What to Pack for your 2015 Spring Break Trip

What to Pack for your 2015 Spring Break Trip

If you are flying, airlines are of course charging for bag fees – from $40 to $100 per bag. This means you have to figure out how to fit all of your stuff into a carryon, (near impossible especially for girls if going a full week) to one standard suitcase – which is also a challenge depending on your destination choice.

If you are driving somewhere domestically like South Padre Island or Panama City Beach, you probably will have 4 to 6 people in your vehicle – which means your 500lb gorilla of a suitcase isn’t going to fit.

We are going to look at what you should consider packing based on resemblance to weather and dress codes – from laid back South Padre & Cancun to dress to the nines Cabo & Puerto Vallarta to brrrr! Cold spring break ski trips to Colorado.

We are going to be a bit more thorough with our girls, less so with the guys. We assume on all these suggestions you will travel between 5 and 7 nights.

Domestic Spring Break Destinations

Panama City Beach, Florida

South Padre Island, Texas

Other southern US Gulf Coast Destinations

Temp range:                                                   40 at night to 80 degrees during the day in March

Likelihood of Rain at some point:             95% in March

Wind Blowing At:                                           5 to 35 miles per hour in March

Dress Codes at Nightclubs:                          More or less none

Probability of at least 1 Holy FU&! It’s Cold Night:             99%

The key for domestic spring break destinations is packing for it to be cooler at night, and (for the Yankees reading) downright hot during the day (if 80 is hot to you). This makes packing a real challenge for girls in particular.

Luckily, the lack of dress codes at the clubs and bars means for guys, you don’t have to pack say dress shoes and slacks. Pay attention here boys & girls – Panama City is going to be on the coldest end of this scale, South Padre Island on the warmer end of this scale.

For Girls:

2 bathing suits (consider tan lines from one suit to the other if different styles)

2 tank tops / tee shirts

1 dress up top

1 hoodie

1 light jacket

1 bathing suit cover up

2 jersey dresses or maxi dresses

1 skirt

2 pair of shorts

1 pair of pajamas

1 pair of jeans

1 pair of flip flops

1 pair of sandals

Hat for the sun

1 pair of heels or wedges

1 pair of running shoes (wear down)

1 pair of leggings (can be brrr cold!)

Sunscreen

Sunglasses – if you have an expensive pair, bring a cheapo pair too in case you get inebriated one day

We aren’t getting into undergarment nor sock choices J

Please note – if you are considering bringing that one sorta/dorky but very warm outfit – do it. If you missed this: Probability of at least 1 Holy FU&! It’s Cold Night:             99% - now you know why you’re friends will be jealous.

For Guys:

2 pair of jeanes

2 pair of board shorts

2 pair of khaki or like shorts

Baseball cap

2 pair of “other” shorts

1 pair of work out shorts / basketball shorts

1 pair of flip flops

1 light jacket

1 pair of speerys

1 pair of athletic shoes

5 tee shirts

2 button downs long sleeve

1 hoodie

Sunglasses

Sunscreen (it’s way overpriced at the beach vs. Wal Mart by your campus)

International Beach Spring Break Destinations

Cancun, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Nassau, Bahamas

Negril, Jamaica

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Temp range:                                                   60 at night to 88 during the day

Likelihood of Rain at some point:             10-25% in March

Wind Blowing At:                                           5 to 20 miles per hour in March

Dress Codes at Nightclubs:                          Yes. Girls really --- no. Guys, plan on long pants and

                                                                           No flip flops nor athletic shoes at some clubs

Probability of at least 1 Holy FU&! It’s Cold Night:             9%          (hey wacky weather)

After you glanced over the domestic spring break destinations packing advice, you might way whoa, wait a sec…it’s night and day warmer and nicer at these places? Uhhh yeahhhhh…people generally do domestic destinations based on cost. These destinations are all $1000 and up trip prices more or less, some topping $1500 to $2000 per person. This weather comes at a premium price.

Mexican destinations have a much smaller chance of rain than do the Caribbean destinations as well as less trade winds. On the dress code scale, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta are the most strict. Understand if you do run out of the right wardrobe, there are ALWAYS open air bars that lack dress codes.

