By Dallin Rahlf

The summer is here! Is ithot? Yes. Is the inside of your car even hotter? YES. Is using the GetOutPassthe hottest thing you can do this summer? YES! The heat is trying to tellyou that you can’t have fun this summer, and to that, I say, “rubbish.” Theheat does make it a little harder to think, so instead of trying to come upwith things to do this summer, let us at the GetOutPass fill your head withwonderful ideas that will make this summer the best one yet.

1. Ride the roller coasterthat makes you a little nervous

Yes, I mean THAT one. The onethat you see every time you go to your favorite amusement park, but you justcan’t seem to get yourself to try. You know it’s there. And It knows YOU’REthere. It’s time to embrace the wild reality of conquering that beast. You knowwhat the fun part of a roller coaster is? Once you’re on, there’s really nogetting off. So, waiting in the line is probably and technically the mostdifficult part of the experience. By the way, I looked it up, turns our pilotsin fighter jets experience 9 Gs, and there’s dozens of roller coasters in theUSA that get to about 5 Gs. You’re halfway to being on a fighter jet!

2. Go on a camping trip

I’ll be honest with you here—Ihate camping. But even though I hate it, I know my friends and my wife love it,so I’m going to do my absolute best to get over it and go camping. At the endof the day, camping IS fun. Being outdoors, hanging around the campfire, eatingsome hot dogs that are burnt on the outside and freezing in the middle, someoneawkwardly brings their guitar and tries to sing some songs (me), you have arestless yet restful sleep and wake up at that nice 5am sun...did I sell you onit yet? Even though I don’t love camping, some of my favorite memories comefrom campouts. It’s IMPOSSIBLE not to have some sort of fun on a camping trip.

3. Try something you haven’t

Is the summer not made fortrying new things? You might have already seen something on this list that’sbeen bugging you for a while. Something you know you should try but just haven’tjustified the timing or the effort. THIS is your sign to go for it. If youpromise to try something new, so will I. This summer I want to try wakeboarding. I never have, and it looks like it could be a good time. Will it takesome effort to mooch off some of my friends that have a boat and plan a littleweekend trip? Yeah, it will, but that’s ok! Trying something new requires alittle tenacity. You got this.

4. Go on a sporadic vacation

Our recent Flights From Homeblog may have stirred up the crazy idea that you should take yourself on avacation. And to that, I say go for it! Find a page like Flights From Home ifyou don’t live in the Utah area so that you can get a cheap rate on someamazing flights to exotic places. It doesn’t have to break your wallet!Something simple for a couple days can go a long way. Get out. Explore theworld. You can do it!

5. Perfect your mini-golfgame

Nothing has humbled my golfingfriends more than schooling them in mini golf. Or putt-putt. Whichever one itis. Playing mini golf is somewhat like being really good at Mario Kart: you don’thave to be a good driver in real life to be good at Mario Kart! Meaning, youcan totally suck at golf like I do but kill it on the mini golf course. It’snot so much playing golf, but playing a game. It’s all about playing thecourse. Letting the other person go first. Playing conservatively. It’s the aggressivethat end up sad on the mini golf course. Sad is the LAST thing you should everbe feeling when hitting a little green ball everywhere.

6. One week of non-stop fun

This is one of my favoritethings to do: plan a fun night out every single day for an entire week. TheGetOutPass makes it easy to do so as well. Use the pass and visit a new venueevery day for a week! Try all sorts of new things. Doing this yourself or witha partner or friends is going to provide the ultimate summer week. End eachnight by trying a new dessert place as well, and you have the epitome of anexcellent summer day. It can’t get better than that.  

7. Touch a fish

Ever touched a fish not in a fishstick form? It’s a wild time. The GetOutPass has many an aquarium in itsmarkets, so take advantage of that and go try the petting zoo portion. There’ssomething magical about touching something that somehow remains slimy even whenit’s totally submerged in water. Have you touched a wet rubber band before? It feelsnothing like a stingray. Sea creatures give me the willies. But it was a cool experience,nonetheless. Or just go to the ocean, find the nearest fish, and poke itslittle head. I’m sure it won’t mind, and long as you have some… fish food togive it…yeah.

8. Explore your city

This is one of the coolerthings to do, and it can be as complicated or simple as you like. Every cityhas its secrets of underground jazz pubs, unknown restaurants with the bestfries, and cultural history. Go on one of those city tours or do your ownresearch and start exploring. There’s tons to do in every city! I once discovereda piano bar in Salt Lake City that does improvisational piano duets withsinging. It’s one of the coolest places I’ve been to. I would have nevernoticed it without exploring around a little!