I don’t think it is capital W weird to go — whether that was a smart answer or not, to go after the press. I think, look, there isn’t some sort of magical campaign strategy he can take right now that deals with the fact that he spent several years being a right-wing podcast and cable news guest guy.

And that is the problem, right, that he has a trail of comments that you wouldn’t make if you were a cautious, normal politician ascending the ladder. It’s the kind of comments that you make if you’re going on — I mean, the list of podcasts that he went on in that phase is a list that I am familiar with as someone who’s familiar with conservatism, right? But it’s just not the normal circuit.

But JD Vance, A, gives us a chance to marvel at how far we’ve fallen all over again. And also, he doesn’t have the dark, psychotic charisma that Donald Trump has. I mean, we talked earlier about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as chameleons.

Right, JD Vance is someone — JD Vance has only been JD Vance for 10 years, right? He’s changed his name a bunch of times. Some of that was because of his unstable childhood. Some of that, though, was because of his shifting identity as an adult. He’s had wildly changing political orientations. He’s had wildly changing personas as an adult.

And I almost feel bad for him because there’s almost a sense in which he’s being kind of bullied on the national stage in which he gives off this deep insecurity that people are latching onto. I mean, it’s why these couch comments — which, again, I think that people should leave them to the internet, and the Democratic elected should stay away from them.

It’s embarrassing, especially since there are plenty of legitimate grounds to attack JD Vance, right?

No, I mean, think it’s embarrassing, again, for elected Democrats. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think most people know that this is not true. It isn’t true.

I mean, I’m just going to cite the distinguished Atlantic journalist McKay Coppins, who wrote a tweet the other day about how he has a bunch of what he described as intelligent, normal friends who are totally convinced that this story is true. So I think no. I think, clearly, lots of people on the left have actually memed themselves into believing that this is a true story.

OK, that’s unfortunate. It’s not.

I think what we have learned from politics in the last few years is that a certain segment of people will believe whatever they want, but does any of it matter fundamentally? At the end of the day, we are talking about VP picks. Ultimately, it’s Kamala versus Trump.

Isn’t the consensus that sort of VP picks can not particularly help, but that they can harm? I mean, I don’t know what the political science says about Sarah Palin’s effect on the John McCain campaign, but people connected with that campaign certainly believe that she was — maybe they’re just scapegoating her.

A bunch of political geniuses who ran that campaign, let me tell you.

Well, yeah, because they picked her. But there’s a widespread belief that she was part of his defeat.

And people have talked about that Mike Pence helped Trump reassure the Christian conservatives. Dick Cheney was there to shore up George W. Bush’s kind of gravitas. So people talk about these things, as you are alluding to. The research suggests that they don’t make much of a difference, except maybe on the margins. But on the margins is where we’re playing this election.

Well, and I think as we’ve been saying, it matters that Trump himself has somewhat disappeared. And if he’s not out there, then his VP can’t but play a sort of outsized role. Now, I also think — I don’t feel sorry for JD Vance.

Well, of course not.

He might be vice president of the United States, and he’s going to get to debate Walz on a national stage. And that will matter a great deal to how he’s perceived. But overall, I do agree that we don’t know yet enough about how Walz will play. I do agree that if you were rerunning the tape and Trump was trailing by 3 points to Kamala Harris, I think he would be less likely to have picked Vance. I think that is definitely the case.

But let me just say one more thing, which is that we have these polls now, right? We have a week’s worth of polls showing Harris ahead. And part of what you see in those polls is just incredible levels of enthusiasm from Democrats. The evidence is more ambiguous. Some polls show her gaining with independents. Some don’t, right?

So I think what we can say about the Harris-Walsz ticket so far is that it is a Democrat maximizer. This is like maximum Democratic Party right now. And what remains to be seen is whether that just continues, but also whether that is the better strategy than the kind of like cobble together a coalition with more independents. But maximum Democratic Party is where this ticket is at right now with this pick.

All right, Ross, I’m going to have to give you the last word on this, as much as that pains me.

As I intended by going on too long.

Oh, my god. Well, we’ve got, what, 12 more weeks. I mean, at this rate, we could still have an alien invasion October surprise.

Don’t you feel like if we had an alien invasion, it would be on like page 4?

Right. It wouldn’t even rank at this point.

And haven’t we already had an alien invasion, and it was on page 4?

Ross, Ross, that is enough excitement for today. We’re going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we’re going to get hot or cold.

All righty, Michelle. It is time for that magical moment when one of us rants about something we’re hot or cold on, and we love to offer this tiny hill to die on to our guests. So, do you got anything you’re feeling hot or cold about?

So I am going to say I’m feeling hot on this show called “Sunny.” Have either of you guys heard of it?

