There has been much debate on whether you should stay home or travel this holiday season. While some may say that traveling is the way to go, others suggest that you should just stay home. Staying home however, clearly has more benefits to it than negatives. And Isabella Hendrick (‘25) agrees.

“I prefer to stay at home instead of traveling because I have more things to do locally instead of going somewhere new that I have never visited,” Hendrick said.

There are many reasons why people choose to stay home for the holidays. One big reason is to prevent the spread of COVID-19. If less and less people were to travel, then the amount of COVID-19 cases would surely decrease. If you were to travel and come into contact with the virus, you then would be forced to quarantine which would prevent you from being productive.

“Staying local will also prevent the spread of the virus and keep it down to a minimum,” Nicholas Wolfgang (‘23) said.

You should also stay home especially since your family and friends live here. Spending time with family and friends is what Christmas is all about and it wouldn’t make sense for you to travel instead of spending time with the people you love the most.

“I like to stay home for Christmas due to my main group of friends living in Florida. I also love everything Tampa does come Christmas time,” Hendrick said.

Staying local come Christmas time is the only logical option. There are numerous reasons as to why this is the only right option. Bottom line, people should stay local this holiday season.