We have now entered that time of year when all attention shifts towards summer planning. If you pay attention while walking through the aisles of the local grocery stores you can learn more about what to do than calling a travel agent. “What are the latest rules for entry into Israel?” “What are the newest hotels to stay at on the Jersey shore?” “Which bungalow colonies have the best day camps?” Wait. Really? Is there still such a thing as a bungalow colony?

Even the mere mention of the term bungalow colony brings on such strong feelings for me. It would all start with the endless packing that would go on for days and then weeks. The whole house smooshed up into my Buick station wagon and, of course, my children’s goldfish Shoshana safely stored in a glass coffee jar and riding on the center console up to the mountains.

One time during the drive up (I must have been in a hurry to get there) a police officer came up behind me to pull me over. The only problem was that the car was so packed with stuff I couldn’t see out the rearview mirror and it took almost a mile before the officer pulled up alongside of me and motioned for me to stop.

But of course it was all worth it—the smiles on my children’s faces from the endless hours of outdoor playing, my friends all coming out after their kids were put to sleep to watch the sky turn into a thousand shades of orange as a calm settled over the colony and gently gave way to the sound of crickets and the faint light of the summer moon.

I stopped the person who was talking about their bungalow colony and asked if they really do still exist and she said that it was an old cabin that her parents had in a place where she really doesn’t know too many people anymore. Every summer she goes she thinks it will be her last, but as of now she’s still going up.

Since those days, people have discovered more and more varied ways to spend their summers and honestly, what makes a summer destination is really a relative feeling. For most, as we begin the drive away from our homes towards our destinations, the feelings of getting away already start to set in. With this in mind, the latest calls we have been getting at our office should come as no surprise: full time residents of Manhattan seeking a summer home in Bergen County. If what you are looking for is a cozy home with a pool in the backyard, good friends, kids and neighbors, why shouldn’t Bergen County be an option for you to spend your summer?

With all the outdoor socializing that has crept up during COVID, some friendly blocks have decided to look at themselves as little bungalow colonies. It’s no stretch to see how those from the city looking for a respite could turn here for their summer homes. It certainly beats the traffic to the Hamptons.

Nechama Polak is the broker of record and owner of V and N Group LLC located at 1401 Palisade Ave, Teaneck. [email protected] 201 826 8809.