I feel like no one’s heard of it. I see no discussion of it, no discourse. I mean, I stumbled on it kind of randomly. But it’s the only thing that I’m really into on television right now.

Synopsis, please.

So it’s a kind of slightly comedic mystery starring Rashida Jones, Rashida Jones from —

“Parks and Rec.”

From “Parks and Rec” and from “The Office.” And she is an expat living in a slightly futuristic Kyoto, whose husband and son either die or go missing — it’s not entirely clear — in a plane crash. And her husband, who worked in robotics, leaves her this kind of home helper robot that he has clearly programmed in some unusual way, the significance of which is mysterious. And she gets mixed up with the Yakuza, and there’s some kind of —

— code that people are searching for that can make these robots, which are kind of ubiquitous, do things that, ordinarily, robots should not be permitted to do. And in some ways, it reminds me of “Severance.” It has this slightly surreal, deadpan quality to it. It’s short. I think most episodes are roughly a half hour. And it’s the only thing that’s on TV right now that I’m really like, oh, is there a new episode out yet?

OK, OK. This goes on my summer watch list. I’ve run out of things. I’m waiting for the new season of “Shrinking” to come back in a couple of months. But until then, this is it. I’m going there.

Yeah, we need Japanese content at the moment, I think, both because —

I was not expecting that, Ross.

Well, both because the weakness of the yen against the dollar explains why basically everyone I know has been going to Japan.

Oh, yeah, that’s true.

I feel like I’ve known — including my mother-in-law, who is embarking on a trip to Japan this spring, and all of this is making my eight-year-old son, who is sort of obsessed with samurai, really angry because he wants to go to Japan. And I’ve tried to explain to him that we can’t take five kids, including a newborn, on a trans-Pacific flight.

That’s funny. My son also badly wants to go to Japan. And we’re going to hopefully do it for his 13 birthday.

That’s so funny. My 19-year-old is obsessed with anime, like complete anime nut, and wants to go to Japan.

I mean, my son studies Japanese on Duolingo.

How old is your son now?

11. Well, maybe he can take my son, who is 8 and will be 10, to Japan. It’s a very safe country, so they could just go together.

But it doesn’t seem very safe in this show.

Well, Yakuza, shmakuza — that’s what I always say.

All right. Fantastic. I’m going to go book our group trip to Japan now. But before that, I just want to say how great it was to have you here. Thank you so much for joining me and Ross.

Thank you, Michelle.

No, thanks for having me. [MUSIC PLAYING]

Thanks for joining our conversation today. Give us a follow on your favorite podcast app. And if you’re so moved, leave us a nice review to let other people know why they should listen. We love hearing your questions and ideas for future conversations. So if you have one, share it with us in a voicemail by calling 212-556-7440. You can also email us at [email protected].

“Matter of Opinion” is produced by Phoebe Lett, Sophia Alvarez Boyd, and Andrea Betanzos. It’s edited by Jordana Hochman. Our fact-check team is Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker, and Michelle Harris. Original music by Isaac Jones, Efim Shapiro, Carole Sabouraud, Sonia Herrero, and Pat McCusker. Mixing by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Kristina Samulewski. Our executive producer is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Hosted by Michelle Cottle and Ross Douthat

Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio

This week on the show, Michelle Goldberg joins Michelle Cottle and Ross Douthat to debate the gambles or gains Kamala Harris has made by picking Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate. They also discuss the ways the Trump-Vance ticket could recalibrate to regain their lead.

Plus, Goldberg is sunny on a new show you probably haven’t heard of.

(A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Recommended in this episode:

Don’t Listen to the Right. The Kamalanomenon Is Real. by Michelle Goldberg

The Focus Group Podcast episode “ Kamala Needs a DEI Pick (Straight White Dude) ” with Sarah Longwell

Sunny from Apple TV+

Thoughts? Email us at [email protected] .

Follow our hosts on X: Michelle Cottle ( @mcottle ) and Ross Douthat ( @DouthatNYT ).

“Matter of Opinion” is produced by Phoebe Lett, Sophia Alvarez Boyd and Andrea Betanzos. It is edited by Jordana Hochman. Mixing by Pat McCusker. Original music by Isaac Jones, Pat McCusker, Carole Sabouraud and Efim Shapiro. Our fact-checking team is Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Michelle Harris. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Kristina Samulewski. Our executive producer is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Michelle Cottle writes about national politics for Opinion and is a host of the podcast “Matter of Opinion.” She has covered Washington and politics since the Clinton administration.  @ mcottle

Ross Douthat has been an Opinion columnist for The Times since 2009. He is the author, most recently, of “The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery.” @ DouthatNYT • Facebook