Spring Break: College Budget Style In The Outdoors

Spring Break is usually synonymous with beach vacations. Playing in the waves, building sand castles, drinking on the beach and staying in a swanky hotel for cheap with your friends is all part of the package. But when you add up hotels, plane tickets, rising gasoline costs, food, and souvenir costs, Spring Break can get pretty expensive, pretty fast. Especially for a college student with limited cash anyway.
If you can’t afford to shell out close to $1,000 for a “beachy” Spring Break or a trip to the mountains to go skiing, don’t stress out too much; you can still have fun on your week off from school. It takes a little more creativity, but you can plan a fun, budget-friendly Spring Break with your friends. Here are some options to get your brain thinking.
1. Road trip. Pick a destination that you have never been to, grab a few friends, hop in the car, and go. Or better yet, rent an RV. But if you’ve got a bone for creativity, you can skimp on the RV. What you can do is get a cheap, used school bus from Skoolie Livin and transform it into a RV of your own. This way, you’ll end up with an RV of your own for cheap. With several of you splitting the cost for gas and lodging, you can make the trip relatively cheap. And chances are, you’ll make some great memories while on the road, even if the destination isn’t as tropical as the Bahamas or South Padre Island. Here is a more in depth list of the top spring break destinations for students.

2. Camping. If you’re an outdoorsy person, going camping can be a blast. Even if you’re not, as long as you go with some outdoorsy friends, you can still have a blast. Pitching a tent, roasting marshmallows, and hiking through the woods or up a mountain can be a great way to spend your Spring Break. If sleeping in a tent doesn’t appeal to you, consider renting a cabin or an RV. Make sure you have all the camping essentials and stock up on your RV parts you could need on the camping trip. Most national and state parks offer cabins that are not too expensive when you split the cost between several friends.
3. Home-stay. My best friend during my freshman year lived in New York, the largest city in the United States. During Spring Break, we went to NYC, visited her friends from high school, checked out the local hot-spots, and stayed at her parents’ home (i.e. no hotel cost). It was a lot of fun for both of us. We came out with freshly cooked meals and a lot more cheaper than Panama City or the RV campgrounds.
So if going on an extravagant Spring Break vacation this year isn’t in your plans, don’t distress. You can still have a lot of fun, enjoy some relaxation, and not break the bank! Also, check out 10 spring break locations you must go on.