Spring break is the perfect time for UK students to rest, relax and recharge during the spring semester. And with this spring break being the first that UK has had in two years, many students are looking forward to planning trips where they’ll catch a lot more sun.

“We all wanted to go to a place with warm weather,” Sydney King, a senior accounting, finance and marketing major, said.

King made plans with her roommates and friends to go to the Bahamas this year on a five-day cruise, a destination where they had never been before.

On Dec. 30, 2021, the CDC added cruise ships to the “Level 4” category, deeming them as a COVID “hotspot” that people should avoid during the pandemic. With widespread disease on cruise ships, cruise lines have implemented several new regulations in an attempt to combat the spread of COVID.

Her freshman year, King visited her sister abroad in Amsterdam, but she has not been able to travel since because of the pandemic. With this break being her last one, the search for trying something new played a crucial part in the planning.

“A lot of us had never been on a cruise before, so we saw it as something fun and different to do,” King said.

Shannon Nguyen, a sophomore biology and neuroscience major, also took the opportunity to plan a cruise vacation for spring break; she is traveling from Miami, Florida, through Mexico, Jamaica and finally to the Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.

Nguyen’s parents planned the vacation as a 20th birthday gift. With concerns about the pandemic, Nguyen’s parents wanted to ensure that the cruise would be the best and safest option.

“We take the pandemic very seriously and want to be as safe as possible,” Nguyen said. “We were thankful for the many precautions our cruise line, Carnival, implemented.”

Carnival requested that attendees be vaccinated and provide a negative PCR COVID test before onboarding, which helped with Nguyen’s decision.

“We are comfortable with that regulation, and it ensures everyone can enjoy and relax without having to worry,” she said.

While Nguyen and King enjoy their cruise line breaks, other students are opting for a different new adventure this break. Marvellous Igwe, a senior finance and music performance major, is looking forward to going camping at the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina on a UK Campus Recreation and Wellness trip. Campus Recreation and Wellness often schedules “Adventure Trips” throughout each semester, exploring different parts of Kentucky as well as outside of the state.

“I love nature and the outdoors. I’ve also never been backpacking [or] hiking before, but when I heard about the opportunity, it seemed like a good way to get refreshed,” Igwe said.

In the past, Igwe spent his spring break traveling and spending time with family and friends, but he hasn’t been able to in recent years because of the pandemic. When he saw a sign at UK advertising the trip, he said he wanted to try something new.

“I thought about COVID,” Igwe said when asked about possible pandemic concerns. “But it didn’t really affect my decision.”

With this being the first spring break in two years, some students seemed eager to get the chance to get back to traveling to spend more time with family and friends and even just to relax from the pressures of classes. And with many sophomores experiencing their first spring break during college, the excitement for the time off school is evident.

“It was very mentally taxing to go through that long period of school without any breaks,” Nguyen said. “As someone that has two majors and is heavily involved in extracurriculars, I am very grateful that we have a spring break so everyone can have a mental break and come back stronger.”