For Girls:

2 – 3 bathing suits (consider tan lines from one suit to the other if different styles and very warm out)

2 tank tops / tee shirts

2 dress up top

2 bathing suit cover up

2 jersey dresses or maxi dresses

1-2 sundresses

1 skirt

2 pair of shorts

1 pair of pajamas

1 pair of flip flops

1 pair of sandals

Hat for the sun

1 pair of heels or wedges

1 pair of running shoes (wear down)

Sunscreen

Sunglasses – if you have an expensive pair, bring a cheapo pair too in case you get inebriated one day

We aren’t getting into undergarment nor sock choices J

For Guys:

2 pair of jeanes (not ripped) 1 pair of khaki pants or dress slacks for club

2 pair of board shorts

2 pair of khaki or like shorts

Baseball cap

2 pair of “other” shorts

1 pair of work out shorts / basketball shorts

1 pair of flip flops

1 pair of speerys

1 pair of club shoes or dress shoes

1 pair of athletic shoes

2 tee shirts

2 vee necks (it’s hot)

2 tank tops (wife beaters but not like hanes – Quicksilver or RCVA

2 button downs VERY light for hot clubs

Sunglasses

Sunscreen (it’s way overpriced internationally vs. Wal Mart by your campus)

The thing here to remember is you will sweat at these destinations – if you’re the type of person (especially guys) that wears shorts or shirts more than once – you may sweat too much for that to be possible – B.O is a N.0 GO….

Sunscreen if you are planning on NOT checking a bag remember – if over 3 oz they will take it from you at security. Sunblock in Cancun can be $25 for what is $8 at Walmart here in the States.

Winter Break Ski & Spring Break Ski Trip Destinations

Breckenridge, Colorado

Crested Butte, Colorado

Aspen, Colorado

Winter Park, Colorado

Copper Mountain, Colorado

Telluride, Colorado

Park City, Utah

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Temp range:                                                   -10 below at night to 40 degrees during the day

Likelihood of Snow at some point:           99%  

Wind Blowing At:                                           5 to 20 miles per hour

Dress Codes at Nightclubs:                          More or less none – these are ski towns

Probability of at least 50% Holy FU&! It’s Cold Days or Nights:      70%

Ok, going skiing or boarding is something “ya’ll” up North just don’t get – but us in the South where it’s already warm, hitting the slopes is super appealing for spring break and THOUSANDS of students go, making the party scene better than you can imagine, albeit a tad more lounges and ski bars than “roll your ass off” spring break nightclubs with bottle service

While staying fashionable is always important, staying warm will be an even higher priority on these trips. Lugging your gear up like a snowboard? We aren’t covering that but do plan on bag fees unless flying Southwest.

Remember your headphones (ie ear buds) – as every smart phone has the ability to play music. With that said, don’t expect your streaming music player like Pandora to work on the top of the slopes. DOWNLOAD music on itunes direct to your phone – that way all you have to worry about is if it is charged or not – not reception.

For Girls:

Going a bit away from our format, a word of advice here. The three most important things to have are heavy socks, sweaters, and wellies (bean boots as an example by LL Bean – waterproof).

Layers are important, plus a scarf, gloves, hat, and ear muffs. Three pairs of leggings or jeans (includes cords or whatever) and at least 2 sweaters are key. Three outfits for going out.

1 bathing suit (uhhh Hot Tub)

2 pair of jeans

2 sweaters

3 pair of leggings  

7 pair of socks

1 long sleeve cotton shirt (thin)

2 tee shirts

1 thin turtle neck style cotton shirt

3 dress up tops

1 pair of ski / snowboard pants or waterproof pants

1 pair of wellies or boots for slosh

1 warm scarf

1 ski jacket

1 pair of ski gloves, not mittens (mittens fine for night)

1 pair of northface (or with Gore Tex) thermal underwear full legs and long sleeve top)

Sunscreen (high elevations = off the charts UV indexes)

Sunglasses – (glare from snow is crazy)

Consider tinted goggles and/or a helmet too

While not “sexy” – consider Granny Panties for the day. Your tush can get awful cold with your buns exposed even if covered by thermals and snowboard pants.

Please note – if you are considering bringing that one sorta/dorky but very warm outfit – actually, bring 3. During the day, you may actual start to sweat on the mountain from physical exertion. At night, that 40 degree base of the mountain weather can drop to 0 degrees an hour after sunset.

For Guys:

Guys – we are only going to give you a just the basics. Guys tend to think they can weather the cold much better than they can – and also disregard the basics of layering. As the day warms up, you can remove say a thermal but keep your tee shirt on under your jacket. If you put on a heavy sweater and no thermals – there is nothing to wisk the moisture away from your body – and you can start get very hot or very cold.

*Thermal underwear, 2 pair

*Tee shirts / wife beaters for under thermals as needed

*Heavy socks, but also cotton is great for ski boots and snowboard boots.

*2 flannel shirts

*1 thin cotton turtle neck or Northface thermal turtle neck

*Cotton long sleeve shirts for nights

*Ski Gloves

*Ski Jacket

*Ski pants

If you need more advice on what to pack for spring break, contact me at chad@inertiatours.com as this is my guest blog post or visit www.inertiatours.com

 Here I am: