When the words “spring break” come up, there are some very interesting pictures that automatically come to mind.  Personally, I can’t help but think of MTV’s version of spring break with attractive college kids and, unfortunately, an array of horrible Pitbull songs. 

For the majority, most people picture beach houses, a surplus of cheap alcohol and what is supposedly  the “craziest” time in a young adult’s college life.

But why is that? Why are we frantically rushing around a month before spring break trying to figure out what hotel room or beach house we and our 15 friends are going to cram into in order to efficiently budget the trip? And then when we get there, we sort of become relatable to the homeless. We endure suffering by sleeping on tile floors, drinking cheap vodka bottled in only the finest of plastic packaging and living off Jack in the Box and gas station donuts. 

It seems like spring break is just an unnecessary drain of the funds. Girls drop serious cash on those triangle bikinis. Guys load up on one too many bottles of grossly flavored Burnetts. We all drop money on hotel rooms only to be packed in like sardines and sleeping, practically on top of one another, in order to afford the week’s stay. We spend way too much cash for a very repetitive week. Nothing we do on spring break is any different from any wild weekend in our own college town with the exception of being near a large body of water.

I propose two different approaches to spending our money in a more fiscally responsible manner this spring break.

The first would be to have somewhat of a non-traditional spring break.  Last year, my good friend Ryan took a trip through northern California to visit Yosemite National Park. Weeks after, Ryan talked about how amazing the national park was and how special it was to venture off to a new place.  Follow in his footsteps. Take a trip that you will not have to “black out” on in order to have a good time. Places like national parks or historical locations could be an awesome alternative location for your spring break. 

The second option and probably my favorite, is to not take a spring break at all.  That’s right, I said it.  Don’t go on spring break.  Think about it. Anyone that has a job can use the time off school to pick up extra shifts and make some extra cash. That money can be saved for a more meaningful adventure later on

For people that don’t have a job, this is time where you can not only get ahead in school but in the words of Lil Dicky “save dat money.” With the $650+ you probably would’ve dropped during break, you can insteadplan an awesome trip to a music festival, buy a flight across the country or get wild and invest in a one-of-a-kind 1993 Honda 250 Nighthawk motorcycle off Craigslist. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love drinking and having a grand old time with my friends as much as the next guy but at what cost? I think we all need to take a step back and look at what we think is going to be substantial to us in the future and not just the now. “Save dat” spring break money and invest it later down the line into something more meaningful than some random booze-induced bender on the Southern California coastline.

Anthony Lee studies business. He can be reached at alexandraschultz@unr.edu and on Twitter @anthonylee95.