The first question you get from your professors after spring break often is, “How many of you did something amazing over the break?”
Can you hear the crickets in your head already? That trip to Iceland you were looking at on Groupon is now haunting you. It’s time to get busy living.
Traveling is definitely an important part of your 20s, but can seem impossible due to responsibilities most students face while in college. Ask anyone older than you about their take on “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve” during college, and they may inspire you to up your travel game. Exploring the world is like exploring your future; you can’t foresee what lies ahead in life, but through traveling, your life goals can come into focus. You’ll never know until you go, and in some cases you may never come back.
Think about the places you’ve always wanted to visit and the activities you’ve never had a chance to do. Try foods your tastebuds are foreign to, and wander environments that are polar opposite from anything you’ve ever experienced first-hand. These thoughts should be overloading your brain when you think of spring break. There is a world of choices of what students actually do versus what MTV thinks a spring break should look like. Sitting poolside, sipping on jungle juice, wondering when Steve Aoki will drop the bass so you can fist pump as fast as the BPM is great for “MTV Spring Break,” but it’s not for everyone. Planning a meaningful trip can help you experience some of life’s greatest gifts in a subtle way.
Getting back to nature is arguably the purist form of an escape from student life, while ballin’ out in Vegas could be another student’s ideal getaway. Don’t limit yourself to what you can or cannot do – you can always find a way to do what you want to do, despite logic or reasoning. The key to traveling on the cheap is leveraging resources to find deals on trips, hook-ups on housing and tasty cheap eats while on the go. Working within a budget that’s flexible is a smart way to maximize fun output, and getting outdoors is a great way to do that.
California has awesome destinations worth exploring just outside our doorstep. These are by far the easiest form of escape from stressful city life. Being outdoors is a great experience with friends. Finding trust in your friends is a great way to make lifelong bonds, and in the end you may find yourself to be a more capable person of doing extraordinary things. Self-discovery during spring break will have you stoked the rest of the semester, while some of us are still recovering from a week-long hangover.
Visiting a friend in another town or city is another great, cheap way to catch up and explore a new environment. It’s also important to maintain distant friendships, as these people were once in your life and now they are just on Facebook. If you have too many friends, hit them all up, and I’m sure you can work out an itinerary. It’s the best way get around town if you are just visiting for a short while. A week can go by quickly this way, so try to slow it down and focus on daily activities. A couch to call home for a week doesn’t sound too bad.
Plan something with a group of friends who are also on board with getting out of town, it’s only a week, but the memories are everlasting. Don’t put off your dream destination so far into the future – the future starts now, and it’s time to get going. Spring break is your time, a time to relax, a time to have fun and a time to actually live.
