According to the University of Pennsylvania, the average college student spends an average of $900 on booze a year. Those Wednesday night $3.00 pitchers and occasional tequila shots really add up when the end of the semester rolls around. When I spend summers traveling, friends often combat me saying, "I wish I could afford to do that." We've heard this before... it is simply a matter of priorities. Ideally, we would save more money than we spend, but if you're going to spend it anyway on some fun and adventure, there are more ways to do so than investing in your booze fund.

Here are a few things you could have done with your beer money this year:

1. Bought a round-trip flight to Hawaii

A trip from Chicago to Honolulu, booked three months in advance on Kayak, is approximately $700. You would still have an extra $200 leisure for hostels and food.

2. Spent Oktoberfest in Germany

A round trip, bought four months in advance, is approximately $503. Oktoberfest has campsites, so you could purchase a two-person backpacking tent from the North Face for $130, a $50 backpack, a $5.00 lock for a train station locker, $30 on a nice Drindl so you fit in and spent the remaining $182 on the best Wheat Beer and pretzels in the world. How's that for beer money?

3. Learned how to become a musician

You could have bought a best seller, Les Paul from Guitar Center ($129), a Fender amp ($60) and a Pearl Sound Check drum kit ($400) with $589 left to spend on a year's worth of lessons. And still had a couple dollars to spare on a the occasional tequila shot.

4. Road tripped across the United States

This trip is one week of driving along the California coast. The highway takes you right along some of the best stops in California. You would drive through San Diego, Del Mar, Carlsbad, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Rancho Palo Verdes, Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Goleta and it's state park, Lompoc, with a total possible 55 tourist destination stops. Gas cost for this trip is only $180. Then staying at Air BnB's and campsites for 7 nights would be approximately $350. Then the rest for food and any fun activities.

5. Appalachian Trail Road Trip

The Appalachian trail is the perfect road trip for East Coasters. You would travel all the way from Maine to Georgia in about a week. Get yourself a tent, sleeping pad, backpack, some hiking boots and a compass, and you're set for this trip. My favorite necessity checklist is REI's "Ultralight Backpacking Checklist." Depending on whether you're just up for hiking or for camping, this trip can be as least supply-heavy as you please. The cost of gas is only $267 and the driving time is about 33 hours. The image above is a shot from Mcafee Knob, an overlook on the Appalachian trail in Virginia.

6. Pacific Coast Highway

This trip is only $113 for gas and is a three day trip through Oregon to Washington. This trip is full of waterfalls, windy roads, cliff edges, beaches and forests. Some of the highlights would be Cape Blanco State Park, Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, Cannon Beach and the famous "Bicycle Swallowed by a Tree."

7. Seen Beyonce in Concert. Twice.

Beyonce tickets, on average, cost $342. If you saw her twice, you'd still have $216 left for some nice Beyonce apparel and a large box of tissues to dry your "is-this-real?" tears.

8. Gone Skydiving in the Grand Canyon

Skydiving in the Grand Canyon is ranked the 7th best place to go skydiving in the world according to Forbes.

The skydiving experience costs $299, with a $376 flight booked 3 months in advance from Chicago to Tucson. This leaves you with $225 for food, an Air BnB and a couple celebratory beers after the adrenaline rush.

9. Bought 202 Grande Caramel Frappuccinos

10. Gone to an entire home schedule of your favorite NFL team

The average season pass is approximately $800 giving you an extra $100 to go crazy with all the foam fingers and popcorn you could imagine.

Imagine if you saved all your beer money from all four years of college. That's a lot of cash. But perhaps we are doomed as college students with poor prioritizing and bad judgement, finding way too much enjoyment in morning-after headaches, yelling off of balconies, crying in bathrooms together and harboring embarrassing pictures. There is a justification here. Some things (like being a college student) are just priceless.