The drive home is always one of the most enjoyable road trips of the year.

Getting ahead of myself is always something I struggle with, especially when it's coming home. There are still finals to study for, papers to write, and projects to finish. But the last week of classes makes the semester feel so close to being over I can already smell the salt air and hear the blaring of the horn of the Island Home as it leaves the dock in Woods Hole.

We're so close to done, yet so far from it.

What motivates me to power through 'til the end of the semester is what lies ahead. One month on my favorite island in the world to do whatever the hell I please.

Even though it will be cold, closed, and dark most of the time, being home means I'm reunited with Buddy, the fam, my friends, and all the quirks of the island I long for while at school.

If you don't have a dog on Martha's Vineyard, you're doing it wrong. One of my favorite things to do in the wintertime is bundling up on a sunny day and taking Buddy to beaches like Lucy Vincent and Lambert's Cove. In the summer both spots are inaccessible without a parking sticker and usually packed with beachgoers. In the winter parking is abundant, and Buddy is free to roam wherever he pleases without disturbing someone's beach day. There's nothing like the smell of the salt air and the sound of the ocean to clear your mind after a long semester of stress. I'm truly lucky to be able to return to this oasis while on break.

While away at school it's nice to indulge in the luxury of delivery and restaurants open all night. However, in the back of my head, I know nothing will ever compare to my mother's cooking and some of the local flavors you just can't get anywhere else. The accessibility of Mocha Motts coffee once again has got to be one of my favorite things about winter break. Yes, I do bring a bag of it to school with me, but there's something about receiving their java in the store itself from a familiar face in a cup with the Motts Man cheesing ear to ear that makes their coffee that much better. Motts coffee stood by my and many of my peer's sides as we made it through high school, returning home to that same comforting taste is one of the nicest things about winter break.

The food I miss most while at school is breakfast. The island has killer breakfast, and I so took that for granted before I left. The Black Dog, Artcliff, and the Scottish Bakehouse all blow any breakfast I've had in College Park out of the water. It's not even close. You can tell the ingredients used at most island restaurants are fresh and you can obviously taste the difference. I appreciate how island businesses will go the extra mile to make their food that much tastier by using fresh and local ingredients. It's worth the extra dollar on the price tag of a breakfast sandwich, no complaints there whatsoever.

I've heard many complain about what the island lacks in comparison to life off the rock. But as everything is in life, you take what you get and make the best of it. In my opinion, there's plenty on the Vineyard to take advantage of; you just have to where to look and what you're working with. Life on the rock isn't for everyone, but I sure as hell can't wait to get back, and really wouldn't be all that surprised if I land there in the long run. You can take the kid out of the island, but you can't take the island out of the kid.