By Shetha Alaskar

As spring break approaches, many of us are planning what will hopefully be one of the crowning moments in hedonism of our four years in college. But before you leave behind your textbooks and your inhibitions for a week in paradise, it’s worthwhile to note that every year, something goes wrong. This shouldn’t be surprising since all the classic ingredients of an “Oh…RUN!” moment are present in the typical spring break excursion. Depending on where you go there may be alcohol, drugs, intemperate locals, angry police forces, and a host of other issues that turn even the best planned vacation into a cautionary tale you will tell your children when they go off to college, provided, that is, you survive.

So, before you leave, prepare for where you’re going. Know where you can get medical care, what street the U.S. embassy is on, and how locals and the police feel about western tourists. If you’re not leaving the country, this is easier. But even if you’re only going as far abroad as Mexico, know the emergency services number (dial 08, by the way), what kind of medical care you can expect, and the level of personal safety you’ll enjoy while there.

After you arrive you will officially be on spring break. Far be it for me to distract you from this wonderful reality because I’m counting down the days as well, but, well… don’t get arrested. It sounds so simple, but apparently it’s not because, according to the State Department, 2,500 American citizens are arrested abroad every year, about half on narcotics-related offenses. During one week in 2004, there were 130 arrests of spring breakers in Cancun alone. Though disorderly conduct is expected on spring break, the police will not look the other way and your citizenship won’t protect you from prosecution. The State Department warns that the truth is quite the opposite: “In many countries, conduct that would not result in an arrest here in the U.S. constitutes a violation of local law.” So, before you leave, figure out what your destination’s policies are with regard to alcohol, drugs, and disorderly conduct. There are places where all three are fairly tolerated, and places where you may miss a chunk of spring semester trying to get extradited.

Which would suck, but not as much as dying. So that is amword’s third piece of advice to you: don’t die. Again, simple, but alcohol poisoning, accidents, and crime lead to tragedy every year. Remember that time, you/your friend/your roommate were really drunk, and public safety came and hauled them off to the hospital and stuck them with a lovely giant bill? That was bad but, if they needed help, at least they got it. In a foreign country where you have no family, that’s often not the case. It’s helpful to remember that this one week in spring is just a few days off, not a magical interlude in which your alcohol tolerance increases and you become immune to the effects of violent crime. So know your medical options before going, how you’re going to pay for emergency procedures if necessary, and what the plan is if something goes wrong.

If you’re going to a place like Cancun, know that crime rates are high and police corruption runs rampant. There have been several cases of spring breakers dying in drug related shootings. In Acapulco, the heads of six decapitated police officers - likely the victims of drug cartels - were found in 2006 alone. If you’re going even further abroad, what type of neighborhood are you staying in? Do the authorities have a good reputation? Do the locals want you there? Allowing all of this to impact you plans could end up saving you and your family a lot of anxiety.

Last, but not least, take care of yourself and each other. With common sense and planning, spring break can be a great chance to travel with your friends and make memories of your college experience. With luck, by March seventeenth, you’ll be more relaxed, maybe more tan, and totally uninjured when you return to AU.