With all the sunshine in the world and longer days of the year still in our grasp, it may be time to try something different than what you’ve been doing since June, starting with something light and welcoming before the darker, chillier days of fall return. With so many fun-loving summer opportunities in the air, o
ne can no longer allow himself to be held back by the blinding hangovers of an overly indulged summer evening. So with that, we offer suggestions for booze-free end-of-the-summer hobbies, which you’ll find much sweeter without chronic dehydration and vomiting.
Road Tripping
If it’s been awhile since you’ve gone around the backcountry of our sun-bleached motherland, perhaps it’s time you got back in the car, rolled down the windows and went for a good old-fashioned road trip. Stop dwelling on the fact that summer is already almost over, and get traveling for the best there is in unpredictable thrill seeking.
If music festivals are your thing, there are still a few big ones left to hit up. There’s also no end to campgrounds across the countryside, plenty of wide-open spaces to chase squirrels, build a fire and do your best to leave work where it belongs – at work – and celebrate what little freedom you have left with some luxurious wide lanes on the lesser-traveled avenues of the world with your best buds.
Water Sports
If not by land, then by sea, my friend. If that means stealing a boat from the spoiled members of marina society, then you better get to it before the sun also rises. Not having a reliable source of transportation or just being a terrible rage-riddled driver are some of the best reasons to pick up an oar and paddle away.
Depending on which part of your body you want to work the living daylights out of, any of the water-based pedestrian ways of moving – surfing, kayaking, jet skiing and paddle boarding – will get you just where you need
to be, like nowhere in particular because it’s still summer and who gives a damn? Now is the perfect time to get out and have a little rare fun, and you’ll be hard pressed to find something better. And if you burn easily, have weak organs or can’t swim for shit, you can always just head to a water park before it closes for the year.
Adrenaline Rush
Once you dipped your feet in the waters to find they’re warm and welcoming, don’t be afraid to dive in the deep end. A plunge into some of the freshwater pools of the best cliff diving rocks is one way to go, so long as you do so wisely, or you could just play it safe and rock climb until you remember your fear of heights. It’s a can’t-lose situation. When it comes to a good adrenaline rush and doing ballsy things you might normally pass on, keep in mind that warm weather and dry land is usually a better recipe than frostbite and slick ice, so make it happen before the cold rolls in.
BBQ
Now that you have your grill and your buddies nearby ready to put out the inevitable grease fire, it’s time to sling some meat and satisfy some hungry folks, and we mean that in the least promiscuous way possible. If it’s y
our first real cookout this year (what have you been waiting for?), you’re one step closer to becoming a real man. If you really want to blow some minds, marinate the shit out of your beef, pork and chicken with some clever sauces, anything from lemony garlic to island teriyaki. If you can’t win over the hearts of the men and women of your cookouts with those, either their taste buds are dead as rocks or you’re cooking with the dirty end of the spatula.
Brew Beer
If you’ve had enough of the summer seasonal beers and you’re making an honest effort for this booze-free lifestyle, brew up your own beer and pawn it off on people who appreciate a good hangover. It’s not just an inebriated hobby; it’s an art form any sober man can harness.
It’s actually known to be a real-life altering experience inventing your very own beer, and depending on your knowledge of hops, barley, malts and other beer-related cooking ingredients, you may very well create something simple that turns people’s heads. Don’t be surprised if it takes a few tries to make something actually drinkable, but once you get there, you can give it a name and cool label and who knows … maybe become famous.
Woodworking
It doesn’t take a genius to know how to work a power saw, but it does take slightly more than a klutz. Woodworking is one of the greatest rites of passage into manhood, and if your mustache is anything short of a Ron Swanson, you’ll need all the help you can get. If you’re opposed to woodshop classes, you can always stick your head into a local flea market and see some of the craftsmanship there for needed inspiration. Whether your home needs something small or a whole new coffee table, just make sure to keep it simple if you’re new to woodworking, as well as something you care enough to put all your effort into it. Carpentry is never a half-assed craft; it’s a skill for perfectionists and anything less would be a waste of time.
Ride Your Bike
Instead of swerving drunk on the drive home, gather up some friends on bicycles and hop around town, seeing what kind of trouble you can stir up. By day you should be beach hopping, swimming your heart out and mingling with the lovely birds. Before you know it, night quickly approaches and you’re looking pretty good to the ladies as a sober gentleman on his bike, with every other guy thirty sheets to the wind with sunburns and slurred speech impediments. Game, set and match.
Throw It Back
If you can’t get summer right as an adult, why not throw it back to the days when having fun was effortless and didn’t require cell phones, reservations and social networks. If you’re friends are truly cool, they don’t care what other people think and they respect the value of a quality game of kickball, Kick the Can or Capture the Flag. Maybe throw in a little TPing while you’re at it; indulge your inner youth before you’re too old to remember what that means. You had fun as a child when you were too young to drink, and believe it or not, it’s still possible. Go for it.
