While Father’s Day is meant to celebrate and spend time with your dad, it can be one of the more difficult days to get through-especially if you don’t have a parent to celebrate with. Aside from those whose parents have passed, there are some who may not have the best or even any form of a bond or relationship with their father making this holiday a tough one to bear.
For those who either have bad relationships with their dads, fathers who have passed or absentee/abandoned fathers, Father’s Day can feel isolating and lonely and can resemble a terrible nightmare having to see countless photos of your friends and loved ones celebrating with their dads and being bombarded with Father’s Day advertisements everywhere you look. It can feel overwhelming and depressive if you aren’t celebrating Father’s Day along with the rest of your peers but if you’re in this particular situation and plan on skipping the festivities on June 17, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to spend the day wallowing in your woes and locked away in your house.
In fact, if you plan on skipping Father’s Day this year, there are actually plenty of other ways you can celebrate and enjoy your day. If you’re looking to keep yourself distracted and have a fun day regardless, take a look at these five alternative things to do if you’re not celebrating Father’s Day this year.
1. Go on a weekend trip.
If you’re able, Father’s Day weekend is a great time to hit the road and go on quick weekend getaway. If you have friends who are also skipping out on the Father’s Day festivities, taking a quick weekend trip to get away for a few days is a great way to spend the weekend. Whether it’s a quick camping trip or staying at a fancy hotel in the next town over, make sure that your trip and weekend is something you and your friends will enjoy.
Taking some time to get away from the norm is a great way to refresh your mind and body and a mini getaway is a great way to do so. If you aren’t able to get away for the weekend, planning a future getaway or trip with your friends is a great way to spend the time because it gives you something to look forward to. Get a head start Father’s Day weekend by looking into affordable Air BnB’s and planning the itinerary. If you’re not interested in going anywhere overnight, plan a night out with your friends in the near future. It can be anything from a movie night at home to trying that new Thai place across town. Your options are endless.
2. Treat yourself.
Take some time this Father’s Day and splurge on yourself for once. You know that money you would have spent on a gift or dinner for your dad? You can use that money and treat yourself to something nice. Have a spa day, buy that designer purse you’ve been eyeing, update your wardrobe or treat yourself to a nice expensive dinner. If there was ever a day to treat yourself, it would be this one, so go big!
3. Spend the day with your mom.
While other’s are spending the day celebrating their dads, you can use Father’s Day as a day to celebrate anyone you want. If you were raised by a single mother and want to give her some more props for raising you on her own and for being your support system, go for it.
If your father has passed or wasn’t around and you have someone who was like a father-like figure to you, you can take the day to spend some time with them or let them know you appreciate them by writing them a nice card thanking them for everything.
If you don’t have any real parental figures in your life, you can instead use Father’s Day as a day to celebrate other important people in your life. Whether it’s an aunt or uncle who you were close with, a cousin you grew up with or your close friends. Instead of focusing on the people you don’t have in your life, spend the day focusing on and being around the people you do have in your life.
4. Stay busy and off of social media.
Staying busy during Father’s Day not only helps make the day go by much faster, but it’s also a great distraction and keeps the possibility of you getting in your feelings to a minimum. Run some errands, get that much-needed workout in, work on your tan, read that book you’ve wanted to start or have a movie night.
Whatever you do, make sure it’s something that will keep you busy and make the day go by quickly and with ease. And while social media is a great way to pass the time, skipping out on or keeping your social media interactions to a minimum may be best for days like today. Considering the tons of people who will be posting photos and tributes to their dads, it might be difficult for you to see, so avoid it all together.
5. Go to your happy place.
Father’s Day is a great day to plan a little day trip and go somewhere you love, or that makes you feel happy. If you don’t have a happy place, spend the day and go somewhere new that you’ve always wanted to go but never got around to it. Get out there and explore, take plenty of pictures and then post all about it on your social media the next day