Student to Student: 4 ways to recharge over Thanksgiving break on a budget

It feels like it never comes soon enough and always ends too soon, so it’s important to get the most out of Thanksgiving break. These four days off are what separate you from the final month of the semester, sure to be filled with final exams, marathon study sessions, 10-page essays, and class presentations. Return to the homestretch of the semester fully relaxed and recharged by following these four budget-friendly tips.

Turn your family’s bathtub into a sensory deprivation tank

An hour in a legit sensory deprivation tank will run you at least $75. An hour in your family’s bathtub only costs a couple of those unwieldy bags of water softener salt that are kept in the basement and the concerned looks from your family.

To float in your homemade sensory deprivation tank, you’re going to need a lot of salt. Some Internet sources say it’s six pounds of salt per gallon of water, but we haven’t tested this yet.  Luckily, the bathtub only has to be a few inches deep – just enough so that your back doesn’t touch the bottom. You’ll also need it to be totally silent, so look in the garage for those earmuffs your dad bought before he gave up on his carpentry hobby or stuff your ears with the loose cotton balls scattered in one of those cabinets.

Now, turn off the lights, hop in the tub, and get to floating. If you start to hallucinate – which apparently can happen in sensory deprivation tanks – don’t panic and remember that hallucinating beats joining your family on their yearly apple-picking excursion.

Stick to the script during Thanksgiving dinner

The biggest threat to your relaxation is Thanksgiving dinner.

The threat is inversely linked to the size of the gathering – the smaller the gathering, the more you’re at risk of losing your cool. If you spot a second cousin wandering around, you’re probably in the clear. Just post up with a dog in a corner of the room and pretend you like watching football.

But, if you find yourself at a small, intimate gathering of your parents, siblings, and grandparents, for instance, don’t panic. Last year, we made a list of responses to the annoying things your relatives will ask you, but the gist is this: stick to the script.

If you try to engage in these conversations about your career and education and love life like you would any other day of the year, you will be totally spent by days end. Having a canned response you can recite by heart has the dual benefit of turning these conversations into a rote call-and-response exercise and relieving yourself from actually having to think about these things. Because who, for instance, wants to think about how their college days are almost over, for instance, or that, for instance, they’ll need to get a real job soon.

Turn your family into a rotating cast of chiropractors

I’ve never been to a masseuse or a chiropractor, so I don’t know how these things are actually supposed to feel, but I can’t imagine it’s too different from what an average parent or sibling is able to do. As far as I’m concerned, if my back cracks, that’s a good thing.

The trick to this one is to control the flow of information so that no one knows how many other family members you have roped into massaging your back. If everyone thinks they are the first person to be asked, they not only are more likely to do it, but they may even feel honored.

Read a book next to your dog by a window, like you used to do when times were simpler

You’re going to want to recreate what it was like when times were simpler. Dig deep into your memory and find that evocative moment in your childhood that radiates warmth and good feelings. Once you find that memory, break it down into its constituent parts. Let me guess, it’s you, reading a book, next to your dog, by a window?

This one will be difficult – but not impossible – if your family doesn’t have a dog. So, assuming that your family has a dog, bait it with treats to sit by you. Now, open up a book that you aren’t required to read for a class. Rest your hand on your dog’s belly. Read until you drift off into sleep.