Despite having a shorter spring break than years prior to COVID-19, De Soto High School students were still at a variety of vacation destinations. 

Many students enjoyed the trips they went on, as they were eager to make memories, regardless of circumstances during these unprecedented times. 

“It was amazing to get out of Kansas and get into the warm weather,” senior Hallie Scott said. 

Scott, along with six other seniors and their moms, all went to Siesta Key, Florida. 

“It was overall just a nice break from the stress of school and COVID,” Scott said. 

Additionally, junior Reed Richards took the opposite approach to Scott as he and his family made their way to Keystone, Colorado. 

“This was our first true vacation in two years,” Richards said. “It was good to be able to relax and not have to think about school and other things that are stressful in everyday life.” 

As it was nice for students to get out of Kansas and into different locations, things did take a turn for some. With many COVID precautions, vacations seemed typically more unique than years prior. 

“COVID did play a factor in traveling, especially since it was out of the country,” junior Sheridan Christy said, recalling her vacation to Cancun, Mexico, with her family. “At the resort I stayed at only had half of the capacity and many restaurants in the resort were closed due to COVID and excursions.”

Additionally, Christy and her family had to take a COVID test two days prior to leaving and receive a negative result before their checkout from the tropical resort to come back into the United States. 

“We also had to take a COVID test when we got back to the U.S.,” Christy said. 

Other travellers got a unique outlook on COVID precautions, based on where they went. 

“For the most part, everything was about the same, as I have been to Keystone before,” Richards said. “The main difference is that the restaurants require a reservation, something my family wasn’t used to doing around here.” 

Along with Richards, Scott also had a pretty minor encounter with COVID precautions compared to Christy’s vacation. 

“Florida wasn’t as crazy about COVID precautions as Kansas,” Scott said. “My group and I just kind of stayed to ourselves, which made it super fun and easy.”

Regardless of the curveballs COVID may throw to some, all of the travelers enjoyed their long awaited getaways.

“This was my first vacation since August 2020 so it was a good break from school and from the cold weather,” Christy said. 

Richards also enjoyed the break from Kansas. He initially came with his family to visit his grandparents and enjoy Colorado, as his trip had been postponed in spring of 2020. 

“The atmosphere was great and everyone was in a good mood. It was very easy to strike up conversations with strangers you’d never met and have a positive interaction,” Richards said. 

Overall, with the craziness going on and the business in day-to-day lives, vacations during spring break were truly vital to these travelers and much appreciated. 

“I am so lucky to have gotten to go there [Cancun] and it was such a great experience,” Christy said.