Pub Crawl: Guaranteed Fun

How To Plan A Pub Crawl

Some of the most alcohol-related fun I?ve had in college has taken place in the midst of a bar crawl. A bar crawl is a pretty simple idea and can be done anywhere that has a stretch of dive bars.?If you want to organize your own bar crawl here is what you need to know.

Organize a solid group of friends that are willing to get hammered and be rowdy. As in all cases that involve men and alcohol, be very precise about the type of women you are going to invite out with you. If you know she would have a lager over a cosmopolitian, you have a winner. This is not the type of gathering in which you want to invite along a girlfriend who has a strong leash on her boyfriend.

Plan out a route that includes several bars. Knowing the route ahead of time means that if a handful of people get left behind, they will know where to meet you. (We all know how hard it is to get coherent instructions from a hammered meathead.) You want all of these bars to be in walking distance of each other. Walking from one bar to the next should only take a few minutes. When I was at U.C. Berkeley, we took a bus to the first stop on the bar crawl. The route we took slowly took us closer and closer to home. By the time we were at our last bar, we only needed to walk another 10 minutes to get back into our beds. If you?re a college kid trying to spend all your disposable income on alcohol instead of a cab, keep this in mind.

Also if you can find a few quick food stops on the way, that?s a huge boon for any bar crawl. Think of something along the lines of a WaWa or 7-Eleven.

Avoid getting multiple drinks at anyone one establishment unless it involves shots. The one thing that can kill a bar crawl is stagnation. This tends to happen when people start ordering a couple beers and taking their sweet old time. You then have a split in the group with people wanting to keep going on to the next bar while others are lagging behind.

When done correctly, a bar crawl is a fast-moving event that keeps everyone on their toes. Unlike a night of beer pong in your basement that can get old real fast, your get-together will be pretty lively. People will also be encouraged to socialize as you make your way from one bar to the next.

There are a few variations of the bar crawl that work spectacularly well. My favorite one involves playing a little dress-up. With the group of friends you assembled, head into an ethnic district of a city. Assign a spending limit of around $15-20 and begin your shopping spree. You?re looking to buy clothing items that give you a distinctively local flair. Chinatown works best in this scenario, but feel free to try some other places out.

After that, wreak havoc on the dive bars in the area. The reaction you get will be mixed. Hopefully the locals like you and won?t get too irked by your fu manchu ?stache, but hey that?s a risk worth taking.

With the World Cup currently in swing, this is the optimal time to get don ethnic garb. Since the games are being played in South Africa there are some time zone issues that have to be worked out. If you?re living on the East Coast, though, and have a free Saturday or Sunday, the 2:30 kick-off time can work.

Personally speaking, I would suggest going into a soccer crazy area like a local barrio. If you?re dressed in full garb and avidly rooting with the locals, you?re bound to score a few free drinks.

On the other hand, it could make for an even more interesting experience if you dress in the enemy?s colors. Just don’t blame me if you get a shot glass hurled your way.