Near the beginning of each month we like to pause and take a look at what’s going on in the world around us, with a particular focus on animal activity, farmers’ fields, and environmental holidays. You can find our archive of previous welcomes here .

Welcome June! It’s always with equal parts anticipation and apprehension that I welcome June each year. It’s the start of summer, but for some reason that always signals the beginning of the end type of feelings for me. This doesn’t happen with any other season and that’s how I know that summer is truly my number one.

I’m not prone to anxiety, but I really was feeling it this past week. I had just spent two awesome weekends camping, hiking, surfing, and exploring quaint little towns. Sounds awesome, right? But then my mind starting reeling, what am I going to do the rest of the summer? Will I have time for fun? I better plan it! I can’t waste it! These thought patterns are so unlike me that it caught me off guard. In order to stop the rumination, I sat down and figured my shit out.

Here’s how you plan a summer :

• Make a list of all the activities you want to do. For me that looked like a lot of outdoorsy stuff like backpacking, day hiking, car camping, hammock napping, kayaking, SUP, beach days, and a minor league baseball or two.
• Then make a list of all the great humans you’d like to do those activities with or at least see at some point before Autumn arrives.
• Figure out where those lists overlap and plan on doing specific things with specific people. For instance, Bull’s game with Kimi, Hiking with boyfriend, Beach with Janessa, etc.
• For the bigger adventures like overnight backpacking or paddling down the Haw or that girls’ beach weekend – narrow down exactly where you want to go. THIS IS MAJOR. Without this step, you really don’t have a plan, you just have the desire to do something, you don’t even know where the hell it’s going to be?! Get your life together. This step takes time and research and it’s absolutely crucial.
• Now open your calendar and mark all your dates that can’t wiggle around. Holiday get-togethers, birthday celebrations, weddings, work trips, etc.
• Now you can clearly see what weekends are open for playing and where you’ll be during that time.
• I like to use post it notes over my calendar so I can visualize what I’d like to do even if it’s not set in stone written in permanent marker yet. This helps me plan a proper flow for my summer. For instance, the hike I have planned in the Blue Ridge Mountains would fit in perfectly after I teach my retreat in nearby Hot Springs, NC. Instead of me driving for five hours to reach the trailhead on some random weekend. The post its also allow you to theoretically cram as much as possible into a couple months leaving you to realize that all of August is practically up for playing. Like, whhhhat?! Anxiety gone. Now I know I have wiggle room for fun and that there are enough weekends in the summer to do everything I want.

What We’re Eating

Normally, I find myself munching on whatever uses the oven the least, but this year I have a new plan. I’m taking my kitchen outside, just like they do in so many warm-climate countries I frequent. That’s right, I’m cookin’ on the deck. Maybe you do this with a grill, but I actually don’t have one (sometimes you lose the good stuff during the break up) however, I do use my double burner outside whenever I would normally cook something on top of my stove. This is really convenient for me because my kitchen door opens right up to my deck, so I’m usually cooking with the door open and hopping inside with ease if I need a spatula or a spice.

I usually start my day with a German style breakfast, think fine meats and cheeses, a hardboiled egg or two and definitely some pickles and olives. Fruit, hummus, and raw veggies are always in rotation too. For bigger mealtimes, I see a lot of chicken fajitas, tacos, and fancy salads in my future. I’m also planning on making a batch of kimchi and sauerkraut, I’ll let you know how it goes.  Otherwise I’m all about that beverage game in the summer (okay, always) and I make sure to have a big jug of cold brew coffee and sun tea in my fridge at all times. Kombucha is my favorite, but I still haven’t brewed my own instead I happily shell out the cash for my favorite North Carolina brand, Buchi.

Explore More

This summer I’m making a concerted effort to explore my own backyard more. I’ve traveled to Asheville and the Outer Banks each summer, but what about the Piedmont (the big stretch of flat space in central North Carolina)? For all I know, this could be my last summer here, so I plan on paddling the creeks and rivers (starting with the Haw), jumping from those rope swings, and hiking as many trails as possible. I have a few bigger adventures planned for the mountains and the beach, but in the meantime I intend to see what I have overlooked for the past four summers. How about you? Do you find you need to run far away to have that epic adventure or have you explored close to home and discovered all that surrounds you? If you have any tips for central North Carolina excursions, please send them my way!