Spring break is quickly approaching, but not everyone has flights and vacations booked. If you’re staying near Boston this break, you may want to fill up your time with something other than the typical work, sleep, homework, repeat. Spring break is the perfect opportunity to begin trying out something new, as the weather is getting warmer, and you at least have some more free time for that week. No matter what your interests are, there is something for you to do in Boston this spring break, that is the greatest part of living in a city!

1. Volunteer

The great thing about volunteering is that you can choose what you want to do based on your interests. If you’re someone who is an environmentalist, you may want to go over to the Boston Harbor and collect trash from the water. If you are more on the humanitarian side, volunteer at the food pantry in the city. Or maybe you are an animal lover, you could volunteer at a local shelter as well. Whatever you decide, it will be nice to do something for someone else with your free time. Volunteering can be a very rewarding thing, it always feels nice to help others.

2. Explore a new part of Boston

Sure, you may have grown up on the North or South shore, and you think you know every single neighborhood and street in Boston. However, there is always something new to try. There could be a restaurant that’s opened up that you’ve never tried, a street you’ve never been down, and exploration that has never been had. It’s nice to know your community a bit more and allows us to feel more at home.

3. Go to an exhibit

Exhibits are constantly changing with new pieces of art coming in and out. Even if you’ve been to the MFA a handful of times, it’s likely you will see something the next time you go that you didn’t notice last time. If you don’t want to stick to the Boston basic exhibits such as the MFA, ICA, or Isabella Gardner Museum, you can hop on the T and go towards Harvard, where they have exhibits that are open to UMass Boston students for free. 

4. Check out what’s going on near you online

Usually if I am searching for an event to go to in Boston, I just look on Facebook and every time there is something there to do. For the week of spring break, so far posted is a free, open market at the ICA with local artists selling their goods, a celebration of the first day of spring, various concerts, comedy shows, and even a dog festival. Events are added daily and can be a great way to plan your day out, even if it’s at the last minute.
Spring break can be dreadful when you know all of your friends are going to someplace tropical and warm, while you stay in windy, cold Boston. It doesn’t have to be dreadful however, and you can use this time to your advantage, however you see fit. If you would rather catch up on sleep that week, go for it. It’s your spring break, spend it as you want to. The list above is simply to give ideas to students who don’t think there is much to do on Spring break, as campus is going to be dead and other Universities nearby don’t even have the same break as us, so they will be in session. It isn’t always easy to find something new to do in Boston as we are still a fairly small city, but it is always worth it when you do find something different and new to try. Creating new hobbies inspires us to do more and fulfills something inside of us, so I encourage you to engage in something new this break.