Sometimes everyone needs a little push to leave their comfort zone and experience new things, especially when the days become shorter, the weather gets colder, and there are so many TV series coming back on air. So here is your push; your autumn checklist. You can take it as a small challenge. How many of these points can you cross out by the winter holidays?
Travel
Who doesn’t love travelling? Summer might be the season ruling this activity, but autumn has some obvious advantages: fewer tourists, cheaper tickets, and cooler temperatures than in summer mean you have more energy to explore new countries and cities instead of being passive and sipping a cold cocktail on a beach somewhere.
Thus, try visit neighbouring countries or maybe someplace far away and completely different. Need ideas? Make your world ABC and cross out the countries by alphabet - alternative to random pinpointing on a map. The world, and autumn are yours... Plus, with the generous Ryanair discounts with ESNcard you can make 8 one-way flights with 15% off and a free checked-in bag. That could cover all your autumn travelling with ease, don’t you think?
Get involved with crafts or learn some new skills
Autumn comes with its own goodies: chestnuts, colourful leaves, pines, acorns, and much more. Remember all the things you used to DIY at school? Why not try some of them again? You can make some exclusive custom postcards from leaves and autumn fruits or knit something for your friends. It’s not difficult, looks amazing, and for sure will be a heart-warming gift for someone. You can also improve some skills that have nothing to do with autumn, such as photography. We are all guilty of taking photos of those magnificent and colourful autumn sceneries, so why not learn to do it in a more professional way?
Help others
Cold and rainy weather brings an unpleasant mood to a lot of people. Therefore, autumn, and the start of such weather, can be a perfect opportunity for you to volunteer and help other people. You can start small, in your local community, or perhaps your university. You can join ESN, the organisation that thrives under the motto, ‘Students Helping Students.’ You can find other organisation or help a particular cause that makes your heart beat; for example, volunteering to protect the environment, taking care of abandoned animals, or playing with children from an orphanage. You can always do some random acts of kindness and help a passerby, a stranger, or even someone you know quite well. Make people smile. It will not only help people around you but will keep you far away from the autumn blues, too.
Explore your town
Did you ever want to do something or go somewhere in your hometown, university, city, or current place of living but postponed it because you could do it anytime? It is a common thing, really. You can live in a city for years and years, and not know it that well. Ironically, when you have only a short time at some place, for example, on holidays or an Erasmus+ exchange, you want to see as much as possible, and often you do.
So let’s make this autumn the time to stop postponing explorations in your current town. Go to that café you’ve always passed by but never entered, or visit a museum you didn’t even know about before. Maybe some park you never thought of visiting will become your favourite place to jog? Get to know where you live, and then you can show it to others.
Learn to cook (something new)
You might either be quite a good chef already, or someone who is avoiding the kitchen as a place of torment, but that is not a good enough reason to skip this point on the list. There is always something new to try in the kitchen. Just ask Google. You can take some autumn goodies, for example, nuts, apples, or pumpkins and start your own cooking adventure. If you come up with something tremendous, make sure to invite your friends for a taste.
Start a blog or website
All of us, at some point, wanted to start a blog; and maybe did. We maybe even succeeded, or failed miserably. But when the weather starts getting colder and the appeal of a warm home takes over, you can open your laptop and start typing. It can be a website to show off your portfolio, even a custom resume that will land you a dream job. It can be a blog to discuss the newest Game of Thrones episodes. It can be a fan-fiction site if you are more into creative writing. It can be absolutely anything. The Internet is limitless and so are your opportunities there. So leave your mark on the web that’s not going to disappear in your social media timeline.
Attend autumn fairs
Most countries and big cities are organising fairs in the beginning or middle of autumn. It’s the event of the season, so of course it’s a must! You can just walk around, admire the crafts and various goodies, eat something delicious, and discuss all of it with friends. Bonus points if you take someone from outside of your city or country and show them the traditional artistry of your region. Bonus points scored if you attend fairs in few different cities or countries.
Go hiking, biking or horse riding
If you prefer more active leisure and pastimes, there is no time like autumn for hiking or biking. Still warm enough but not too hot, so you will enjoy both the activity and the weather. Choose a trail, bonus points if it has extremely beautiful landscapes, and go ahead. If you have stables somewhere nearby, you can also try horse riding. You will bond with horses, get a workout, and feel free while the wind is whistling in your hair.
Do something childish
No one enjoys autumn as much as children. You might not be young enough to run through the colourful leaves for hours every day but why not do it once? Jump in a pile of leaves, go on the swings while the leaves fall from the trees, laugh like crazy, and feel like a kid. You can be an adult any other time, and most of the time you need to act like one. So, give yourself a break and enjoy autumn at least for a bit like you used to do when you were little.
Listen to live music
It can be a small acoustic music evening at a cozy café or a huge rock concert with world-famous bands. It doesn’t matter. Music makes us dance. Music makes us happy. As long as you can enjoy your evening with some lovely tunes, no autumn gloominess can touch you.
Watch a TV series in a foreign language
When it finally gets cold and you strictly say ‘NO’ to outdoor activities, it’s more than fine to spend some time watching TV series. But why not taking up some in a non-native language? Watching films and shows in English can be pretty common to most of us, but what about watching one in your second or even third language? You’ll improve your language skills and enjoy a (hopefully) interesting plot just the same.
Have a bonfire night
Make a bonfire, invite your friends, roast some marshmallows, and you can even make a chilly autumn evening warm and fun. It applies to this and to most of the activities listed above: when you have a good company, you can have unforgettable time doing absolutely anything.
There are a lot more activities you can do in autumn, it would be impossible to list everything. But what are your favourite ones? Share with us in the comments below. And have a fascinating autumn season!
