As spring break rolls around I would say it is evident that we all need a break. However, the tropical vaca that you are thirsting for may not be in the budget as a struggling college student. That being said there are plenty of ways to have just as fab of a Spreak as the girls dropping pics from Punta Cana on your insta feed while still pinching pennies!
1. Save Before, Save After
Sometimes it is definitely worth it to spend money, even when it is a really hard hit to your wallet. Money is money, but mems are mems (or so I have been telling myself). In order to make a trip happen, just live frugally before your big trip and once you return and you have lost most of the money to your name, come back to reality after living like a millionaire. At least now when you are sadly eating your ramen, you have the memories of your celeb-like lifestyle.
2. Rough It
As much as we want to stay at a boujee resort, you might just have to rough it. Flights are expensive and that can be tough to work around. Where you can save money is in where you stay. If you stay at a cheap hotel or do a lot of Airbnb research, you can find cheaper places to stay. As long as it is safe and relatively clean, you can make it work. But definitely bring some Lysol and check for weird bugs–no vaca is worth weird bugs.
3. Food
While you’re on a trip, a good place to save money is meals. Rather than going out for every meal, hit a grocery store and get some stuff that’s easy to whip up in a hotel room. It is especially easy to not go out to breakfast and lunch–cereal, bagels, PB&J, etc.
4. ROOOOOOAD TRIP
There are plenty of cool places to go within driving distance (even if it is a hike). One of the main reasons to leave to country is to skip a few years to the legal drinking age. However, just across the US border is the fabulous city of Montreal!! Especially if you are a fellow New Englander, Montreal is not that far and would be a lot cheaper than a flight and there’s a super fun night life. The only trade off is the warmth–it definitely is not too tropical.
5. Stay-cation
Stay-cation is without a doubt the lamest saying of all time. However, when push comes to shove you can totally make do at home. One fun thing to do is go on a college world tour and check out your friends schools that are pretty local. Use some Jergens and you’ll look just as toasty tan as if you were on your way back from Jamaica (maybe not just as much, but at least a little bit).