Going to school in Washington, D.C. but really any place across the country that is considered a tourist destination brings with it some interesting quirks when tourist season hits.

So, with cherry blossom season impending and school groups descending on D.C. here are some signs of tourist season that I am sure are common across all campuses near areas that draw in the tourists.

1. Campus becomes a lot more crowded:

The sidewalks are crowded on a normal school day with students zig-zagging from one class to the next, then to a meeting, and then to work, but with tourists, there is an added crowd and new obstacle. Tourists are in a rush to nowhere and are trying to orient themselves with the area meaning they are especially slow. Plus, they walk side by side in groups making it hard to dodge and pass them on the street as you are trying to get across campus in 10 minutes to make it to your next class. With the droves of tourists, a 5-minute walk might take 10, or even more.

2. Being used as a walking information booth:

That 5-minute walk may turn into 10 because of the tourists stopping to ask you questions. “Do you know where XYZ Street is?” “Where is the nearest Metro stop?” “In what direction is so-in-so landmark?”

Admittedly I may be more prone getting these questions since I don’t usually walk with headphones in and I have the tendency to ask people if they need help when looking lost, but it easily happens to anyone. Waiting to cross the street, or just being stopped in your tracks as you're walking. To a tourist, headphones mean nothing, they are only concerned about missing a tour, getting to a dinner reservation on time, or wanting to get back to their hotel after a long day.

But we’ve all been in their shoes, right? So once in a while, even if it is annoying, stop and take a question to the forlorn parent who has been dragging their kids out all day, or the foreign visitor who needs to be pointed in the right direction.

3. Public transportation becomes a lot more interesting

I love taking the metro during tourist season, it provides an endless source of entertainment. You see the chaperones of the school trips trying to corral 20-30 middle schoolers during rush hour. Making sure everyone knows which stop to get at, making sure everyone in the group gets on the same car, making sure no one is left on the platform or left on the train, it certainly is a juggling act.

Then you have the families who suddenly realize the train they got on is going in the wrong direction or that it’s just the wrong line altogether. But then there are the sweet moments where you see the kids exhausted from a day of site seeing who have fallen asleep on their parent’s lap. This is always a much better scene, yet a much less common one than the kids who are exhausted but having a temper tantrum.

4. It’s harder to get a brunch or dinner reservation

You as someone who lives in the destination full time are also trying to eat out with friends and go about your day-to-day life going out to have brunch or dinner with friends. Yet, those reservation slots suddenly become a lot harder to come by as the tourists are eating every single meal out and want to try all the restaurants.

Perhaps the one “perk” to this challenge is that maybe you can’t get into your favorite places but you can find new spots that are truly local gems free from tourists that you can enjoy all year round and make you feel more at home where you are going to school.

But on my campus, things get a bit trickier with our everyday eating habits too, because we don’t have a dining hall. So often the lines at the places we’re just trying to get lunch are getting longer, or the tourists start to come into the school buildings where there are dining options. I always laugh a little when I see tourists stopping at an on-campus deli for a morning snack as the hungover college students are just trying to get their bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel.

5. You become an amateur family portrait photographer

People want to remember their fantastic trips to great places so they’ll need pictures. Or the moms of the family who are already thinking of the family holiday cards they will be sending out in December in April and they need every family member in the photo. So, the question then becomes, who takes the photo?

Well, you right there, passing by at the right moment. “Would you mind taking a photo?”

Your Snapchat and Instagram skills are then required on the spot to be an impromptu family portrait photographer trying to catch everyone at a semi-decent moment when most of the kids are looking at the camera and have some semblance of a smile on their face.

So as the kids are released for Spring Break and with the airplane tickets booked, if you go to school in any place that might be considered a tourist destination and your campus is nearby, get ready for the tourists to descend, because they’re coming.