When I hear the word “break,” I see it as more than some time off of
school- but an opportunity. An opportunity to go places, see people, and take
on adventures that one day, you won’t have the time or energy to do. So this
spring “break,” I flew to New York City for the week and took a slight detour
to Washington DC in the middle. My friend Stacey came with me the first half,
and my mom met my sister Maria and I there the second half.
As usual, the trip flew by. Stacey had never been to the east coast, and
with our Argentina travel mentality, we rarely took relaxation time and crammed
a lot of things into each day. In fact, we stayed six different places over six
nights—all for free! From my family members’ homes, to Maria’s dorm, to my
friend Kara’s apartment at Georgetown, to two hotels with friends. Crazy,
right?
Well, despite the fabulous time we had, both of us became physically ill
after trying to do too much. The only other time I have ever gotten sick in
college was after Thanksgiving “break” sophomore year when I had pneumonia.
Before then, I had gone to Boston, Chicago and Kansas City all within a week of
each other. Go figure—definitely a pattern here. The more places I was staying
and tried to travel in a short timespan, the more sick I was.
So the lesson here: make sure each “break” has some actual breaks
embodied somewhere in it. Whether that be a nap in the middle of the day, ending
the night early or sitting down for a bit.
