Spring Break: What’s Your Ride?

Passengers standing outside of a Greyhound Bus waiting to depart from Athens, Ga. These passengers are headed to Washington D.C., one of the places many international students travel too while on spring break.

Christana Akinremi, 20-year-old international student from London, England sits at a computer desk in the Zell B. Miller Learning Center at UGA. Akinremi, who is traveling to Panama City Beach, Fla. for spring break, describes the difficulties international students face traveling in the U.S.

By: Casey Bruce

Spring break at UGA is quickly approaching! And for students at UGA, especially international students, this means more precise planning regarding their mode of transportation for the break.

Several UGA students said they define which mode of transportation is the best for them for traveling depending on four major components: cost, comfort, safety and timeliness.

“For me, it depends on what is most convenient and comfortable,” said Felicia Hilton, a sophomore majoring in English education. “I’m going to Lakeland [Florida], so for me, my major concerns were how I was going to get there, how long it would take me and how much it would cost.”

Due to MTV’s popular spring break events in Florida between March and April, many college students from all over the U.S. travel to Panama City Beach, Fla., or other destination spots in the state.

“I do believe most people will travel to Florida, “Hilton said. “MTV’s there and when you think of Florida, you think spring break.”

Several UGA students agreed with Hilton, saying their top vacation destination for this spring break would be somewhere in Florida; however, for a selection of UGA students, MTV’s spring break events are not enough of a motivation for traveling in the states.

Driving personal cars or flying are the two most popular modes of transportation that college students utilize during spring break.

For international students at UGA, traveling anywhere takes more planning and reliance on other people and public transportation because they often do not bring their personal cars with them while studying abroad.

Twenty-year-old international student Christana Akinremi, from London, believes that traveling for international students during spring break is extremely difficult because it takes very precise planning.

“It depends on what type of friends you’ve made at the school you’re studying at,” Akinremi said. “My first semester, it was quite hard to get around UGA and if I had to go somewhere I had to plan the bus schedule around it. Now, I have friends, so it’s easier, but when you don’t know people very well, you kind of have nothing.”

Akinremi, who plans to travel to Panama City Beach, Fla., for spring break, said that relying on friends you meet in the country you’re studying in makes planning any trip simpler.

“We’re driving, but most international students here don’t have cars with them. I don’t have a car,” Akinremi said.

One international student, 20-year-old Lin Kyoung, from China, agrees with Akinremi, saying that traveling is difficult for international students because of the amount of planning they have to make to go someplace.

“I won’t be going on spring break because I don’t have a way to travel,” Kyoung said. “I can’t just hop in a car and flying right now is too costly for me.”

When both students were asked about renting a car or taking the bus as traveling options during spring break, the girls both agreed that many international students would opt to take the Greyhound bus before they would rent a car.

“Car rentals I believe would be somewhat of a nuisance for an international student,” Akinremi said. “I would take the Greyhound because you have to meet certain criteria in order to rent a car.”

In Athens, a student must be 21 in order to rent a car, and if the student is on a budget, cost could extremely affect them, due to gas prices, paying for mileage and insurance.

Mallory Brand, Insurance Claim Liaison at Hertz Rent-A-Car, a local car rental business in Athens, Ga., said that although she believes there are advantages to renting a car, most international students would opt to fly or take the bus because it would be easier.

“I’m a student at UGA so I have many international friends and I can’t imagine them coming to Hertz to rent a car because it could become a hassle with driver’s license checks, etc.,” Brand said.

Kyoung agreed with Brand, saying that she would opt to take the bus before renting a car.
“Overall it just seems easier,” Kyoung said.

The Greyhound Bus station in Athens, Ga. is located right on W. Broad Street, which is a convenient location for students who do not have transportation to the station.

Rex Street, owner of the Greyhound Bus station in Athens, said that during the months of March and April many international students travel on the Greyhound bus to reach their destinations.

“We see international students from UGA and Gainesville a lot traveling on the bus,” Street said. “Most of them are visiting landmark cities, like D.C. and New York [City].”

Traveling on the Greyhound bus has both its advantages and disadvantages, and both Akinremi and Kyoung would opt not to travel on the bus if they had the choice to fly.

“I prefer to fly and it’s how I usually travel,” Akinremi said. “However, now that I’m in the states, that is more difficult for me.”

“Price is not really bad for the Greyhound bus, but flying is more convenient,” Kyoung said. “However, right now, flying is costly because of the economic recession affecting everyone globally.”

Most importantly, both students said that safety was their No. 1 concern when travelling.

“Although I have it ranked last on my list, traveling in the U.S. is a safety concern because I’m not familiar with the states,” Akinremi said. “If I do visit someplace, I would usually fly and go to a city where I knew someone living there, so I could get around the city.”

For several UGA students, effective planning for spring break is a major priority. However, for international students, traveling is a daily hassle.

“I already traveled here from China,” Kyoung said. “I don’t really know where to go for spring break and it’s just easier for me to stay here because traveling takes really precise planning.

"I’m happy to be in the states and maybe I’ll do what students here call ‘college road-tripping’ another time.”

Edited by: Lauren Barron