This week the weather turned a corner and the looming summer season hit me straight in the face - and left me wishing for a summer vacation spent lazily lying on sandy beaches sipping drinks with orchids floating in them. But like many Americans, frugality prevails this year, so visits to friends and family and long, leisurely weekends at home (drinking white wine spritzers - sans the corsage) are the order of the day. Not a bad thing, just different.
So if the stiff price of gas has got you down, and the desire to simplify has you got you fired up - be it ever so humble there's no place like home. Enter the staycation - a vacation you take in your own home town. This ongoing trend has would be world travelers seeking relaxation and adventure from the comfort of their own couches. For a successful stay at home family vacation try these ten top tips:
Create a budget: Although you won't have the expenses of leaving home, you will want to consider how much your staycation activities will cost. If you plan on eating out more, spending one or two nights at a local hotel or starting a project that requires investment - plan a budget.
Avoid errand creep: Don't end up doing so many things around the house - replacing the light bulbs, cleaning out the garage, fixing the front door etc. - that you miss taking the time you need to just chill. If you have a few closets you really want to clean out, schedule a specific day and time to do them.
Become a tourist in your own town: You know that old joke about how most New Yorker's have never been to the Statue of Liberty? Buy a guidebook on the area you live in and read through it for things you might like to do. Take a guided tour, helicopter ride, boat trip, see the zoo etc.
Keep friends at bay: Unless you want a major part of your staycation to be visiting with friends, don't over schedule the lunches, dinners and get togethers. You want the space (and freedom) to be spontaneous.
Visit a day spa: Just because you're not staying at a five star resort with a world-class spa, does not mean you can't get scrubbed, rubbed and pampered! Check out a day spa in your area and set up a treatment or two. If you really want to splurge go for broke and do a full-day package.
Set goals: Think about what you want to accomplish on your staycation. Is there a book you have been dying to read? A whole slew of movies you want to catch up on? Romantic time you want to spend with your spouse? Take the kids to the new exhibit at the zoo? Time to think through your long-term goals? Naps? Whatever objectives you set, let them dictate the organization of your time off.
Block out check in times: Just as you would with a regular get away vacation, set up specific times when you are going to check in with the office and stick to them. Don't let the proximity of work, lure you away from your stay-at-home holiday.
Stay overnight: If your staycation is a week or longer consider spending one or two nights at a local hotel. Just getting away for a night, can feel exotic and fun. Not to mention romantic if you go with your significant other.
Do something different: One of the advantages of a traditional vacation is that it puts you in a different environment, where the opportunity to try something new is greater than usual. There is no reason you can't apply this same idea to your staycation. Check out your local scene for activities that you might not normally do but sound fun.
Do nothing: Never underestimate the value of waking up when you want to and doing whatever you want, whenever you want, all day long. Don't feel like your staycation has to produce any tangible results - it doesn't. Just getting renewed and refreshed is reward enough.
Please note that the information in this article is copyrighted by Karen Leland. If you would like to reprint any of it on your blog or website you are welcome to do so, provided you give credit and a live link back to this posting.
Karen Leland is author of the recently released books Email In An Instant: 60 Ways To Get Your Message Across With Style and Impact, Watercooler Wisdom: How Smart People Prosper In the Face of Conflict, Pressure and Change and Time Management In An Instant:60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day. She is the co-creator of a new line of Productivity Pads from Time Tamer™ and the co-founder of Sterling Consulting Group. For questions, comments or to book Karen to speak at your next event, please e-mail kleland@scgtraining.com.
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All I can say is a resounding 'you bet' to that! What is that expression "Home is where the heart is."
2. BEER
3. BEER
4. BEER
etc...
Plus, the Blondes are too good friends for me to spoil that. ; )
I make sure my place is spotless before the vacation starts so I don't have to take care of any "chores" while I'm "staycating". I enjoy being in a clean place (makes me feel like I'm in a luxury hotel) and the cleanup isn't that labor-intensive because I clean pretty much daily anyway. At the start of the vacation, the place is picked up, scrubbed and vaccuumed; laundry's done, there are new sheets on the bed, new towels and I've aired everything out (sometimes incense or room scent?).
I plan menus that I can cook during my time off AND/OR build in a nice restaurant meal or two for an extra "pampering."
Also planned are relaxing activities like looooooooooong walks, shopping, movie(s), or visits to museums. I live close to the beach so that's an easy inclusion as well. Maybe I'll pick out a book or two to read, or some DVDs to watch.
I LOVE "staycations!"
I love your idea of cleaning the house before the staycation! That's a great one to add to the list!
Thanks.
I feel your pain. 25 years living in the San Francisco Bay Area and not once have I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge - shameful! Ok that's it, this summer I vow to be a tourist in my own town.
I'm in Stone Mountain, and know some fabulous off the track places. I won't post my email here, but I walk daily at Stone Mtn Park, around 8am. Look for a funky white dude, with a shaved head, and an MP3 player. Or ask someone, most people seem to know me : )
Thank goodness we're being protected from the blight of long vacations, free health care and free education! Long live the mighty Corporation!
"Staycation" is a polite term for yet another made-in-America screwjob.
All true and possible if you still have a job and money to pay for spa, tour and etc.
But the "Do Nothing" is the best solutions for everyone.
FYI, I did not invent the term staycation, it's in common use and I'm not sure who first coined it. However I take your point. Yes, there are ways to have a more or less expensive staycation. The value is in the time to 'just be.'
Unlike what was done in the episode, sending cards to your friends about the time you're having is probably taking the concept too far.
I really enjoyed your post - thank you!
There is something wonderful about not having to deal with peak holiday time travel and luxuriating in your own home. There is for me anyway. I also appreciate your suggestions about creatively using the time and familiar space to do different things, or to do the same things differently. It is fun to be a tourist in your own locale.
With gratitude,
Anne
Thanks for your comment. I agree their is a certain amount of freedom in just being home. I'm always challenged not to do errands, but make it a real vacation anyway when I do this!