Why summer flies by as an adult—but lasted forever when you were 10
Popular Science...
Do you remember the last day of school before summer break? The clock ticking down to the end of the day, and then that wild, wonderful feeling of freedom? You have all summer to do literally anything you want.
Cut to summers in adulthood, where you blink and suddenly there are Halloween decorations up. What gives? Why do summers seem to last forever when you’re growing up but only a couple of days as an adult? Well in a new episode of Popular Science’s Ask Us Anything podcast, we explore just that.
Ask Us Anything answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. So, yes, there’s a reason you can’t remember being a baby, and no, venomous dinosaurs likely weren’t a thing. If you have a question for us, send us a note. Nothing is too silly or simple.
This episode is based on the Popular Science article “Why did childhood summers feel endless?”
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Full Episode Transcript
Sarah Durn: What’s your favorite memory of summer breaks growing up?
Alex: My favorite childhood memory of summer was doing a slip and slide at summer camp. It was an epic, epic hill, and it was really fun.
Katie: I will always remember going to the library with my mom every single day as a kid in the summer. And I think after one summer of that, I had read every single Mary-Kate and Ashley chapter book in the library.
Max: We would go to Europe for a week or two. We had a family friend who had a big house in France, so I spent a lot of my years learning to swim in a big pool in a house in France. Honestly, summer holidays felt endless to me. They went on and on, and then suddenly they stopped.
SD: Welcome to Ask Us Anything from the editors of Popular Science, where we answer your questions about our very weird world, from “What is storm chasing really like?” to “Why can’t we remember being babies?” No question is too offbeat or banal. I’m Sarah Durn, an editor at Popular Science.
Annie Colbert: And hello, I’m editor-in-chief Annie Colbert.
SD: Here at PopSci, we’re always pondering the weirdest, quirkiest questions.
AC: And this week, we’re going back in time. So Sarah, please tell us, what’s with those seemingly never-ending summer break vibes when we were kids, and why do summers seem to whiz by now that we’re adults?
SD: Well, the short answer is your brain is kind of playing tricks on you.
AC: Ugh, rude.
SD: I know, but it’s not totally in a bad way. Scientists say childhood summers may have felt longer because your brain was literally experiencing time differently.
AC: Okay, hold on. Are we talking nostalgia? Like, things felt better when I was 10 and covered in sunscreen and popsicle juice?
SD: No, not just nostalgia.
This is actually about memory, novelty, and the fact that when you’re a kid, almost everything is happening for the first time.
AC: Hmm. Okay, so first bike ride, first summer camp crush, first gross encounter with a public pool bathroom.
SD: Exactly. For good and for bad.
AC: Yes.
SD: And weirdly, all those firsts may have stretched summer in your memory.
AC: So you’re telling me that adulthood feels faster because I’ve simply seen too many Tuesdays.
SD: Yeah, kind of. We’re gonna get into why summers seem to vanish once you grow up, and whether there’s actually anything we can do to make it feel a little slower again.
AC: Yes, please. I would like August to stop arriving in like seven minutes.
SD: I know. Very much same.
Now, before we time travel back to summer vacation, we want to hear from you. What questions are keeping you curious? Is there something weird, wonderful, or wildly specific you’ve always wanted to know?
Submit your question by clicking the “Ask Us” link at popsci.com/ask. Again, that’s popsci.com/ask, and you want to click the “Ask Us” link.
AC: Yes, send us your wildly specific questions.
SD: And with that, we’ll be right back after a quick break to talk about why time starts zooming the moment you become responsible for buying your own sunscreen.
Welcome back. Okay, Annie, before we get into the science, I feel like we have to start at the beginning. What’s your favorite childhood summer memory?
AC: I definitely had a very ’90s kid summers of watching “The Price Is Right.” I would be running free in the neighborhood, eating whatever snacks I could find in our kitchen. We are not a snacks household, so it was a lot of, like, saltines and peanut butter.
And I remember one summer that my brother and I found Pong buried in our basement. Pong, of course, being one of the first video games, and he beat me something like 74 games in a row because, one, he’s six years older than I am, but also, two, I’m terrible at video games.
But it was a really fun summer. I got to hang out with him. I was free. We just did whatever we wanted.
SD: Aw. Yeah, I mean, very similar. Also love “The Price Is Right.” I would watch it all the time with my grandmother right at 11:00 a.m.. Also too, I have the same experience of playing Halo one-on-one against my brother.
AC: Yes.
SD: I’d always wanna play campaign, but he’d wanna play against me, and he’d always kill me in, like, three seconds.
AC: Yep.
SD: It was fun for him, but not so fun for me.
AC: It was just fun to be there.
SD: Yeah. I think for me, like, what I remember is less one thing. It’s more, like, the feeling of summer break.
