StudentTravel.net is devoted to the places you want to go for leisure, and specifically the places you want to choose for spring break. This usually means beaches as they offer the perfect climate, low-stress days, and exciting nights. But the beaches I’m talking about today are even more low-stress than those.

“A haven for recreation and reflection,” the National Park Services has said of these beaches known as “OBX”, or the Outer Banks of the North Carolina coastline.

These narrow barriers present great opportunity for some water sports like kayaking and wind surfing. But they are perhaps best known for leisurely strolls, exploration, and quiet escapes to serenity. They’re dotted with a lighthouse or two, some as authentic and original as any in the nation. They offer a couple amazing historical landmarks – the site for the first flight by the Wright brothers and the location for the first English Colony.

The Outer Banks are also filled with pleasant wildlife, from nesting sea turtles to the endangered piping plover (it’s a little bird that nests on sandy beaches – I know you were wondering). And they’re unpredictable. Thanks to their narrow topography and nearness to the ocean, these barriers are constantly changing from wind and storms, ocean currents, and the rise and fall of the sea. Spend a day on them, and you’ll surely notice even subtle differences yourself.

The ocean is generally conceded to evoke great thought, reflection, and a general awareness of our relative insignificance in a massive universe. The Outer Banks are no exception, and added to that sense of the ocean’s vast existence comes the uncertain reality of standing on a narrow, changing space almost at the whim of the ocean’s power.

Still, if you tire of reflection – if you actually walk on these sandy shores and brilliant dunes long enough that you’ve decompressed from all the stress of work and school and home and have no more thinking left to do – there’s always the surf. This beautiful National Seashore is equal parts reflection and adventure, and you’ll love both activities for Outer Banks student tours.