Road Warriorette has been compensated by National Car Rental for this post.

Summer is here, and that means long days, warm temperatures, no school, barbecues, and fireworks. Of course, as much as we would all love to have summers off, that doesn’t happen for most of us past a certain age. But there are still ways to enjoy the season, even for busy road warriors! Here are a few ways I try to make a few hours on a business trip feel like a mini-vacation.

Enjoy the outside. One of the best ways I have found to get outside during long days of work is to dine al fresco. You get some fresh air, a little sunshine, and it feels like a tiny little vacation in the middle of a work day. You have to eat anyway, right? It might as well be outside! For those of you in the warmer climates, earlier in the day is better—maybe enjoy your breakfast or coffee outside in the morning instead of lunch at noon.

See the city you’re in. Got a couple of hours off during a trip? Go do something fun. One of my coworkers used his two-hour dinner break to drive through Garden of the Gods on a work trip to Colorado Springs a few weeks ago. During a conference last week, I sat outside on the balcony of our hotel for one hour in the evening with my baby and watched the dolphins play. If it’s all the time you have, don’t do busy work. Do something that feels a little bit like a vacation!

Tastes of the season. Who doesn’t feel like a kid when eating a big slice of watermelon? Summer is a time of incredible flavors, from cherries (my personal favorite) to home-grown tomatoes to peach ice cream. Use Yelp or Urban Spoon to find a great restaurant that serves locally sourced, seasonal produce and enjoy the tastes of summer.

National Car Rental wants to help business travelers make the most of summer and appreciate a new destination. To celebrate the journey, National and Road Warriorette are doing a Twitter photo contest. The winner will get a National Prize Pack with an iPod Touch, a $50 iTunes gift card, and some fun National gear. Contest runs from today until Tuesday, June 18. Here’s how to enter:

1. Follow @RoadWarriorette and @NationalPro on Twitter.
2. Share a picture of you enjoying yourself on a summer business trip
3. Give a short description of the picture, and mention @RoadWarriorette and #SummerOnTheGo

Here’s a sample tweet:

Baby and me enjoying the dolphins during a conference in Corpus Christi last week. #SummerOnTheGo @RoadWarriorette pic.twitter.example

(And here is the actual picture. If you look in the middle of the water, those two dark shapes are dolphins. I promise.)

That’s it! Super easy, and super fun. Good luck!