Summer Lovin’: The Ins and Outs of the Summer Fling

Ah, summer time. Three whole months of no classes, no homework and no outstanding commitments. What is a girl (or a handsome boy) to do? There’s the inevitable catching up with your girlfriends, shopping trips and family obligation time… but every gal (and lad!) should find themselves a little summer romance.

From my personal experiences, summer flings can be quite delightful; you get to have three months of non-committed fun, living for the moment.

I spent three months one summer at the beach, where I met a cute, surfer boy who took me to every beach bonfire there was. During the days, we hung out on the beach, basking in the sun and getting to know each other – to a limited extent, as we both acknowledged what would happen at the end of August – and at night we spent time laughing, dancing and enjoying the moment, with an occasional make out or two. Wink. Wink.

At the end of the summer, we said our goodbyes, had our goodbye kiss and exchanged numbers, emails and addresses. I was content with the situation; I knew what we had was a temporary thing and I made peace with that before we even shared our first kiss. He lived in Arizona, I lived in New York; the time zone, let alone the 1,000+ miles between us made me aware of the impossibility of our “magic love” reunion. I think he expected water works; he wanted me to cry and get all mushy at the thought of losing him, but I tried to be adult about the situation. We had fun, but fun was all we’d ever have. We kept in touch for a little while, but eventually it faded to a “how are you” IM once in a while…and now, he’s just a faint memory of a summer well spent.

The best part about a summer fling is how great a time you can have with someone, as long as you are aware of what will happen at the end of the summer. Whether it’s a fun make-out buddy or a three month romp fest, you need to be aware of the consequences: a fling is exactly that, a fling, and if you fall, you will set yourself up to get hurt.

My suggestions ladies and gents is this: if you want a summer fling, be prepared for what it means to make out with or sleep with someone for three months and not wind up with the fairy tale ending. If you can handle that, then by all means, indulge yourself, and give us CC-ers some details while you’re at it.

Have any of you ever had a summer fling? Spill the deets!