Why are you going to Cabo for spring break?

Great things don’t come from comfort zones

Age and free time are inversely related.  Throughout college it becomes more and more obvious that real life is coming, and fast.  The horizon is chock-full of job searches, career moves, family, and settling down.  Time for yourself is only becoming increasingly scarce; don’t squander it while you can get some.

Thus I propose a question:  Why are you going to Cabo for spring break?

Ah yes, fun in the sun drinking day in and day out with your closest companions.  Half-naked girls for the guys, and half-naked guys for the girls.  Great weather, cheap drinks, cabanas, and pools galore.  Cabo might as well be considered college student heaven; but essentially, all you’re doing is more of what gets done Thursday through Saturday nights at ‘SC anyway.

Why do more of the same on your precious spring break?

Hit the open road with friends for an affordable, incredible adventure.

This point in our lives is about expanding our horizons, getting out of our comfort zone and learning from new experiences.  Drinking for a week in Cabo fails to achieve any of those things.  Getting drunk with friends is fun, however we have the chance to do that exact thing three nights a week throughout the school year anyway.  There are bound to be great stories and new experiences on a trip to Cabo.

Unfortunately though, the intense amount of binge drinking will destroy your memory and waste those experiences on a faulty brain.  No learning will be done — in fact vast amounts of drinking is counterproductive, undoing all the hours of studying for those midterms.

Let’s not forget about the cost of a trip to Cabo.  Sorority and fraternity dues are already exorbitant, so how can you justify spending additional money on partying?  The round trip cost for flights is about $400.  Hotel cost for five nights if split between three friends is around $300 and $450 between two – if you are frugal.  And another $325 on food and drinks over the entire vacation.  This sums up to be a trip cost of about $1,075.  A whopping fifth of the cost of sorority or fraternity dues additionally spent on one extra week of getting drunk.  I don’t know about you, but to me that doesn’t sound like a cost which falls within a college student’s budget.

Many parents are glad to dish out cash for a great education, but less so for greek life.  How do you think they feel about that costly trip dedicated to drinking in Cabo?

Hit the slopes with friends all day. End it with a hot tub soak and some brews.

So what do you do instead?  First of all, unless you’re from LA, I’m sure your family misses you.  Go see them, and if that’s not possible, which for many it isn’t, travel elsewhere.  The US is a huge and diverse place, luckily though, it is almost totally accessible by car.  If there is a city calling your name, create a sweet playlist and hit the road.

Road trips may be arduous, but there is an unbelievable amount of learning and experience gathered through that type of travel.  Furthermore the US has an awesome national park system.  The Lyon Center, and many other outdoors stores, rents out gear for backpacking and camping.  California itself is home to some of the most breathtaking natural environments in the world.

Within a six hour drive from LA one can access the highest and lowest points in the continental US.  California’s snowy mountains, dense forests, sunny beaches and vast desert expanses allow for an incredible opportunity to explore nature.  Although expensive, a balanced alternative is a ski trip.  Ski with friends all day outdoors while taking advantage of El Niño, then kick back with brews at a bar for a night of partying après-ski style.

Take advantage of California. All these locations are within an eight hour drive of USC.

Do yourself a favor and make your spring break count.  Instead of spending money to get drunk for a week at a resort with a ritzy veneer, save yourself money, step out of your comfort zone and learn by going on your own adventure.

An open road, a new city, an unexplored forest, or whatever calls your name holds some incredible unforeseen experiences which will teach you about the world and who you are.

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