Y'all. It's that time of year again. That's right — SPRING BREAK. Now, I know there are a wide range of "breaks" occurring; from actually taking a break and hanging out at home, to beach excursions to cross-country road trips. However, there are a few things that tend to ring true for all of these- so here they are. Four tips to help you have a great spring break:

1. Plan:

Have some ideas for what you'd like to do, see, or accomplish. Having general ideas helps to facilitate the decision-making process which so often wastes time. Make a list. Do you want to see mountains? Maybe the ocean? Or maybe you’ve discovered you love hammocking and are hoping to spend at least a day doing nothing but hanging from two trees. Here’s the catch, though: don’t have such rigid plans that it is impossible for you to enjoy yourself. Or such cemented plans that if you find something else you’d rather do, there’s no wiggle room. Great things tend to happen in the places you left space for them.

2. Find a book:

Even if you don't intend to have a lot of time for novel enjoyment, always have a good book with you. You never know when your plane will be delayed, or phone will die or you’ll just desire some down time. Besides, no matter how much you like people, being with the same group for a week can get tiresome, and it’s nice to have an easy escape without actually having to go anywhere else. Trust me. Bring a great book, and if by some chance you have the time to read it, you’ll be glad.

3. Go with the flow:

Make plans, expect fun, but don't be so set in your plans that you can't have fun without them. You don’t have to be running a million miles an hour to have a great Spring Break. Sometimes plans change, and often it’s because something better comes up. Don't be so determined to see a million things or check this or that off of your bucket list that you forget to actually take the time to enjoy. You only have a week, and it will be far more enjoyable if you actually take the time to enjoy it, rather than simply rushing from this, that, and the other.

4. Ease out of it. Spring Break… Like a break, you know?

If you’re going a million miles an hour for the whole week, odds are you go back to school more exhausted than when you left. That’s not exactly boding well to the rest of the year. Take a day as a grace period between your vacation and your first day back. Your metabolism will thank you. Your body will thank you. Your nice sweet bed back in your dorm room will thank you. Take a day. Just one, to sit back and relax so you can power through the rest of the semester. Besides, no one said you have to ease into summer!