Sometimes I like to disappear.
Call this what you like - a mental health day, a date with myself - but we all know that sometimes, it is just necessary to take a day for yourself.
Staying on the Homewood campus can make this task difficult. If you sit in Gilman, you run the risk of a friend stopping to chat between class, and let's not even talk about what happens when you go to the Hopkins social hub, a.k.a. the library.
Here are a few places to escape the stress of your scholarly life and chill out. (Fine, you can bring your homework too, you Hopkins student).
Towson Town Center
Yeah, this sounds real original, right?
But take a mall trip alone. You can do the solo-shopping thing (it's a lot more fun to try on the same thing four times without your friends rushing you) or go another route.
Bring your class reading, or dare I suggest pleasure reading, and take a seat at the in-mall Starbucks or the one at the Barnes & Noble. I prefer sitting at Nordstrom Café.
Located on the top level of Nordstrom, the Café offers soups and salads among other tasty lunch treats.
Also, you get free chocolates with your bill. Even better.
Campus (of a school that isn't yours)
Take the Collegetown shuttle to MICA or Loyola or Towson and get off.
Walk in the direction of the general masses.
Find the dining hall, the library or the student union (you know, those things that other universities normally have).
Don't wear your JHU sweatshirt. Eat lunch or do your work.
It can be nice to be at a place where no one knows you.
Towson Place
Similar to the mall suggestion, hop on the Collegetown and go run some errands by yourself.
Stock up on paper towels at Target, bargain shop at Walmart and TJ Max or have coffee at Panera.
Inner Harbor
Take yourself on a cultural date.
Go to the Maryland Science Center or the Aquarium. Explore your artsy side at the American Visionary Art Museum and then climb up Federal Hill and look out on the Inner Harbor - it's hard not to admit to the beauty of Baltimore from that viewpoint.
Treat yourself to ice cream and boutique shopping at Harbor East.
Or, if you want to dedicate yourself to more substantive food samplings, visit Little Italy. I would wind down any day with coffee and a cannoli at Vacarro's.
Ellicott City
If you have a car, drive down to Ellicott City for the day.
Think of a more developed, less hipster-esque Hampden.
You can spend the day walking from shop to shop, or you could get a little exercise and walk the Trolley Trail that drops you in residential Catonsville.
Meditation Centers
If you need a little more guidance in your relaxation, head to a meditation center.
Many of them have open sitting, guided meditation and Buddhist-centric exercises. The Baltimore Shambhala Meditation Center is located around the corner of the Marylander Apartment Building.
Centennial Park
Again, another car-required visit. At Centennial, you can walk the 2.4 mile loop around the lake or have a picnic in more seasonally appropriate weather. If you like to fish, you can do that too. The 324-acre park is scenic enough that you'll forget about the sirens and loud-mouthed partiers that keep you up late at night in the city.
So, in writing this, I have recognized a common theme in my chill-out days: work and food. But that's just me.
The important thing is to go somewhere by yourself and get away from whatever is worrying you back at school. You can even get a little crazy and turn off your phone for an hour.
Sometimes it's just nice to disconnect from everything for a while.
