As winter break is currently here and summer isn’t for another couple months, many members of the Oakdale community are planning the vast destinations to travel to for vacation. Some students have favorite places they would like to revisit, and some enjoy traveling to new places and trying out new things. 

Taking a vacation is good for your mental health, as experiencing new things by traveling encourages new connections in the brain. Vacations also make you happy as proven that 82% reported that they were “significantly”  happier once booking a trip. 

Taking a vacation is like a break from reality, it lowers your stress and is just  a nice break. Everyone makes lots of memories on vacation that they will never forget, as Oakdale Senior Keira Benjamin states, “Vacations make me very happy because I get to relax and not do homework. I get there all excited and then calm down once I’m relaxed.”

Benjamin reports on his favorite vacation spot, “Myrtle Beach is my favorite place to go to. I feel very happy and calm at the beach and love spending time with family there.” Additionally, traveling is shown to calm your mind due to getting a break from your daily life. 

Benjamin says, “I go to the beach, the pool, I go to the restaurants there, I go shopping, and I walk around a lot and take pictures. I just love the beach.” The beach at Myrtle isn’t packed, but there is something to do for everyone at Myrtle including golfing, shopping, hiking and just the beach itself. 

Junior Addie Macera shares, “The Bahamas and Hawaii are my favorite vacation trips to go to. They are both very pretty places to visit and I love visiting the beach and getting tan. The Bahamas is a perfect beach.” The water at the Bahamas is turquoise and the sand is white as they have amazing weather and many islands to go to with 700. Additionally, if there are kids they might enjoy the swimming pigs of Exuma and the Junkanoo festival. 

Traveling gives the opportunities to meet new people, learn and try stuff you’ve never known or done before, or experience new things about the culture around you. Wanting to take a step back from reality and taking a break is when you should book your next vacation and consider taking a trip to Hawaii, the Bahamas and Myrtle Beach!