Trade screen time for core memories! These 10 Screen-Free Side Quests will help you disconnect and recharge with friends for a fun analog summer.
10 Screen-Free Budget Summer Side Quests
I’m Gen X and remember when summers meant running through sprinklers, hanging out at the mall, making crafts, playing outside all day drinking from the water hose and simply bonding with friends! Somewhere between the constant notifications and endless scroll of our feeds, we lost the magic of an unplugged life.
The craving to log off and live in the real world is stronger than ever. Welcome to the era of the “Analog Summer”, a trending movement toward hobbies, real-life connection, and quirky local adventures that don’t cost a fortune.
As an expert in analog life, because I lived most of my life in it, I’ve came up with 10 budget-friendly summer side quests. These fun and simple activities will make you forget all about your digital life for a while like we’re back in the 80’s and 90’s!
The Analog Summer Side Quest List – 10 Fun Screen-Free Activities for Adults
If you’re ready to trade screen time for core memories, pack up your phone and grab your friends.
Before you get started, make sure to put away your phone! Challenge yourself to no photos and no social media. If you want to capture memories, use an instant photo camera. Try not to cheat and imagine you are back in time.
1. Be Tourists in Your Own City
Spend a full day exploring your hometown’s local landmarks, farmer’s markets, botanical gardens, zoos or quirky roadside attractions as if you’ve never been there before.
If you are in Savannah, check out my Self-Guided Savannah Ghost Walk Tour.
2. Bake & Deliver From Scratch Cookies
Spend an afternoon baking a batch of old fashioned cookies from scratch, package them up beautifully, and hand-deliver them to surprise your friends.
Here’s a list of my favorite cookie and bar recipes:
- Softest Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Lemon Cookies
- OREO Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
- Rainbow Pool Float Cookies with Mini Teddy Grahams
- Red, White & Blue Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Easy Red Velvet Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Brookies
- 5 Layer Candy Bar Brownies
- Chocolate OREO Cheesecake Bars
3. Thrift Each Other’s Outfits
Head to a thrift store with a friend, pick out a complete (and potentially hilarious or surprisingly stylish) outfit for one another, and wear them out to dinner.
If you prefer to shop alone, close your eyes, walk down the aisle with your hand skimming the clothes and blindly choose something off the rack to wear. Whatever your hand lands on, you must wear it for the day no matter how ridiculous it looks! Since there will be no photos, there will be no evidence. Ha!
4. Volunteer for the Day
Gather a group and spend a morning giving back by cleaning up a local park, community garden, or helping out at a local shelter.
Here’s some of my favorite places to volunteer around Dallas:
5. Farmers Market Dinner
Hit up a local farmers market, buy something and make a recipe with your new fruit or vegetables.
Easy Recipes to Try:
- Tri Color Italian Pasta Salad
- Baked Broccoli with Brie
- BEST Refrigerator Pickles
- Greek Salad with Chicken
- Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
- Baked Chicken Nachos
- Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps
- Strawberry Fruit Salsa
- 19 Easy Summer Dinners
6. Host a Crafternoon
Gather your friends for an afternoon of painting, DIY projects, or making charm bracelets while chatting and listening to music.
Here are some fun craft kits:
- Pressed Flowers in Frames
- Diamond Painting Coasters
- Stained Glass Painting
- Cross Stitch Embroidery Kits
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Here are some easy DIY craft projects:
- Mini Herb Fairy Garden for Your Kitchen
- Candy Gumball Machine Craft
- Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Scrub Recipe
- DIY Candy Microphones
- DIY Wine Bottle Flower Bouquet
- Rainbow Unicorn Fluffy Slime Recipe
- DIY Scrapbook Frame
- How to Make a Bow
- DIY Disney Snow White Poison Apple Purse
- Orange Creamsicle Room Spray
- Recycled Bottle Cat Container
- How to Make a Napkin Wreath
- Cute Paper Mouse Ornament
7. Have a Retro Movie Marathon
Pick a specific franchise, director, or retro era, build a cozy couch station with snacks, drinks and sink into a full day of old films.
If you need ideas, here are my Top 20 Favorite 80’s Movies:
- The Goonies
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- The Princess Bride
- Sixteen Candles
- Can’t Buy Me Love
- Revenge of the Nerds
- The Breakfast Club
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Splash
- Coming to America
- The Karate Kid
- Top Gun
- The Last Emperor
- 9 to 5
- Steel Magnolias
- Dead Poets Society
- Terms of Endearment
- Ghostbusters
- Rain Man
8. Host a Dip Exchange Party
Ask friends make their favorite simple dip recipe and gather to share snacks together. To keep the analog sharing going, fill small takeaway containers of each dip for everyone to take home, paired with individual baggies of chips or crackers.
8 Amazing Dip Recipes To Try:
- Dill Pickle Dip
- Amazing Bacon Cheeseburger Dip
- Sour Cream and Onion Dip
- Neiman Marcus Million Dollar Dip
- Best Buffalo Chicken Dip
- 3-Ingredient Chili Cheese Dip
- Bacon Lettuce Tomato Dip (BLT Dip)
- Low-Carb Skinny Ranch Chicken Dip
9. Learn a Random New Skill
Dedicate an entire day to learning something completely offline, like watercolor, tennis, knitting, crochet, paper origami, or calligraphy. Visit the library to find a beginner book for a new language.
10. Eat at a Mom & Pop Owned Restaurant
Find a small family owned restaurant in your town that you have never visited before. Ask about the family’s restaurant story and what they recommend you should order. You might leave making new friends while also helping to support a small business.
What activities have you done recently to deplug from tech?
