Does anyone have good ideas about safe inexpensive Spring Break locations/activities for female college underclassmen?
I am particularly interesting in finding out about good volunteering programs (esp. outdoors) here or possibly in a Spanish speaking country.
Thanks for any suggestions.
safe and cheap…heading to central america is not cheap or safe. (medically or crime wise) try a habitat for humanity project someplace with in the united states.
I agree. Look for an opportunity closer to home.
One year, my kid did Global Medical Brigades. However, her chapter did extensive fundraising for a full year prior to the trip, plus got free donations of medical supplies.
In 10 days of spring break, your kiddos Spanish isn’t going to improve in one week!
@zobroward I will look into that.
I’d love more suggestions --if not for this year, for next year.
Many colleges sponsor “alternative spring breaks” where kids go as a group and do volunteering work in different locations. Most programs have kids do fundraising to lower the cost. Ask your child to check if this is available at his/her school.
It doesn’t appear that there is anything organized this year at her school but I will ask her to ask around.
I second college-sponsored alternative spring breaks. Another option is to see if the college has a chapter of Habitat for Humanity - they also often do spring break trips.
There’s nothing inexpensive about traveling abroad unless you can somehow get funding.
My son did two spring break trips to Spanish speaking countries to help/shadow American doctors who were going there to provide exams, etc. The trips cost me a few thousand and they stayed in tents or some other crappy housing.
I just noticed that one of the Jesuit univs (maybe Gonzaga) does something in south Florida for poor Hispanic residents, and students going likely are getting Spanish practice. I know that SLU does something in St Louis and Creighton does something in Arizona or New Mexico.
there are opps here in the US.
Many areas of Mexico are quite safe (now), affordable, and hospitable for “nortenos.” Look into Guanajuato, San Miguel Allende, Queretaro,Oaxaca, and other colonial cities, or at Mexico City itself.
Inexpensive and safe place? Home. Not exotic, but there are probably ample opportunities for volunteer work at various places. D1 spent one break working at our churches " Free soup-to- go" winter program making soup.
Or, as someone said in an above thread, the college probably offers opportunities. D2 spent a college sponsored break in New Orleans on Katrina Relief a few years ago.
The problem is that spring break is a week, right? By the time you fly into/out of a place, you lose 2 days. So that leaves 5-6 days at most to volunteer: not a whole lot of time to really accomplish a lot, unless you’re joining a specific, organized effort. Also, keep in mind that many spring breaks overlap with Semana Santa – basically a week-long Easter holiday in much of Latin America – where not a whole lot will be going on. Locals will be going to church, visiting relatives and also hitting the beaches. Not a good time for Americans to “make a difference,” and not a good time to be planning an “inexpensive” trip.
@morrismm, in the aftermath of Katrina, my daughter also went on an ‘alternative spring break’ organized by her university. She ended up in Georgia, helping to build houses. She said the locals were amazingly friendly and welcoming and spent most of the time feeding the volunteers. “I never ate so much in my life!” she said. To this day when she hears Georgia, she thinks of food.
My relative at Notre Dame did a spring break with classmates in Appalacia, building home(s) for Habitat for Humanity or similar.