With spring break either just coming to a close or still afoot, thousands of college kids and other 20-year-olds are doing what seems to have become a yearly tradition when it starts to get hot again: fleeing to the beach, partying non-stop, and getting into whatever kinds of trouble they can find. FOMO is at an all-time high, and if you weren’t lucky enough to scrape up the money for a trip, or just didn’t have anyone to go with, you wind up sitting at home with nothing to do all week long. Even though I personally have plans for my spring break (I’m going to Phoenix!), I have decided to compose a list of my top 5 favorite things to do for those of you who find yourselves stuck at home and left to your own devices, literally (TikTok and Netflix). Even though there are some obvious answers to this dilemma, like reading or sleeping in, I want to emphasize some alternatives that might be better than the ones that ultimately make your spring break a bore. So, if you think that your spring break is going to be a downer, I hope this list will help make it more enjoyable!
1. Work on your resume
This seems like something your mother or father would say, but it’s actually some pretty good advice. If you’re extremely busy during the school/work week and you dedicate your free time to leisure activities or doing schoolwork, resume building might fall to the wayside. Whether you know it or not, all resumes could use some polishing up if they haven’t been in a while. Besides, it’s fun to see what you’ve accomplished since you last worked on it!
2. Make a homemade gift for your friends
One thing that I love about my friends and family is how generous they can be, especially in times of poor health. When I got my appendix removed, my best friends and my grandma got me very thoughtful gifts that showed just how much they knew me and what I liked. Another great thing about this is that you don’t even need to do it for an occasion that calls for gift-giving, you can just do it because it’s a nice gesture! It’s definitely something that one doesn’t forget and shows how much you care about your bond with them.
3. Learn how to cook or bake a meal
For those who are foodies (I am too ngl), learning how to make your favorite meal either from scratch or from a recipe can be not only rewarding but also risky because then you’re going to be making it all the time! Not only is this valuable because you get to work on your cooking skills, but it’s also just a great way to give yourself a task that’s more challenging than being on TikTok or Roblox (oops, just called myself out).
4. Make a list of your goals
Something that I have loved to do lately is make a list of goals for myself, either in my head or in my Notes app, of all of the things I want to accomplish at some point in my life. This is not just a great motivator to push yourself and live up to something meaningful, but it’s fun to see how your goals have changed over time based on what you liked then and don’t like now. It also gives you some structure to visualize what you want to pursue, allowing you to see what’s realistically possible and what might not be so feasible at the moment but not necessarily ever.
5. Organize your belongings/room
Last but not least, you can organize your bedroom! This is honestly one of the best things to do when you have the whole day off and no plans because you get to find the wackiest treasures that you didn’t even know you had or why you had them. It’s a fun trip down memory lane and a great reason to start organizing for making donations of things you don’t use anymore. You also get bonus points for having a cleaner living space and knowing where everything is.
I hope this list was a fresh take on the typical itinerary of a 20-something-year-old with no set plans for spring break. Even though you aren’t going to Cabo or somewhere in Florida, that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a fun and productive week at home, which honestly might be a better option than having one you don’t even remember because of, well, not because of too much studying (if you catch my drift). Anyway, if you don’t have any plans at all, consider giving some of these a try and see how they turn out! Who knows, it could end up being better than mindlessly scrolling on your phone!