AC: Mm.
SD: Like, school would end, and suddenly life would seem different. One day you’re doing worksheets, and then the next day, you know, total liberation.
AC: The vibes shift immediately.
SD: Immediately. Suddenly you’re sleeping in, running around outside, eating popsicles at weird hours. I remember summer just feeling huge, like I had endless time.
I’d get my summer reading list and think, “Oh, I have forever to do this.”
AC: Oh, the optimism of June.
SD: Yeah, exactly. And then August would roll around, and I’d be panic-reading some deeply boring assigned novel thinking, “Wow, nothing stretches time quite like terrible summer reading.”
AC: Yes. Honestly, reading one chapter of required summer reading felt like surviving an entire fiscal quarter now.
SD: Right?
AC: Yeah.
SD: But here’s the weird thing. As adults, summer suddenly feels absurdly short. Like, you blink and it’s somehow already Halloween.
AC: Yes. Every year I’m like, “Wait, didn’t summer just start?”
SD: Exactly. And according to researchers, this isn’t just nostalgia messing with us. Our brains genuinely experience time differently as a kid.
AC: Okay, but how? Because this all feels deeply unfair.
SD: I know. So the short answer is memory. According to time perception researcher Dr. Marc Wittmann, our sense of how long a period of time lasts mostly comes down to how much we actually remember.
AC: Wait, so childhood summers felt long because we remember more of them?
SD: Exactly. Your brain is kinda doing a retrospective highlight reel, and when you look back on a stretch of time, your brain asks, “How much happened here?” And in childhood, the answer is a ton. You know, almost everything is new. First beach trip, first sunburn, first time discovering your neighborhood ice cream truck schedule like you’re 007.
And novelty matters because new experiences are much more likely to get stored in your memory. Dr. Whitmann basically says childhood is one long parade of firsts. When something surprises us or feels emotionally meaningful, the brain flags it like, “Okay, this matters. Save this.”
AC: Hmm. So if you’re a kid, summer isn’t just long because you have time off. It feels long because your brain is recording everything.
SD: Exactly. And there’s another layer to this. Kids’ brains are actively changing while all of this is happening. Dr. Whitmann points out that every year of childhood is wildly different developmentally. You’re growing physically, emotionally, cognitively.
His point is basically every year a child is kind of becoming a new person.
AC: Which totally tracks. I look at middle school photos of myself and I’m like, “Who is she?”
SD: Oh, I know. Completely. She’s an enigma.
AC: Yes.
SD: So your childhood summers aren’t just packed with novelty, they’re happening inside a rapidly changing brain that’s super primed to encode memories, which makes those seasons feel fuller and richer in hindsight.
AC: Okay, that all makes sense, but I have to ask about the theory everyone says online, the whole, well, when you’re five, a year is 1/5th of your life, but when you’re 50 it’s 1/50th.
SD: Yeah, yeah, the math explanation. Dr. Whitmann basically says that doesn’t totally track. While it sounds intuitively satisfying, he says there’s no evidence your brain is doing that calculation.
AC: Got it.
SD: Instead, the better explanation seems to be adulthood gets repetitive. We’ve seen summers before. You know the drill, work, vacation, barbecue, suddenly September.
AC: Rude, but fair.
SD: Yeah, and because fewer experiences feel truly novel, your brain stores less information. So when you look back, there’s just less there to mark the passage of time.
The summer didn’t vanish, it just left behind fewer memory breadcrumbs.
AC: Wow. That’s kind of existential.
SD: Yeah, and it gets slightly more existential.
AC: Ooh, fantastic.
SD: I know. So Dr. Whitmann’s newer research found something surprising when he looked at memory and aging. Older adults didn’t actually describe memories as blurrier or less vivid.
In some cases, memories felt richer and more emotional. What changes is the brain becomes worse at encoding the ordinary everyday stuff.
AC: Like Tuesday.
SD: Exactly. And apparently this decline can start surprisingly early, around our 30s, and gradually ramps up, which might help explain why people suddenly wake up and go, “Wait, how has it been 10 years?”
AC: No, I reject this information.
SD: Yeah, you and me both. But there is good news.
AC: Please tell me the good news.
SD: Researchers think we can kind of hack this effect, or at least slow it down.
AC: Okay. Everybody lean in. I want to hear it.
SD: Yeah, me too. Dr. Whitmann says what matters is novelty. New places, new people, new experiences, even tiny ones.
Take a different walking route, try a weird hobby, go somewhere unfamiliar. Eat at a restaurant you keep saying you’ll try. Basically, give your brain more material.
AC: So you’re saying I just need to do more new things.
