30 Aug How to Stay Safe on Spring Break

Always travel with a buddy.

Your mom has probably been saying this to you since you were little, but it is probably one of the easiest ways to make sure you and your friends stay safe. When you’re part of such a huge group, it’s easy for one or two people to slip away and get lost without anybody noticing right away. Always hold yourself accountable for a friend or two and make sure they have an eye on you too, this way it will be nearly impossible to lose people.

Drink responsibly.

I know it’s your spring break and you have worked hard all year to be able to enjoy this, but just keep in mind that you have definitely have fun without binge drinking and going overboard. And even if your drink isn’t alcoholic, make sure you never leave it unsupervised and never accept drinks from strangers. If it’s not directly from the bar and/or in an unopened, sealed container, it’s probably in your best interest to refuse it.

Stay healthy.

Aside from getting things like food poisoning and other issues that are difficult to protect yourself from, there are a number of things you can easily prevent against. Dehydration is one of the most common ways for students to get sick on spring break. Make sure you are constantly drinking water, even if you have to grab a glass of water in between alcoholic drinks. Between the alcohol and the sun, you will get dehydrated faster than you’ve ever experienced. Also, make sure you wear sunscreen, because nothing is worse than sitting in bed with sun poisoning while your friends are out having fun.

Protect your belongings.

Losing things like your ID, credit cards, or passport can completely ruin your spring break experience. Save yourself from the trouble and get a safe for your room to keep all your important belongings in and don’t let anybody in your hotel room aside from people you know and trust. When you go out, take as few of your belongings as possible with you, and make sure you carry a purse or have pockets with zippers to secure what you do bring.

Do some research.

Since you are most likely going somewhere you have never been before this spring break, make sure you do research beforehand to ensure that you know the geography and culture of where you’re going. There is inevitably a sketchy part of every city, and you need to make sure you avoid it at all costs. It also doesn’t hurt to look up the best transportation, hottest places in town, and common spring break scams in your area.