Spontaneous holidays, meandering, and Kopparberg: 23-year-olds describe their perfect summer

If all that warm (or searingly hot) weather, talk of Glastonbury, and emergence of celebrities walking around barefoot wasn’t enough of an indication, the recent equinox has confirmed that it is now officially summer (we’re about a week in!).

You made it through a cold dark winter, the glimmers and blossoms of sunlight and flowers that spring brings, and now it’s summer (and this time, a summer without pandemic restrictions, and that post-lockdown anxiety that plagued us last year). A real, proper, good old-fashioned feral season, where everything is hot and sweaty, where the days are long and the jeans become jorts. Whether or not you’re still blessed with summer breaks from education, generally summer is a time for slowing down a little. Going away, spending time in the sun (which is literally good for you, provided you’ve got that SPF on), siesta culture! Lots of good things.

We figured to get us into the mood, we’d speak to a bunch of 23-year-olds from across the UK to see what the summer of 2023 is looking like for them, given it’s the first proper year of post-lockdown, restriction-free fun they’ve had - and been able to fully embrace - since they were 18.

The scene looks set for a lot of travel, enjoyment, and downtime. But we’ll let them tell you in their words…

This will be my last long summer off as I’m graduating. I want to escape my small square kitchen/living room in London and get out and broaden my horizons. I’m looking forward to spending a bit of time travelling around, meeting acquaintances I’ve made at uni from across the UK and further beyond. I’m looking forward to listening to new music and giving this summer a soundtrack. I’m looking forward to celebrating my mam’s 60th and appreciating the platform in life that my parents have given me.

This summer includes my birthday weekend. I have a week off of work after it so I’m going on holiday with my significant other, and then with my friends. Just having a good time, I guess. And I’m seeing Arctic Monkeys too, also with my partner, so we’ll be able to debate which album is best. It’s summer, it’s holidays, I am happy!

To me, summer is all about festivals, and my summer will be happily bookended by two. After a long day of dancing and meandering from stage to stage, I can’t wait to drift off to the sound of tents flapping in the breeze, only to be woken by my friend’s chatter and the promise of getting to do it all over again.

I’m looking forward to pub gardens. I feel like summer is kind of delayed this year, and I just want to have a Pimms, or an Aperol Spritz or a cider in a pub garden and chat shit with my friends for hours. It’s the time well wasted, you know? That’s the first thing on the agenda as soon as it gets warm. And then just some spontaneous breaks away, abroad and in the UK. I’m trying to use this summer to make the most of my weekends, so I went to Wales recently, Somerset too. I’m going to do more city breaks abroad as well.

June was super hectic, I went to a lot of gigs. So I’m hoping to just have as relaxed a July as possible, spending time with close friends outside somewhere, taking trips to the beach. I’m moving into a house with my boyfriend in September, so I’ll spend most of August preparing (and saving up!) for that but also making sure to take time for myself to enjoy wherever possible. I want to soak up the sun while I can!

This summer I’m really looking forward to days where I just don’t have to have an agenda, and I can just lie in the park and have my little Kopparberg cider and get bad tan lines. I’m also getting into festival season for the first time andI’m stoked that I did press at Glastonbury for Pilot Magazine [where I’m an editor]. I’m also going to a festival in Malaysia called Good Vibes while visiting my best friend, so that should be a very silly time.

After a non-adventurous summer in 2022, this year I’ll be spending precious time with my friends, travelling and exploring. With trips to the southern tip of England, AirBnB stays in the Cotswold and even camping in the Peak District, we're excited to see what our home country has to offer. I guess you could refer to these trips as "an exploration of home".