Whether you plan a long, faraway journey or a simple, spontaneous trip, summer can be the perfect time to set out and explore. If you have a few weeks (or even a few days), consider spending your free time exploring a new place!

不管你是准备要长途旅行还是一个简简单单没有多少计划的短途出行，夏日时光都是出门探索的好时候。如果你有几周的时间（哪怕几天也可以），考虑去个陌生的地儿消磨闲暇时光吧！

“The summer before I went abroad, I brushed up on my Spanish,” says Alex Watson, a senior at New York University. “When I came home from my summer job, I’d use an app called Duolingo to practice my speaking. It was a great use of my free time and it really came in handy when I was abroad.”

“我出国前的暑假，练了练西班牙语”，纽约大学大四学生亚历克斯·沃森说：“暑期兼职回到家我就会用多邻国学习口语。闲暇时间这么用起来特别棒，我在国外的时候练过的口语正好派上了用场。”

If you’ve always wanted to learn about a certain subject or specific skill, take advantage of these next few months to do so! Sign up for a class, download an app or reach out to someone in your industry and pick up a few new skills this summer.

如果你一直想学某个东西或者学会一门技能，接下来的几个月就可以用起来呀！报个班，下个软件，和业内的大佬建立良好关系，这个夏天，把本领学起来吧！

Summer is a time to be spontaneous, so why not try something you've always wanted to? If you’ve been longing to try something out or cross something off your bucket list, maybe now is your chance!

夏天本就是随心随性的季节，所以为啥不试试做点你一直想做的事儿呢？如果你想做某事很久了，想从待办事项里给它划掉，现在就是时候！

Olivia Shaw, a senior at UNC Greensboro, finally decided to get her hair dyed last summer. “I'd been wanting to get purple hair for three years, and I finally just walked into a barber shop and did it one day,” she says. “I was nervous, but it felt so amazing to check something off my bucket list! I think summer is the perfect time to gather your courage and do something you've wanted to do for a while. It definitely makes your summer more memorable.”

UNC Greensboro的高年级学生奥利维亚·肖上个暑假终于做了染发的决定。“三年来我一直想染个紫色的头发，那天我就冲进了一家理发店把它给染了。”她说：“我其实蛮紧张的，不过完成心愿的感觉真的超级棒！我觉得夏天就是该鼓足勇气做点你心心念念的事情。这绝对会让你的暑假留下无法磨灭的记忆。”

If there’s something on your bucket list that has been on there for a while, maybe it’s about time to check it off! If you’ve always wanted to get into photography, buy a camera. Always wanted to get your first aid certification? Take a class. Take advantage of this time and do something you’ve been considering for a while.

如果你的愿望清单上的东西囤积很久了，不妨现在就给它划掉！假若你一直都想学摄影，那就买个相机呗。想拿个急救证？那就报个班。把时间利用起来，完成夙愿。好多人都希望自己有空读点儿喜欢的书，不过呃......说实话，我们都宁愿看剧。如果这个夏天你有几个月空闲，不妨把你的书单往前推进一点儿啊。

“As a grad student, I have a lot of assigned readings and, sometimes, the best I can do is skim the not-so-urgent ones,” says Sydnee Lyons, a first-year graduate student at Florida Atlantic University. “So, I like to keep a running list of the readings that looked really interesting to me but that I didn't get to spend enough time with and go back to them during the summer months off—at my own pace and at the beach,” she says.

“作为一名研究生，我有超多布置的书要读，而且有时候对于那些不太打紧的书，我最多只能扫读一下”，弗罗里达亚特兰大大学的研一学生西尼·里昂说：“所以我喜欢搞一个不断更新的书单，里面都是我特别想读但是没有时间读的书，暑假的时候我就会把这堆书读起来，阅读速度随意，还有，要在沙滩上读。”

Whether it’s for fun or for work, think about spending your extra time catching up on the reading you’ve let build up over the past year or so. We’re all guilty of putting it off, so summer is the perfect time to play catch up!

无论是为了娱乐还是为了工作，考虑一下把你去年囤积起来的书单用闲暇时间读起来。拖延什么的我们都不想哒，所以暑假嘛，最好追赶起来！

“The summer between my sophomore and junior year, I decided to stay in the city and try a new internship,” says Alex. “Normally I’d go home for the summer, and usually I’m too busy during the school year to do an internship, so it turned out to be the perfect opportunity. It was great to learn more about my field, make a little money and avoid the boredom of home!”

“大二和大三中间的那个暑假我决定待在城里找份实习”，亚历克斯说：“暑假我一般都回家的，而且上学的时候也时常忙得没空去实习，结果暑假就成了最适合找实习的时候。在本专业领域学点东西、赚点小钱，还不用回家，省得无聊。”

While you may have booked your past summers with plans to the brim, it’s not so bad to have a completely plan-free summer once in a while. A free summer gives you the time to try new things, explore and relax. If you’re trying to fill up your summer months, consider taking the advice!

以往的暑假你可能计划太满，所以这个暑假嘛，偶尔不做啥计划也不错。自由的暑假你就有空尝试点儿新事物，尽情探索，尽情放松。要是你打算把暑假填满的话，不妨考虑下上面的建议呀！