After surviving another blustery Boston winter, most students are ready to head south to soak up rays on the beach and heat things up at the clubs. But the slopes, sights and savings of chiller locales are attracting College of Communication sophomore Stephanie Farah and a minority of other Spring Breakers.
“It is so stereotypical to go somewhere like Mexico or the Caribbean. I do not need to go to a beach,” said Farah, who is visiting her sister studying in London.
While she’s looking forward to spending the whole week in London, she’s also glad that she won’t have to get used to the cold all over again when she returns.
And because her father is a travel agent, her flight only cost $300.
Students like Farah who decide to travel to cold places over spring break are in the minority, said Patrick Martin, an agent at STA Travel on Newbury Street. Most of the 50 to 100 students he has organized trips for this year chose to travel to warmer climes.
Julie Geller, an agent at STA Travel on Commonwealth Avenue, said going somewhere cold over Spring Break can save funds.
She said London is one of the cheapest destinations in terms of airfare – between $400 and $500.
Toronto and Montreal are similar — a plane ticket and hotel ranges from about $400 to $500.
But the often advertised all-inclusive trips to the Caribbean cost about $1,000.
However, Geller said most students her office deals with still choose to go somewhere warm over Spring Break, and she added that the Caribbean has been especially popular this year.
“Most students are used to warmer weather and they want to get out of the cold,” she said. “Students who do venture north are typically people who haven’t grown up here.”
But COM junior Christina Pitcher-Cozzone, a New Hampshire native, is going to Mountain Snow, a ski resort near Brattleboro, Vt., with her family over Spring Break.
She said her family decided to go there because they can drive themselves, making scheduling easier for her working family members who don’t get a spring break.
“My family was considering a trip to Florida, but with all the college students there, we were not really up for it,” she said.
Because Pitcher-Cozzone will stay with family friends near the resort, her trip also comes cheap. She only has to buy the lift ticket.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Matthew Kelsey is going to Missoula, Mont. to visit his brother and go rock climbing. Kelsey said he’s looking forward to his first lead climb, which involves placing “the equipment into the rock face efficiently, so as to not have an accident.”
“Rock climbing and hiking does not require a cold climate, but cooler, northwest areas usually accommodate well for activities like these,” he said.
The round trip will cost Kelsey about $430, and he plans to spend another couple hundred dollars for other expenses.
Hailing from Glens Falls in upstate New York, Kelsey has gone south for breaks before, but he said he’d rather go somewhere cold and he particularly likes the northwest.
Getting to drink with friends at McGill University in Montreal is motivating CAS freshman Sharona Mallach to head north.
She said she is going to Canada for a good time — the drinking age there is only 18.
The trip should be inexpensive — Mallach will only have to pay for gas, food and going out at night because she’ll stay in an apartment with friends for the four-day trip.
Laura Logan, another CAS freshman, is also visiting friends at McGill but will take an eight-hour bus ride.
“Montreal is really cold at this time of year, but it is a good shopping city and that will make up for the weather,” she said.
Though she said she would definitely go somewhere warmer, and would love to visit family in Africa or Chile, the trip to Montreal is much less expensive.
And then some students don’t venture north or south — they go east, to Europe.
Christine Codner, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences junior, is headed to London and Madrid to visit friends studying abroad and is looking forward to getting away from bitter-cold weather.
The New Hampshire native said she plans to spend as little money as possible on her trip. Her flights – from Boston to London, from London to Madrid and from Madrid back home – cost $500. She estimates other expenses, including going on excursions, seeing shows and visiting museums, will add up to about $400.
COM senior Scott Wintner is also traveling to London over break to visit friends.
“My friends all work during the day, so I’ll probably hang out around town while they are doing their internships and then party at night,” he said.
Wintner is only paying about $200 for his ticket because he bought it using frequent flyer miles, and his lodging is free because he is staying with friends.
Wintner has traveled to warmer climates before, including Las Vegas and Los Angeles, but he said he’s not really a beach person and can’t stand the humidity.
“The running theme is to go where I can piggy-back on my parent’s bill or stay for free at a friend’s place,” he said.