Spring Break Safety Tips: How to Stay Safe While Having Fun

For some, spring vacation is a time to kick back, and for others it’s a time to give back. But for many college students, spring break is party time. 

Having fun, and blowing off steam is great. But spring break is not without risks to your safety. Thousands of people flocking to a place where alcohol flows freely attracts fun seekers. But the lure of susceptible people also appeals to predators too. For exactly the same reasons.

As Willie Sutton, the notorious bank robber of the 1920s and 1930s supposedly said when asked why he robbed banks, “that’s where the money is.” So predators flock to places where people drop their guard and drink.

So, sere’s some basic tips for spring breakers on how to stay safe while still having a blast. 

If you would like some more information on how to stay safe while living the life you want to live, download my FREE PDF of safety tips focusing on implementing situational awareness, the most important personal safety practice you can do. Download it here .

Staying Safe While Traveling

Because spring break requires traveling to get to your destination, as well as traveling locally once you get there, it’s important to practice good situational awareness and de-escalation skills to travel safely. 

For more in depth info read my piece How to Stay Safe While Traveling.  .

Situational awareness is the most important component of personal safety. Paying attention to your surroundings and to the people within it allows you to anticipate and avoid potential safety risks.

•  Keep your head up and your eyes moving at all times. Now is not the time to bury your head in your phone, or to focus on your friends to the exclusion of everything else around you. 
•  Be aware of the vehicles around you. Use your rear view mirror frequently and notice vehicles that seem to stay with you for a while. Especially if they pull off the highway when you pull off.
•  Take the earbuds off. It’s not just what you see around you that matters. It’s also what you hear. Especially when it comes to approaching vehicles. Think about pulling up to get gas, while your friends run into the store. Listening for a vehicle approaching you is critical to your safety.
•  Make sure if you use ride sharing apps for transportation that the driver and the vehicle match your assigned driver. Let them ask for you by name first, BEFORE you ask for his name. It should be the first thing out of his mouth. Be aware of a generic response from him that’s not specific to your info.

It’s not uncommon for predators to park near ride share pick up points and look for someone who’s intoxicated to a point of almost being out of it to trick them into getting into his car.

De-escalation is the second most important personal safety skill to develop, and it’s your last chance to avoid a physical encounter. 

Traveling can be stressful for a lot of people. Add in some someone with filled with grievance based anger, and you have a combustable mix. 

You can read some in depth tips on de-escalation here.

So being able to bring the tension down a notch is a good thing. 

•  Reading body language is critical to doing so, as is using your own body language to convey calm if someone approaches you aggressively.
•  Someone using threatening gestures, and talking or screaming a lot, is trying to intimidate you, while someone who’s silent and tense may be more likely to physically attack.
•  When in a tense encounter with someone, breathe! It’s really easy to hold your breath when accosted. But don’t. Doing so reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to your brain making it more difficult to function. And it helps to calm you down. It’s why there’s a breathe app on iPhones.
•  And if someone confronts you aggressively, don’t respond immediately. Knee jerk reactions will only increase the tension.

Safety While You’re Out and About

Safety is really about using your common sense. Since drinking and going to bars and clubs are pretty common during spring break, practice these safety tips:

•  Don’t accept a drink from someone else. If someone wants to buy you a drink, order the drink from the bartender yourself and watch how that drink is made.
•  Avoid mixed drinks, stick with beer or wine. Mixed drinks make it easier to hide date rape drugs into them. They’re also easier to over pour alcohol than a straight up drink.
•  Open your own drinks if you are at the beach or at a private party. And once you pick up the drink don’t put it down. If you have to put your drink down, hand it to a trusted (not newly met) friend.
•  Make sure to look around you to see if you are being watched. Especially as you start to leave. If you’re concerned about someone following you turn back around and head back inside.
•  There’s safety in numbers. Don’t ditch your group of friends. And use the buddy system to help out a friend who might have found herself being monopolized by someone that is making her uncomfortable.

We don’t live in a fantasy place where everyone is safe. Wishful thinking doesn’t change that. There is no downside to paying attention to your safety while you are out having a good time. You can still have a blast. 

Download my FREE personal safety PDF below. Keeping yourself safe while having fun is a win win!