Haven't you been working hard enough this year? Isn't it about time you stopped going into work day in and day out? Shouldn't you take some time off?

Yep, it's the traditional vacation time, commonly called summer. Kids are (mostly) out of school, and after a week or so of playing legal hooky, they start to wonder what they're supposed to do. I guess everyone wants direction. So here's mine. Get out of the rut.

But it's expensive to do this, especially this summer. Gas prices make getting out of town much pricier than in previous years. This affects driving or flying anywhere. So what to do on a small budget?

From the guy who's been mostly not going into work for the last two and a half years, here are my suggestions:

Take a walk. Or a hike. Just get out of the house and start walking somewhere, circle the neighborhood or pick a point to get to (a nice cool bar where a liquid reward will be waiting for you is always nice). Of course, it is hot outside. But this makes the end of the hike that much nicer. You can cool off--and feel like you've done something.

Or a bike ride. This will take you farther, widening the circle you can take around your area of town. I have just a couple suggestions: follow traffic rules or stay on the sidewalk. I was driving down a one way street the other day, and a bike rider was going against traffic and taking up a whole lane doing so. He pretended like he didn't hear me when I yelled, "This is a one way street!"

Read a book. It doesn't really matter what book, just take a break and sit somewhere. It could be in the shade or under your swamp cooler. You might have a glass of wine or an iced tea or a beer. I would suggest staying off the hard liquor, though, as the letters start to dance after a stiff one.

Sing a song. And if you've got an instrument to play along and sing, well, so much the better. If this is kind of tough to do without accompaniment, put a CD on and sing along. This is perfectly acceptable. Kinda like Karaoke. Or low budget American Idol.

Watch a movie series. Now, this may cause you to get in your car if you have to rent the movies. And it is rather couch potato to do this, but it will take up a lot of time, and give you insight into what happens when a movie gets successful and then gets redone a few times. The Matrix Trilogy. Star Wars (I'd suggest starting with Revenge of the Sith and then watching the old ones. If you start with The Phantom Menace you might get discouraged.) or Star Trek (and this series you can pick and choose as they are mostly stand alone--I usually stick with the even numbered ones). The Lord of the Rings. Or possibly early Adam Sandler. You know what you like.

Grill or have a picnic. This, of course, is a group activity. I would suggest telling other people you are doing this, as no one gravitates to a house because they smell a grill getting started. We don't live in the same close communities old people talk about from back in the day.

Home improvement always works, too. Even if you mess up something worse than it was, at least you did something. You get a little dirty and sweaty, and then you can kick back and tell the story of how you kept getting shocked while trying to put in a new outlet (turn off the power when fixing electrical outlets, fyi).

Here's a few things you shouldn't do: watch political news. They're going to be talking the same crap for the next two months. You can skip it all this summer and pick it up in mid-August. Trust me, you won't miss a thing. They aren't going to move up the Presidential election just because most of the country wants a new president--NOW!

And I'm going to nix daytime talk shows, too. Just because you're home doesn't mean there's anything good on the tube when it's sunny out. The men and women welding microphones at somewhat unsuspecting members of the audience have nothing of substance to contribute to your life.

But most of all, if you're on vacation, don't check in with the office. Don't get on your remote email or cell or PDA and read through all the crap you get sent while you're gone. You can deal with it when you make it back to work. And it'll give you something to do there for a day or so before you look around the office and wonder what everyone else is doing with their vacation.

Matt Worley is still on vacation.