Honorary Beach Bums

With it having been officially summer for a little over a week now, I have spent so much time at the beach already.

There is nothing more relaxing to me than sitting in the sand and listening to the waves.

I know that is the most cliche thing ever, but it’s cliche for a good reason.

But having $32 to my name once all of my bills are paid, spending any more money than I have to is not really an option.

With that being said, I refuse to give up the ocean, so I have mastered the art of “the ocean day trip.”

Ocean City is only about a 2-hour drive from my house, give or take 20 minutes depending on how far south you go, so it really is not that far.

And trust me, if I can handle spending 4-ish hours of my day in a car, then you can too.

I am the absolute worst at road trips; I have long legs and a bad back so I get uncomfortable in the first 20 minutes of the drive, and I don’t realize that I have to pee until we are 2/3 of the way into Delaware and the only things surrounding us are corn, soybean fields and chicken slaughter houses.

Like seriously, I suck at long car rides.

But I am willing to risk the shattering of my bladder if it means I get to dive through waves and play in the sand.

I have been to the beach and back probably about 4 or 5 times this summer, and in those trips I have gotten my packing list down to a science.

When I am gone for the day I make sure to bring the following;

• Sunblock- I know everyone loves to be tan, but getting one bad sunburn before the age of 21 can triple your risks of skin cancer.
• Water- it seems obvious, but it’s commonly overlooked.
• Music- whether it be your phone, an iPod, or whatever you listen to music on, bring it because nothing screams summer like blasting music on a back road with the windows open.
• A book, or something to do on the beach- if you are anything like me, you cannot just lie there on the beach when you’re not in the water, I need something to read.
• A change of clothes- this is really important because not only do wet, sandy bathing suits get uncomfortable, but leaving wet bikini bottoms on can cause a yeast infection if you’re not careful.
  • Also make sure you bring a sweatshirt or jacket- when the sun goes down and the wind coming off the water starts to pick up the temperatures can drop fast.
• Snacks- invest in some good snacks to take with you, but don’t worry about the full meals.
  • Again if you’re anything like me, you will make lunch with the intent to eat it then look at it and realize that it has been sitting in the car all day.

There are also a few random things that I have picked up partially from my mom being the smartest person I know, and partially from my best friend and I making these mistakes;

• Talk to locals- no matter what beach town you go to there are people who live there year-round, or at least live there for the summer, and can tell you about good places to eat, when traffic is bad, or new routes to get home.
• Rent an umbrella- it is relatively cheap and a lot easier than lugging around one of your own, especially because they usually put it in the ground for you.
• Have cash- pretty much everywhere on the planet takes credit cards at this point in time, however, it is convenient to have cash, whether it be for tolls (the bay bridge is $4 right now), parking, or maybe there is just some kick-ass farm on the road that lets you feed their goats for $2 per bucket of food (yes, there is a farm like that on route 20) but it’s better to have and not need it.

That so far is my art of being an honorary beach bum. I’m sure that I will have it completely fine-tuned by the time September roles around, and no one is even thinking about the beach anymore.

But if I come up with anything else I will keep you posted, and I would love to hear what you all do, or what you pack when you go on mini vacations.

You can find more of me here: https://peoplechooselife.wordpress.com/