Hi everyone! I'm going to try to keep updating this blog as often as I can. This week is Spring Break for CSU so I thought I'd let you know what volleyball players do with their vacation time! Or, I guess, what I do. I think one thing we do is get sunshine, especially if everyone else is from Cleveland like I am. I'm escaping 28 degree weather and not feeling bad about it. On the other hand, I'm already sunburnt even though I spent about a half hour applying sunscreen liberally to the point where I was glistening. But I think that's just a me thing, not every volleyball player has this happen to them.

 

One thing that never changes but just gets more extravagant with vacation is the crazy amount of eating! We eat constantly and in large quantities. I'm not saying this is strictly a volleyball thing, I think it definitely applies to all athletes and probably everyone else. But it's hard to not get whisked away by the abundance of restaurants. The food just is better on vacation. I will order steak, ice cream, fruit salads, pizza, pasta, and yes, another basket of rolls (Sorry Chuck) with no remorse. It's beautiful and it's natural. Vacation is definitely a time to indulge.

 

Something else we do is obviously relax. If the athlete is fairly normal, they might lay outside for a while and tan. If they're like me, they may sit down for 5 minutes and burn. But they'll read a nice book so that makes it worth it. I guess I'm assuming we are all on a beach because that's where I am. But maybe you all go skiing??? But if they're on a beach, yeah they're probably soaking up the sun and relaxing. Taking a lot of pictures hoping one has the sun hitting our stomachs just right so we can delude you into thinking we have abs, or an ab. I'm not sure many of us swim. I realized recently I had a lot more energy as a kid to swim but now when I get in the pool, I don't even want to try to keep myself afloat. It's a lot of work just to "cool off" in a germ infested body of water. It's not even an activity for fun anymore, it's a job. I wish it was fun. #MakeSwimmingGreatAgain2k18.

 

Another thing we do is, if we are near a beach, we play sand volleyball! And if we don't we can lie and tell our coach we did. After all, it is grind season. If we don't have a ball handy, we will go to the local Walmart (or whatever store I don't know your life) and get one. My family is the type to do that. We literally have 4 volleyballs from buying them on vacation. I'm not sure why, considering my family is a trainwreck of malfunctioning body parts (read: my dad had a hip replacement and my mom had double knee replacements). And before that, it was worse, because they weren't replaced, and they sucked as body parts. Sorry, side story. But anyways! Beach volleyball is great, especially for those of us who play indoor volleyball. It is a whole new game in the sand. Nature is an element, your vertical seems to have betrayed you, and you have to play smarter since it's harder to move. But it's also refreshing as we face the sun and the sand. It gives us the same sport in another atmosphere outside the confines of the gym.

 

Some of us go on a roadtrip with our friends, but I came to Florida with my parents. Because I'm super into family vacations. And…they paid for it. It's easier to go when it's funded! But I know we go out and have fun! I just can't give you all a personal recollection of that. I will let you in on a secret though, I had a virgin strawberry daiquiri…so…I'm pretty sure I know how to have a good time.

 

Volleyball Players, we will do normal things like go shopping because… we definitely can't do that at home apparently. But there might be more sales in a tourist attraction of a city!!! Fingers crossed! (I got a mug about yorkies and a tea set and my parents are mad at me because we have to fly back without our suitcases weighing over 50 lbs or breaking anything. But totally worth it.) Going in and out of local shops is definitely something we enjoy.

 

Ok and last but not least, we pretend school is not waiting to crush our souls when we return. Probably still have homework due from last semester when we were traveling. It's all fine. We just wait until summer vacation and during that time we realize it's not vacation because of summer workouts and real life is slowly getting closer. But for now, Spring Break is upon us and we have to relax because in less than a week, we are right back to practices, workouts, and school.

 

Thanks for actually reading this,

SS