What To Bring On A Uni-Trip

And how I learned

Last week, I found myself in the Cairngorms in a cabin with nine friends. We finally got to live out our first-year uni trip dreams and have a getaway to the middle-of-nowhere for a three-day holiday. This particular vacation, for me, came at a singularly bad time — midterms, last-minute travelling, and a general sense of ‘no matter how much I plan it all goes wrong’-ness had come to haunt me in the days leading up to Spring Vacation Week. But as we must all realise by now, the most unexpected gifts come at the most necessary moments, and this trip was undoubtedly my most favourite gift. 

I should start by saying that if you take anything from this, it should be that you absolutely must do everything in your power to go on vacation in university. I cannot imagine the number of times I had to use my former-debate-kid voice to convince and eventually guilt-trip my friends into believing that this was indeed a non-negotiable life experience — it was only a humble journey to the Highlands, after all. The Airbnb was reasonably priced and split between ten of us, the travel was free (God bless you, YoungScot), and we weren't going to be burdened by the world's most expensive Tesco anymore – what could go wrong? 

Being the perfectionist Type-A organiser that I am, I had everything ready from the bus schedule to the grocery list. But as is typical of anything planned in six days, most of the discussions prior to break revolved around how to get to our secluded cabin, what necessities to bring, and who owed whom money … essentially, we were sure of every detail, except for the most important part — what were we going to do once we were there?

For the hour’s wait between five of us arriving by car and the rest of the group, who valiantly took the bus, I spent most of my time daydreaming about how much fun we were about to have. I flooded my thoughts with pre-teen ideas of how we would all bond — cooking late at night, watching movies, and getting way too riled up over stupid board games. Many of these childish dreams did come true, and since returning from Kingussie, I have found myself much too nostalgic about the occurrences of last week. In this time, I have also concluded that our three-day party was the perfect first-year uni trip. As the benevolent peer and planner that I am, here is a step-by-step guide of what I think made our getaway so memorable. 

1. Find a friend with a car: Stake out the Sports Centre car park, keep an eye out for car keys on lanyards and befriend a generous someone who drives around town in their scrappy blue Ford Fiesta — just do what you have to do.

2. BUY EGGS: In our 72 hours in the woods, our unassuming group of ten went through one hundred eggs — during your adventures you quickly learn that eggs, as well as being the only things we can cook consistently well, also go with everything from breakfast to steak to midnight hotpot.

3. In any long-term friendship, there will be something you've been avoiding that you need to talk about with someone. Words that hurt and feelings you think you can't name (both good and bad) — name them. Work through them. Address them. 

4. In person-ify your favourite online games: Among Us with impostors who pinch you? Yes please! Honestly, just play anything but Cranium, I promise you the fights about whether someone's eyes are closed while they draw aren't worth it in the end.

5. Come to terms with the fact that you will turn nocturnal … embrace it. Still, don't forget to see the sun when you can.

   
   

6. Be vulnerable. Trust your friends. Share.

7. The digital camera becomes public property — take photos of everything. The number of moments we have remembered because of a singular Canon and one of our sleep-deprived artistic visions is unreasonable. 

   1. Side note: if you are the friend with the digital camera, bring a battery and use your judgment to filter out the bad photos …

      
      

8. Lastly, perhaps most importantly, tell your friends you love them. Drunk or sober, I promise most of them need to hear it more than you think.

Illustration by Ramona Kirkham