SD: Basically, but with one caveat. Dr. Whitmann warns against turning this into a to-do list. Don’t schedule every second of your Saturday trying to maximize memories, because if you’re sprinting between activities, time weirdly speeds up again. He basically recommends staying open to what comes, like wake up, pay attention to how you feel, and just kind of see where the day goes.
AC: Okay. Unexpected science-backed permission to wander around aimlessly and get iced coffee. This is actually how I’ve been navigating New York City for years, so I am glad that it is helping my memory.
SD: There you go. You’re already way ahead of the game.
Honestly, my favorite quote from Dr. Whitmann in our story was, “Emotions are basically the glue for memory.” The more emotionally meaningful something feels, the more likely it sticks.
So maybe the goal isn’t recreating childhood summers, maybe it’s making more room for experiences that feel important enough to remember, even if it’s just, you know, reading in a park.
AC: That’s beautiful.
SD: I know. Thank you, neuroscience.
AC: I’m feeling inspired to go outside and find something new.
SD: Same. And with that, we’ll be right back after this quick break.
You know, Annie, this whole conversation about memory actually reminded me of a story you recently edited by Jordan Burchette about documenting everything.
AC: Ah, yes. A story that forced me to confront the fact that my phone contains approximately 30,000 photos, many of which are screenshots I was absolutely convinced I would need later.
SD: And have you ever looked at them again?
AC: No. No. No, not really. That’s future Annie’s problem when I run out of storage.
SD: Yes. Well, according to Jordan’s reporting, psychologists actually have a name for this whole phenomenon, right?
AC: Yes, they do. It’s called cognitive offloading, which sounds like something you would do after a stressful meeting.
But really it just means using external tools to help your brain remember things.
SD: So kinda like iCalendar or Outlook remembering your appointments and meetings?
AC: Yes, absolutely. So cognitive offloading is basically letting technology act as a second brain.
SD: Which sounds kind of good?
AC: Yes. Honestly, sometimes it is.
Researchers say it can free up mental bandwidth. Instead of spending energy remembering a dentist appointment three weeks from now, your brain can focus on whatever’s happening right in front of you.
SD: Okay, so my phone is helping me become a more evolved human?
AC: No, no, no. Let’s not get carried away. Yes. Because Jordan’s story also gets into the downsides. If your brain knows information has been safely stored somewhere else, it may put less effort into remembering it.
SD: Okay, so when I take 75 photos of a concert—
AC: Yeah, your brain may decide, “Great, the camera’s got this. I’m heading out.”
Researchers even have a term for this. It’s called digital amnesia. The basic idea is that when we know the information is saved somewhere, we’re often less likely to remember it ourselves.
SD: Okay, so all those screenshots I save and never revisit might actually be making me worse at remembering things?
AC: Potentially. Although, I think the bigger issue here is that someday archaeologists are going to uncover your camera roll and wonder why humans are so obsessed with recipes they never cooked.
SD: Yes. Honestly, that’s very fair.
AC: And the experts Jordan spoke with aren’t saying that we should stop using technology. The point is that there’s a trade-off. You gain convenience and accuracy, but sometimes it’s at the cost of your own recall.
SD: Okay, so maybe the move is not documenting literally every second of our lives.
AC: Exactly. One of the researchers even suggested that a lot of us probably over-document. Sometimes it’s okay to take fewer photos, put the phone away, and just be present for the thing that’s happening.
SD: Which feels weirdly connected to everything we talked about today.
AC: It does. If childhood summers felt long because they were packed with memorable experiences, maybe we don’t need to spend every moment recording life. Maybe we need to spend a little more time actually living it.
SD: Okay. Wow. This episode has been so profound.
AC: I contain multitudes.
SD: And so many screenshots.
AC: So very many screenshots.
And that’s it for this episode. But don’t worry, we’ve got more episodes of Ask Us Anything live in our feed right now. Follow or subscribe to Ask Us Anything by Popular Science wherever you enjoy your podcasts. And if you like our show, leave a rating and a review.
SD: Do you have a favorite summer camp memory?
Let us know in the comments. Our producer is Alan Haburchak. This week’s episode was based on articles written for Popular Science by Jennifer Byrne and Jordan Burchette, and you’ll find links to read those stories in the show notes.
AC: Thank you, team. Thank you, summer camp. Thank you, “The Price is Right.” And thank all of you for listening.
SD: And one more time, if you want something you’ve always wondered about explained on a future episode, go to popsci.com/ask and click the “Ask Us” link. Until next time, follow the vibes to something unexpected or, you know, iced coffee.
AC: Iced coffee and Bob Barker. That’s my dream summer now. Little Jerry Springer sprinkled in. Boop, ba-da-boop, boop, boop.
The post Why summer flies by as an adult—but lasted forever when you were 10 appeared first on Popular Science.