Making the Most of Summer: The Return on Experiences

A few years ago, Idaho Tourism launched a campaign called 18 Summers. The premise was simple: you only get 18 summers with your children before they leave home. The campaign encouraged families to make the most of that time by getting out and exploring everything Idaho has to offer.

Whether the number is exactly right isn’t really the point. The ad struck a chord because it reminded us of something we all know, but don’t always stop to think about: summer has a way of becoming the backdrop for some of life’s most meaningful memories.

We remember the family road trips, the afternoons at the lake, the backyard barbecues, and the vacations that become family stories for years to come. Summer slows life down just enough to create space for the people and experiences that often get squeezed out during the rest of the year.

Yet for many of us, summer arrives before we’ve given much thought to how we want to spend it. The calendar fills up. Weekends disappear. Activities, obligations, and commitments start competing for our time. Before long, Labor Day arrives and we’re left wondering where the season went.

What if this year was different?

What if, instead of simply letting summer happen, you approached it with the same intentionality you bring to other important areas of your life?

That doesn’t mean creating a packed itinerary or planning an elaborate vacation. In fact, some of the most meaningful memories come from surprisingly simple experiences. It might be finally taking that weekend trip you’ve talked about for years, spending more evenings outside with friends, teaching your grandchildren how to fish, or making it a point to have dinner together more often.

One of our favorite ideas is creating a family summer bucket list. Not a list of twenty ambitious goals that becomes another source of stress, but a handful of experiences everyone is excited about. Maybe it’s attending a concert, exploring a new town, taking more walks together, or spending an evening around the fire pit. Maybe it’s finally settling the family debate about whether s’mores are better with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups instead of Hershey’s bars. (Just saying.)

The exercise itself is often more valuable than the list. It creates an opportunity to ask questions that don’t come up often enough:

What would make this summer memorable?

Who do we want to spend more time with?

What experiences have we been putting off?

What would we regret not doing before the season is over?

These questions may not seem financial in nature, but they often lead directly to the conversations that matter most.

At Highland, we believe wealth is at its best when it supports the life you want to live. While investments, taxes, and planning are all important, they are ultimately tools—not the destination. The real goal is helping people align their resources with what matters most to them.

For some families, that means creating flexibility to travel more. For others, it means spending more time with children or grandchildren, supporting causes they care about, helping the next generation, or simply feeling confident enough to enjoy what they’ve worked so hard to build.

Too often, people become incredibly intentional about accumulating wealth but less intentional about using it. Summer offers a natural opportunity to pause and ask a different question: What experiences do we want to create, and are our financial decisions helping us create them?

As the season gets underway, consider setting aside an hour with your spouse, partner, children, or grandchildren. Dream a little. Build a simple bucket list. Talk about what would make this summer one you’ll remember.

You may be surprised by how much return a single summer can provide.