Are You Ever Too Old for Spring Break?
(Photo: Mauro Paillex)
*Post updated on March 13, 2024
It’s getting to be that time of the year where people who live in more temperate climates are just about ready to kick Old Man Winter to the curb. Groundhog Day has come and gone, and we’re ready for warmer weather, but Mother Nature isn’t ready to deliver just yet. It’s for this exact reason that the travel industry decided to make spring break a thing.
The term “spring break” typically brings to mind high school or college students getting ready to have the time of their lives in some tropical destination — but need we look at it from such a narrow perspective? Who is spring break for? Who should it be for? Is it still spring break if there aren’t copious amounts of drugs and alcohol? These are the important questions.
Whichever preconceptions you hold about spring break, the first thing to understand is that it is definitely for everyone. Yes, it can be the rowdy bunch of college co-eds raring to lose a few brain cells while baking in the sun, but it can also be the young couple escaping from the routine, the family of four headed to Disneyland, or the retirees spending a couple months in Florida.
And that’s just the way it should be. Young people don’t hold exclusive rights over spring break, anymore than any other age group does. While their prerogative may be to drink until they can’t feel feelings anymore, your desire to do nothing of the sort does not make your spring break any less spring break-y.
We all deserve to get away once in a while, and if there are some differences in the ways we like to unwind, so be it. Of course, if you want to act like a 22-year-old college student on a mind-numbing bender when your actual age is much closer to 40, no judgement here, but maybe don’t bring the wife and kids along? It might be a good idea to have a marriage counselor on retainer, as well.
Kidding aside, I’m here to tell you that spring break remains open season, regardless of age. The only caveat I'd throw in there is that it’s probably recommended to act your age, lest you embarrass yourself and/or your loved ones. With that out of the way, allow me to leave you with some spring break-spiration:
8 Ways to Spring Break as a Couple (Brit + Co)
15 Hot Spots to Avoid on Spring Break — and Where to Go Instead (Cheapism)
Best Vacation Ideas and Destinations for Seniors (Frommer’s)
-LTH