How to Keep Up with Uni Friends Over the Summer

It’s coming up to World Friendship Day which this year is taking place on 30th July, and we’re SO excited! However, you may be curious as to how to keep up with your uni friends over the summer months.

After all, your student accommodation has been a real home over the course of the last year of university. It’s where you’ve met flatmates who have become friends, where you’ve studied hard, relaxed, and had fun with course mates and made connections that will last you beyond university life and into adulthood.  

 As you part ways with your new friends for the summer, you still want to stay connected, see some of your friends old and new together over the summer, and simply stay in touch until you return next year and see each other every day again.  

So, no more worrying. We’re here to help keep up with your friends from university this summer. 

Go on a trip together 

What better way to get excited about the summer months and keeping up with uni friends over the summer than to plan a trip together. There are plenty of options for travelling and holidays as a group, in the UK and abroad, and to suit all budgets.  

The great part about university friends is that you most likely live at opposite ends of the country or even in a different country, so you can even make a trip out of going to each other’s home! 

• Go on a camping trip – A camping trip with your best mates is a fun time to be had. One of the best things about holidaying in the UK is that there are countless, cheap, campsites across the whole country to suit your budget and your vibe.  From the beaches along the South Coast, to the Lake District, up to the Highlands and everything in between, you can find a different type of camping trip for you and your uni mates. All you need is a tent, a few other essentials and away you go. Travel by car, train, bus, depending on the location, and lose yourself in the countryside for a few days.  

• Make a weekend of it with a city break – If you don’t fancy ‘slumming’ it in a tent, why not look at a few different city break ideas for you as a group. It is still relatively easy to find a cheap flight abroad or to another city in the UK for a few days away.  There is so much art, culture, architecture and more to explore in the great cities of Europe and the UK. There are also some incredible party cities which could be a good option if there are any birthdays in your group of uni friends this summer. 

• Interrailing across Europe – If one city isn’t enough and you want to see a whole lot more on a tight budget, Interrailing across Europe is definitely one of the most exciting things to do with your uni friends over the summer holiday. Interrailing has been something that university students have done for decades.  It broadens your horizons, gets you to new locations in different countries every single day and allows you to experience culture and language, music, love, food, and much more on a budget. Stay in hostels, surf coaches, and explore Europe with your mates. There are few things better! 

Attend a festival together 

Get moovin’ an groovin’ with your friends at a music festival this summer. Choose the best festival to suit the music tastes, ideal location and budgets of the group. You are spoiled for choice with a dizzying array of summer festivals throughout the UK and across the entire summer period.  

Parklife Festival in Manchester, Wireless in London, TRNSMT in Glasgow, Creamfields, Reading and Leeds, and of course the legendary Glastonbury Festival are all fantastic festivals and provide you with live music and brilliant times with friends. Away from the larger festivals, you’ll always find free live music festivals and events at towns and cities throughout the country during the summer months. Such as Pride Festival is taking place throughout the next few months.  

Watch your favourite TV shows and film together 

During university there will be plenty of times where you want to do nothing more than come together as a group of friends and slouch in front of the laptop or the telly. Whichever streaming service you have access to, you’re bound to have your favourite TV shows and films that you watch together as a group of friends. Why should that stop during the summer? Continuing to watch TV shows together is the perfect way of keeping up with uni friends over the summer, and it has become easier to do so over the last few years.  

There are a few choices for you over the summer. You can carry on watching shows that you started during term-time, OR you could maybe start something new together (the only way Stranger Things could be any better is by watching it live with your mates).

Why not set aside time each week as a movie night, with a different person choosing the film each week? You could even follow a theme throughout the summer break to make things interesting, like a horror season, Oscar winning films, musicals, whatever you like as a group.  

Some of the streaming platforms allow you to watch with friends, such as GroupWatch on Disney+ or Watch Parties on Amazon Prime. An alternative is a third-party app such as Teleparty that allows you to watch Netflix with friends in different locations. It certainly beats being on a group video call and shouting “1, 2, 3, press play now!” to make sure you’re all starting at the same time! 

Stay connected online 

Let’s be honest, you most likely already have a group chat going with your uni mates whether it’s a course chat, house chat or accommodation chat. But it can prove awkward if some of your friends don’t have that specific social media, so make a WhatsApp group to keep in touch and send updates to everyone! The best part about group chats is you don’t have to message everyone separately and you can organise plans together.  

If you’re worried the group chats gone a little quite since going home for the summer, then think of ways you can get everyone talking. People may just not know how to start up the conversation. What always works is a cute pet picture or a takeaway snap, trust us!  

You can also make time for Zoom or Videocall catch-ups and quizzes like we used to do during the first lockdowns – what a blast from the past!  

As you can see, there are many ways to keep up with uni friends over the summer which will leave you feeling like you never left their side. We hope you’re feeling super positive and ready to stay in check with all your pals. Have a great summer, you deserve it!  

What you should read next: How To Score A Summer Internship As A First Year Student. 

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