about
My name is Erin Weed, and I am the founder of SafeSpringBreak.org. In March 2006, I was asked by CNN to be their safety expert on a featured piece about spring break in America. So they flew me down to Daytona Beach in Florida, put me up in a suite that P-Diddy would have surely approved of, and I re-visited the wild reality of a “typical” spring break. We met some female students from Wisconsin who were livin’ it up, and they let us into their world of partying and kickin’ back on their much deserved time off. CNN put together a great piece that brought national attention to the good, the bad and the ugly of spring break. (Watch CNN segment) All this time spent in beach-land got me reminiscing specifically of my senior year of spring break in college…
I had a 4.5 year college career (hooray for super seniors!) at Eastern Illinois University. Freshman year I was broke as a joke, and didn’t go anywhere for SB. Sophomore and Junior year I did alternative spring break (in New Orleans and New York City, respectively.) Senior year I had the blow-out, MTV pipe dream of a week in South Padre Island, TX. A ginormous pink coach bus rolled into Charleston, Illinois near the campus of Eastern Illinois University. The townie jaws were aghast at such a site, as we shrieked with joy. Me and about 40 of my friends (half guys, half girls) tossed our suitcases into the belly of the bus. This behemoth specimen of fine machinery was instantly nicknamed, “The Big Pink Bus that Rocked.”
And rock we did, as we embarked on a 24 hour journey down to southern Texas. In the days to follow, the 40 of us would rack up an impressive amount of drama. I’m not gonna name any names here, but during that one week, here’s just a few things that happened: Someone got arrested for marijuana possession. Two friends hitch-hiked every night. One gal peed the bed, not once, not twice, but thrice. Two people had unprotected sex under the boardwalk. Someone lost her driver’s license on the beach while in a drunken stupor. All these people believed the phrase, “Whatever happens on spring break, stays on spring break.” Some of them were wrong.
This spring, me and my team of talented speakers will be visiting colleges across the nation, giving some tips and safety strategies for all kinds of situations you could face on vacation. We just want to save you some of the pain, money, awkwardness, legal problems, health issues and bad outcomes of what many experience on a “typical” spring break. And trust me, being a victim is no one’s idyllic dream of being a carefree co-ed. I hope you utilize this website as a resource to help you plan a getaway you won’t soon forget…but in a good way!