May 25, 2010

Plan Your Staycation this Summer

Relaxing Home Retreats

Staycations have become more popular as vacation savings shrink or dry up completely like so many have over the past few years. Granted for some of us travel that involves a plane ticket is a luxury any year.  The high price of gas might also mean this summer we stay even closer to home.

One alternative to feeling like a prisoner is to choose how you spend your vacation.  You can put all the same time and attention to detail, as you would a trip to London.  My sister has maps and books galore to look through before her European trip with my brother and mother.  Why not apply the same excited attention to your staycation?

Consider these tips:
  1. Decide on a theme: you go to Paris and your time there is all things French.  Maybe you want a spa vacation at home. 
  2. Prepare your home: you make a packing list for your suitcase, do the same at home. Plan what you want to have around you and clear out the clutter.
  3. Unplug!  When you travel overseas you often cannot communicate with friends until you get home. Do the same here.
  4. Bring a book:  You take your books & magazines on the plane or to the beach, do it here. Cut back (or keep off) the television and computer and have some fun reading material! If you are a member try Costco otherwise, check out your local library.
  5. Favorite Foods: You go to new places to try their food and experience their culture.  Consider picking up some new and exotic meals or ingredients to make dishes you have always wanted to try. Be adventurous!
Don't forget that this should be a getaway even if you are at home.  We tell ourselves we won't call into work or check emails when we have spent all this money to take a plane somewhere, be good to yourself and make that pledge here. 

Relax and enjoy yourself this summer because I imagine time will fly and soon enough you will be day dreaming in your cubicle about next year.

5 comments:

  1. Nice list here, planning for a staycation is just as important as planning for a vacation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Cate. One of my favorite special treats is to have extra fresh flowers in the house. I forget how good they make you feel.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There is no such thing as a staycation. it's the worst word in the travel lexicon. A staycation is simply you staying home b/c you can't go anywhere and then calling it something else to make it feel like your doing something more than you are.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Matt - Americans are famous for making up new words all the time...and this one related to travel is no different.

    And I'm saying that it shouldn't be a bad thing if we put a positive spin (and some real planning) on staying home because we cannot afford or for whatever reason cannot get away for a traditional vacation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Staying at home this summer? Still having some sort of fun and relaxation?

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails