How to Have an 80s and 90s Summer in 2026

Maybe it’s because my oldest just graduated high school and my youngest is learning to drive. Maybe it’s because life feels like it’s speeding up whether I’m ready or not. Maybe because kids today have every second of their lives scheduled in sports and activities. My oldest nannies and works long days, my youngest wanted to take college classes already this summer, then starts open gym for volleyball.

I don’t know but whatever it is, I’ve been thinking a lot about the summers we had growing up in the 80s and 90s. They weren’t perfect. We got bored, we complained, we roller bladed a lot even when we had our license, we rode bikes even when we had our license. I will say our city is a very walkable and outside activity based city. The kids golf, play tennis, pickle ball, beach volleyball, ride bikes, tan and swim.

But there was also something about the 80’s, 90’s and even early 2000’s that feels impossible to recreate now. Nobody was documenting every moment, nobody was trying to become a brand, nobody was optimizing their morning routine. We were just… living and honestly, I think a lot of us are craving a little more of that right now.

A few weeks ago I saw someone online talking about having an “80s summer” and I immediately knew what they meant.

I agree I think we need some reclaiming of the things we’ve lost along the way. The slower pace, the spontaneity, the simplicity, the ability to be bored without immediately reaching for our phone. So if you’re feeling a little burnt out, overwhelmed, overstimulated, or just nostalgic lately, here are a few things I’m adding to my own summer bucket list.

I’m making sun tea and not because some wellness influencer told me to, but because my mom used to make it and there’s something oddly comforting about watching a giant jar sit in the sun all afternoon.

Maybe I’ll go to the drive-in. I don’t care if I fall asleep halfway through the movie. I don’t care if it’s not the most convenient way to watch something. There is something magical about sitting outside on a summer night watching a giant screen under the stars.

I’m watching more sunrises and sunsets and not to take a picture for Instagram, not for content. I want to do it just because they’re beautiful. I’ve spent enough years rushing through mornings and multitasking through evenings. I want to actually notice them.

I’m buying the popsicles again. The cheap ones, the neon-colored ones, the ones that turn your tongue blue and stain your fingers sorry wellness girlies. But yes, I want to make my own popsicles too. I say every summer I want to do this and buy all the non tox molds and never end up doing it. Alas maybe this will be the summer.

Every summer doesn’t need to become a wellness challenge. Sometimes a popsicle is just a popsicle. Even though I can remember as early as middle school, magazine covers talking about how to get an inner thigh gap like the Victoria Secret Models and do their workout. BUUUT this is not that summer I am talking about.

I’m staying outside after dark. This might be the one I miss the most. Remember summer nights? The sound of crickets, the smell of freshly cut grass, lightning bugs blinking across the yard. Kids playing until the streetlights came on. We played man hunt or ghost in the graveyard, we also played kick ball, TV tag, SPUD, and so many other neighborhood games outside.

There was something about summer evenings that felt endless. Now most of us go from work straight into screens. I want more porch sitting this summer, more backyard conversations, more walks after dinner, more looking up at the stars.

I’m reading actual fiction books no self help or personal development books, i want to read the juicy beach reads. No audiobooks while multitasking, real books. The kind where you lose your place because you fell asleep in a lawn chair. The kind where you look up and realize two hours have passed.

Maybe go play mini golf or go golfing again, my kids always go golfing but for some reason I don’t. Def going get ice cream, watch fireworks, maybe go to some local county fairs, take long drives, stopping at roadside farm stands, eating watermelon on the patio, buying flowers at the farmer’s market, floating in the pool, and maybe most importantly… I’m trying to do less because I’m tired. Like really, really, really tired. I think a lot of us are. We’ve spent years trying to optimize our lives. Track our steps, track our sleep, track our productivity, track our water intake, track our screen time, track everything.

I don’t want to track anything this summer, I just want to live. I have been thinking that maybe the real magic of those 80s and 90s summers weren’t what we were doing, maybe it was that nobody was trying to turn every moment into something useful. We weren’t building a personal brand, we weren’t creating content, we weren’t trying to become better versions of ourselves. We were just being kids living our lives authentically and while none of us can go back, maybe we can borrow a few things from those summers.

Maybe we can leave our phones inside a little more often, we can watch the sunset without posting about it, we can sit on a porch swing and do absolutely nothing for an hour, maybe we can remember that not every moment needs to be productive to be meaningful.

So here’s to the summer of 2026.

May it include sun tea and drive-ins, popsicles and lightning bugs, books and bicycles, ice cream and county fairs, a little less scrolling, a little more living, and maybe, just maybe, a few moments that feel like being twelve years old again.