If this is your first winter in Boston, I hope you packed a winter coat. Or seven. Because spring semester really isn’t spring semester. It’ll be winter until the day you move out with snow and wind and frozen tears as you trek to your 8am class, and I wish I knew that my first year on campus. But there’s a way to beat the winter freeze, you just have to know the right tactics—that’s where we come in!
1. Get a winter coat.
A lot of people these days are running around Boston in sweatshirts or rain jackets. Seriously? With temperatures below 30 degrees lately, a warm thick cozy winter coat is essential. So what if it makes you look like a marshmallow? At least you’ll be able to brace yourself against the wind tunnel that is Avery Street.
2. Wear gloves/hats/scarves.
This is a big one, and it ties in with the whole wearing a coat thing. Because exposed skin is really going to burn if you don’t keep it covered up. Boston winters are very unforgiving, and if you find yourself without these essentials, you’ll make it back to your dorm room only to realize your fingers are burning and you no longer have ears
3. Drink hot chocolate.
Okay, so this one’s a bit fun. Because who doesn’t love hot chocolate, am I right? When your hands are freezing in these below freezing wind chills, sometimes gloves aren’t enough. And who can resist that steaming cup of chocolate-y goodness, especially when it warms your hands and body in such a delicious way? Not us.
4. Wear layers.
Who doesn’t love layering up the sweaters, am I right? With winter comes turtlenecks and thin sweaters and chunky sweaters and long sweaters and, really, all the sweaters that warm you up and make you feel complete. So take advantage of it! This cold can seep right through those jackets, so it’s important to have plenty of layers of protection underneath, just in case.
5. Stay indoors.
Now obviously this is a hard one. We’ve all got class and work and, I mean, there are a lot of good movies coming out. So no one wants to stay cooped up in their rooms watching Netflix all day—though on second thought that’s not too bad of an idea. But especially with this polar vortex thing going on, these temps outside can be really dangerous. And spending too much time out in it will not be good, even if you’ve wrapped yourself up in a burrito of warmth. It’s probably best to spend most of your time inside with Blair and Chuck, because it’s safer, of course.
Whether winter is your favorite season, or your most hated, it’s cold and that kinda sucks. Especially if you’re not from around these parts, you might not know what to expect. I am from around here and I didn’t know how vomit-inducingly cold it actually got. Seriously, sometimes I just want to fall to the ground and never get back up—it gets that cold. But you can prevent yourself from succumbing to the winter blues if you just take a few precautions, and prepare yourself for the winter that’s ahead. And I assure you, winter is not leaving Boston anytime soon.