OPINION: Wished you were on vacation for USF spring break? I didn’t.
While I’m at home on the couch during spring break, influencers online are seemingly on a boat in Bora Bora or living it up at a Miami nightclub.
If you’re anything like me, it can be too easy to become a jealous wreck because of this content. I always find myself comparing my lifestyle to what I see online, wishing I had the picture perfect life that influencers live.
It seems like everyone online is out at the beach or at a bar with a group of friends. Of course this looks like fun, but I don’t have the spring break funds and I’ve got about two friends.
This was the year I stopped being a victim to the dissatisfaction caused by social media – I decided to spend my spring break how I wanted to. For me, enjoying my break meant staying home.
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Spring break culture has always been super glamorized on social media. After seeing this content I began to worry whether I was wasting my well-earned break rotting away at home. I wondered whether I was living a spring break worthy of boasting about on social media.
But, who cares?
The first step to enjoy my spring break the way I had planned it, or under planned it, was to recognize that what we see online are only highlights of a person’s life.
It’s nice to have a chill spring break, since partying and traveling is unsustainable anyways.
Spring break is a time for rest and relaxation, which is why I’m now a huge advocate for planning absolutely nothing for the break.
After I decided to stop comparing how I was spending my time to that of others online, I chose to spend my spring break in ways that I would actually enjoy.
To have absolutely no travel plans this spring break was actually refreshing. While traveling is a great experience and makes for amazing stories, it can also be very stressful.
When I know I have a trip coming up, I worry about packing, the flight and how to best spend my vacation. I did not miss having to worry about a spring break trip this year, and it was a treat.
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To compensate for the lack of plans I made, I did many fulfilling things that I do not have time for when I’m regularly in classes and doing schoolwork. I read, biked, swam, suntanned, spent time with friends and most importantly, I slept.
Not all of these things were romanticized online, and that’s okay. YouTuber Emma Chamberlain spent spring break in France, model Hailey Bieber went on a tropical vacation basking in the sun and influencer Sommer Ray has been posting from Dubai infinity pools.
In comparison, my everyday activities seemed laughable and were hard to romanticize. The mundane hobbies we do everyday are hardly represented on social media, despite their importance.
I specifically remember one day over break I woke up at 2 p.m. I immediately thought to myself, “I think I like this little life.” I then tossed over and fell right back to sleep, which I also loved being able to do.
Sleep is a super underrated activity when it comes to school breaks. Of course it’s good to have a good balance of sleep and fun, but I prefer to spend my breaks from school… breaking.
Just because my spring break looked nothing like the influencer’s online or on my friend’s snapchat stories doesn’t mean my time was wasted.
I spent spring break doing things that I love and that make me happy, so how could this be a waste of time after all?
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