As all college students know, each year many of our fellow peers use their week of spring break to go off to some beautiful beach where they drink endless amounts of alcohol, get sun-kissed skin and take numerous pictures of how much fun they’re having. However, there is also a large population of students who don’t do this and instead stay home to most likely spend their vacations working in a place where the weather is not nearly as nice and boredom quickly settles in.
What can be nice about this kind of break though is that you can still pamper and treat yourself during your spring break staycation (even if it’s not super glamorous) in a way that allows you to relax and give yourself some of that self care you haven’t had time for.
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Personally, I love a good face mask and as of right now, I am very much into the avocado and oatmeal mixed clay masks. In fact, I currently have an unopened bottle of that very kind sitting in my bathroom begging me to finally use it months after buying it. It doesn’t take long to do, so even if you’re using your staycation to work and get all the assignments you’re behind on done, I suggest setting aside just 15-20 minutes every few days during your break to take out the face masks and let your skin feel soft and hydrated again, especially after such a dry skin inducing cold winter.
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Catch up on all of the major shows that you have been missing out on. Personally, during the school year I always make a mental list of all the shows people recommend for me to watch, but then I never get around to them. I always end up just rewatching old shows so that I can do school work and have the non-distracting background noise of a show I could probably recite line for line and have seen 20 times over. This is why your spring break staycation is the perfect time to finally start making some headway on the list of new shows you keep promising yourself you’ll eventually get around to and want to pay attention to.
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Break out the bottle of wine with some of the friends who stayed in town, or even just by yourself while you enjoy a quiet and relaxing night. Who knows, you might even opt for this kind of relaxed buzz over the over-crowded drunk college student filled beaches where many others are. Personally, the older I get, the more I have come to enjoy my low-key wine nights over many of the crazy college parties.
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Read that book you keep telling yourself you’ll get to but never do because your teacher is assigning you way too much Shakespeare to ever have any free time. I could probably use both hands to count the number of books I want to read but never have time to. Use some of this rare and newfound free time to catch up on the books you enjoy reading for fun and not because your professor assigned it.
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Get cooking! I almost NEVER have the time or energy to cook anything during the busy school semester. If cooking fun, delicious and creative meals that will last longer and cost less than going out or delivery is something you enjoy, then use this time to get back into it. You can even use this time to prep some meals for the next week when you have returned back to your busy and unrelenting school schedule.
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Catch up on sleep. Let me be the first to tell you that if you’re spending a few nights in by yourself, there is nothing wrong with being dressed and ready for bed a little earlier than usual. You will thank yourself when you finally get those 8 hours of recommended sleep that you never get during the school semester. Those extra few hours can make all the difference in the world as you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day.
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Get ahead on assignments. I know this sounds like a weird one to add to a list about pampering and treating yourself, but your future self will thank you for it. Go down to a local cafe or bakery, order yourself a nice cup of coffee or a sweet treat and get ahead on some of those pesky assignments. You will save yourself the hassle of doing it next week when you’re back to being crunched for time. Not to mention, you can use some of that extra time you will have the next week to keep up with some of the self care you forget to give yourself when you get too busy.
Just because you’re not laying out on the crowded beach with hundreds of other drunk college students does not mean you can’t enjoy your spring break. Sure, it might seem disappointing at first, but this is the perfect opportunity to fit in some nice R&R and catch back up on some of things you miss out on most when you’re too busy or tired during the school semester. Not only will you be giving yourself time to do all of this, but you will also be saving yourself a ton of money as you do so, something you might just thank yourself for later. Happy Spring Breaking!!