How to Have a "No Sacrifice Summer"
Is staying productive while on the move even possible? Even if it isn't, here are some of the best tips I've learned...plus things that kept me happy, pretty, and busy through it all.
It’s been 4 years since Megan Thee Stallion coined “hot girl summer.” What followed was hundreds of lesser derivatives (who could forget Chet Hanks’ problematic declaration of “white boy summer”) aiming to recreate and put a name to a collective mood and mantra the way Megan did.
Please forgive me as I begrudgingly add to this wealth of online commentary that has deemed it necessary to come up with a meme-able mantra for one’s summer season. No, it won’t live up to “hot girl summer” but I do hope it gives you something to aim for over what’s left of the summer.
This summer, I’ve decided I will be sacrificing nothing, except for perhaps sleep–all in the name of a “no sacrifice summer.” See a little DITL of new sacrifice summer here. Think of “no sacrifice summer” as the over-used Lady Gaga meme below, with a little work sprinkled in there too:
The last month I’ve been working in between Paris, London, and Cannes and have on the way learned a lot about how to optimize one’s life in order to make “no sacrifice summer” feasible. While we’re still fine tuning here, these are some lessons I’ve learned:
Don’t be afraid to sublet your place.
One of my favorite discoveries of 2024 was the ease with which I could sublet my NYC apartment and therefore justify spending time away from the city–and even go so far as to girl math my way into thinking this travel was “saving money” the second I get to a place where the cost of living is less than NYC (which is in fact—everywhere aside from like Monaco). Warning: this WILL be embarrassing and you WILL feel personally victimized by thefakerothko:
If putting myself out there on the internet has taught me anything though–it is that embarrassment is a waste of emotion. If on the other side of 24 hours of shame as I plug my empty apartment for 3 weeks on my IG story, was 3 weeks of galavanting around Europe without paying double rent–I’ll take it.
I’ve done this twice and had no issues. Both times, I’ve found that simply posting on my IG story has found me a friend of a friend interested within 24 hours. Make sure you have a mutual who can personally vet this person. I keep a decent amount of stuff in my apartment while the person sublets, so there is obviously a degree of trust required in this that no amount of paperwork could completely cover your ass. If IG stories are not successful and you’re in NYC – I would check out subletting platform Kiki which requires all users to meet IRL with someone on the Kiki team before listing or booking a place.
You’re living somewhere not vacationing.
The first time I traveled for an extended period of time while still working for myself was in Mexico City. I often felt bad when people I met there asked me what I had done since getting there and I didn’t have a laundry list of cool restaurants and tourist attractions I had checked off my bucket list. Often my “touristy” time had been limited to one dinner or one morning coffee stop–with the rest of it spent tapping away at my keyboard in my Airbnb. We’re conditioned that to travel we need to make our flights “worth it”. But sometimes, making it worth it can be less obvious than visiting the hot spots that have likely already been “TikTok-ified” but being able to aimlessly wander around a new neighborhood and culture between Zoom calls.
Find familiar in the unfamiliar.
I need something to start my day, especially when working on another time zone than those that i’m working with. For most that may be a coffee to start the day, however since I’ve never had coffee and need to maintain my “I’ve never had coffee” fun fact. I instead go for being yelled at in a dark room to run faster (e.g. overpriced workout classes). I personally think the international availability of ClassPass is not talked about enough –and has been a lifesaver for me for to discover new workouts while I travel. (If you want two weeks free, here’s a code).
Make your schedule work for you.
A great hack is to add an additional time zone to your Google Calendar. This simple adjustment can help you stay organized and avoid scheduling mishaps. Knowing exactly when meetings and deadlines fall in both your home and travel time zones allows you to plan effectively and make the most of your time abroad. Flexibility is key—don't be afraid to adjust your routine to better suit your new environment.
I hope the above inspired you to live a “no sacrifice summer” with me. I am admittedly still fine tuning so feel free to leave any tips you have in the comments. Until next time, here are some things that have kept me happy, pretty, and busy:
Something that kept me happy: While I may no longer be spending my days at beach clubs in south of France, I did turn my Shazam from the last week into a Spotify playlist aptly named “pov: you’re at a beach club in the south of france”. While I may be writing this from my 8 hour layover at the Charles De Gaulle airport, I may as well be back at Shellona.
Something that kept me pretty: If another TikTok skinfluencer tells me how important daily sunscreen use is I may actually hurl myself directly into the sun (wrinkles be damned). At this point, I think we all know we should be re-applying sunscreen more than we probably are, but there are few sunscreens that don’t suck to, and even fewer that are actually enjoyable to re-apply. Well, I found a new favorite, and while it’s from Vacation I have yet to hear anyone talk about it: Vacation Super Spritz SPF 50 Face Mist. I found myself just spritzing this on my face whenever I got hot as a refreshing face mist—which I can’t say about any other sunscreen. (Do keep in mind face mists are generally less protective than creams, so I do use a cream at the beginning of the day as my base—but my philosophy on mists for re-applying is that it must be better than nothing).
Something that kept me busy: I’ve been embarassingly bad about reading (likely due to my screentime-induced brainrot) and was on the hunt for a beach read to ease me back into it. I might be the last person on earth to read these but, Sarah J Maas’ A Court of Thornes and Roses did just the trick. I finished it in 3 days and there was an appropriate amount of smut to keep my brain engaged.
Till next time,
Jade