Meeting up with friends, having some banter and downing some pints at the pub is arguably the very centre of British culture, so it’s understandable why it’s prioritised on our to-do list when we regain our freedom.
I am also very excited to go to my local and have a few gins, meet up with my friends that I haven’t seen in months, and try and live as we were pre-pandemic.
However, I am also excited for a few other things that lockdown has meant are currently unavailable. Here is my list of five things I am looking forward to doing, that don’t involve going to the pub.
1) Escape room
I’ve been wanting to do an escape room with my friends for a while now, but the constant fluctuation of being in and out of different tiers and lockdowns has made this impossible to do. Luckily, with the world slowly opening back up, doing as escape room finally seems possible soon. Escape rooms are quite easy to find. My home town (Reading) has a few already and Kingston has at least two. It’s also a social experience, something to do with your friends and a nice breath of fresh air from the repetitive Zoom calls we’ve been having the past months.
Escape rooms can vary in price, but if you look around you can find something for your budget, and it usually works out cheaper per person the more people you have. Typically, escape rooms are a maximum of six people, so this could be an activity that becomes available soon should Boris’ restriction-lifting plan go smoothly.
2) Go to a restaurant
As much as I can’t lie about ordering way too many takeaways through lockdown, it will be nice to get the restaurant experience whilst eating food. The food you can order to be delivered is good, but somehow eating food in a restaurant is just better. I can’t wait for a sit-down meal where I’m actually presentably dressed and not slurping noodles in my PJs. It will be nice to return to normality and feel like a human rather than just slumped at my desk.
The great thing about going to a restaurant too is that it can really make a trip and round it up nicely. I can’t wait to visit central London again and find a nice restaurant after exploring the capital all day.
3) Browsing an actual real-life shop
With the high street closed, we’ve all turned to online shopping, and whilst the majority of things I have ordered have been okay, it’s going to be so good to physically check out what we are going to buy before we purchase it. I can’t wait to be able to try stuff on in-store again too, because buying from online retailers really has been a gamble with their sometimes questionable sizing.
4) Going to the theatre/live music event/ festival
The arts have really suffered during these bouts of lockdown, and as an avid theatre fan, I can’t wait to see some of my favourite musicals live at the west end again. Listening or watching performing arts or streaming your favourite bands on Spotify is nothing like seeing them live. The experience really is incredible and I can’t wait to spend my summer doing all the things that we haven’t been able to do for so long.
It’ll also be great to see some local singers and bands playing in pubs and outside areas again, adding a nice vibe as you go down the high street or chill in your local.
5) Having a beach or river day
The 16-year-old delight of escaping to the river or the beach for a bbq with friends never grows old. I can’t wait to be able to meet up with my friends (without a limit of people) and enjoy the sun and catch up with a few friends in some of the gorgeous landscapes that the UK has to offer. Even in Kingston, going to the river and sitting on the wall in summer is a beautiful and fun experience, and I can’t wait to be able to do it again.
Megan Kelly 
Maurizio Kayonjo