8 Things to Do If You're Not Traveling Home For Winter Break
No plans to travel over the upcoming winter break? That’s alright — there are still plenty of things you can do in town if you’re not traveling! In fact, you can have a great winter break without traveling and still feel like you made the very most of your winter break. So, don’t feel bad if you don’t have plans for traveling because that doesn’t automatically mean your break has to be boring. Here are 8 things that you can do instead of traveling this winter that will help you to have an enjoyable and productive break.
1. Find a job
Instead of lounging around in your thermal pajamas all winter break, you could be increasing your income and building your resume! Working a job can be both rewarding and exciting. You’ll be making some extra money that you can use towards next semester’s expenses or use it to buy some friends and family members Christmas presents. While the financial benefits of working a job are great, you’ll also be learning some new skills. Customer service jobs are great at building those interpersonal skills you’ll need to have upon graduation when you start your career. Plus, making a few connections in any work field can prove beneficial in the long run.
Don’t think you’ll be able to keep your job once spring semester starts? You can always opt for a seasonal job. Retail companies are often looking to hire seasonal workers over the winter break since it’s the busiest shopping time of the year.
2. Pick up a new hobby
It’s hard to work on your hobbies while class is in session because of how much time is necessary to dedicate to your coursework. When winter break starts, you might consider picking up a new hobby or rededicating time to any old hobbies that were pushed aside because of a shortage of free time.
3. Start on a new book
You don’t always have time for recreational reading while in school so those fun reads that you have sitting on the shelf have to be ignored for the time being. Winter break is the perfect time to dust off those books and start working on a few of them that you’ve been waiting for the opportune time to read.
4. Learn a foreign language
While it may be virtually impossible to become an expert in any foreign language in the course of a few weeks, it’s just enough time for you to learn the basics. Free apps like Memrise offer users a wide variety of languages to start learning and provide interesting daily coursework for each language that will keep you engaged.
5. Throw a holiday party
Since you’re not traveling home for winter, why not invite your friends over to celebrate the holidays. Get some of your favorite people together and plan to make the greatest holiday party your college town has ever experienced. Make a list of drinks and foods for the party and mark who will be in charge of getting what. Decorate your party location as well as your budget will allow. If you’re planning on throwing a Christmas-themed party, you can always plan for a few holiday games and a white elephant gift exchange.
6. Plan to travel over the summer
If you really wanted to travel this winter but were unable to, don’t let yourself get down about it—make plans to travel during another time of the year. There’s another great time for traveling that you can start planning for during your winter break: summertime! You can start making plans for a fun summer vacation by creating a budget, booking a flight or a room on a cruise ship, buying tickets for the concert, etc. Happy future traveling!
7. Do some in-town exploring
Taking time to really explore your college town can be a fun way to spend some of your winter break if you’re not traveling. I love to explore. When I can’t go to far-off places, I make do with exploring my college town, and I always find something new. I like going to those little hole-in-the-wall restaurants and trying their specialty dishes, then raving about them online. Finding new spots to study in those little, less-traveled areas that are further away from campus helps to relieve stress during midterm and finals week.
If you’re not planning on traveling for winter break, exploring your town can provide you with an opportunity to learn more about it and maybe find some interesting places to spend time.
8. Do an internship
Like a job, an internship can also be a great way to build on your resume and meet some great people. Winter break is a good time to start doing an internship or even to find one that starts in the spring. You can even start your search right here on Uloop.com. Uloop has a constantly updating list of internships that are being offered by companies around the world.