Staycation Sensation
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Why spend a fortune traveling to an exotic locale this summer when you could have a perfectly delightful ‘staycation’ at home? The concept of a staycation, or a vacation taken at home, first surfaced last summer when the markets started to sour and the economy began significantly contracting.
It’s an intriguing idea, but one that emerged too late for the many who had already booked plane tickets, plunked down deposits on hotels, or otherwise set vacation travel plans in motion. This year, though, with summer still a fair way off, you do have the time to plan for a sensational, low-cost staycation. The trick to making a stay-at-home vacation truly feel like a relaxing break is to plan ahead. A little bit of organizing now will ensure you step out of your regular routine and make the most of your time off.
Sarah on “Home, but Not”
“The very last thing you want your staycation to be is a week like any other, minus work. It’s all too easy to stay stuck in everyday routines if you stay put in the same physical location. That’s why it’s critical to plan to be home…but not in the usual sense. Imagine that you have ‘rented’ out your house just like you would a vacation property for the entire time you have off. Consider how your normal behavior would be different at a vacation property and plan to adjust your regular routines accordingly. Most likely that means limiting (or eliminating) chores like doing laundry or cleaning bathrooms, cutting soccer or practices, and making one large grocery run at the start of the week so you don’t have to bother with it during your week off – and don’t forget to include fun ‘vacation’ food items in your cart like pancake mix, watermelon, and ice cream! Consider putting blankets over TVs, at least in individual bedrooms, and encourage interactive entertainment by putting out board games and cards in common areas. Whatever you do, make sure you truly switch gears and get into vacation mode.”
Alicia on “Swap”
“A really fun way to feel like you’re really on vacation without having to travel far or pay for lodging is to swap houses or apartments with a friend. This works especially well if you live in or near a big city. Swaps between city dwellers and suburbanites enable city folks to get a dose of fresh air and stretch out, and suburbanites to immerse themselves in the hustle, bustle and culture of a city.”
Here are a few ideas for getting a jump start on your staycation planning.
1. Consider Giving Your Staycation a Theme
Themes are great ways to transform any old week into something special. It only takes about five to ten minutes to brainstorm a list of potential themes – so grab a pad of paper when you have a few minutes this week to daydream – in the carpool lane, at work, or after dinner – and jot down your ideas. Whether you choose a theme, such as Frontier Days, Beach Living, Spa Tranquility, or even Space Adventure, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to plan activities, meals, and day trips around a big idea. If you have a family, be sure to let them in on the thematic brainstorming and give everybody an opportunity to vote on the winning theme.
2. Book Activities in Advance
If you don’t schedule at least a few fun vacation-specific activities in advance, you might look up at the end of a ‘nothing special’ kind of week off and wonder where the time went. Create a staycation schedule at least a few weeks in advance. You’ll want to have some sort of ‘kick-off’ event, at least one fun and different activity for each day of vacation, and just in case, a few ideas for rainy days.
3. Look for Free
There are typically a lot of incredible, and incredibly fun, free events and activities put on by local community organizations in the summer. Check out the websites for your local visitors and conventions bureaus and find free outdoor movie nights, museum tickets, and other activities that don’t cost much money but will keep you, and anyone else you vacation with, entertained.
We have planned a night to ‘camp’ in our backyard and will probably invite some friends to join us. Love the theme ideas to add a little more adventure.
Thank you for the tips!
Love these ideas!
With two kiddos under the age four it’s paramount to try and stay on top of things, not to say that I always accomplish that task. As the article mentions before you know it our time is sucked away and nothing special has happened.
I did just discover a new way to keep our staycations and weekends interesting and right on track with our budget. Our local library system received a grant from Macy’s for a program called the Muesum Adventure Pass. It offers free admission to dozens of local attractions. Not only is it a real money saver it has given me lots of activity ideas for our special time!
Here is a link to the program in the Metro Detroit Michigan area but it looks like Macy’s sponsors similar programs across the country so check out your area http://www.detroitadventurepass.org/
Now if only I there was a “Buttoned Up” product for dealing with the terrible twos!
Enjoy!
great tips & ideas! Thank you!
thank you for the tips & ideas!
I absolutely love this idea! I was already going to plan on doing this. This article gave me some great ideas! Thank you!
My husband and I had a staycation for a romantic weekend at home. It saved us over $500! And moved our summer vacation to next year’s spring break so we could use my parent’s time-share! That will save us close to $1,000!
I just love the creativity involved in planning a staycation as inexpensively (or free) as possible, and your ideas for game nights, local museum activities, outdoor movie nights and rainy day alternatives are all greatly appreciated… I’m looking forward to planning my staycation for later this summer!
We did a staycation for spring break and were tourists in our own city. Sure it was expensive to ride up the space needle, visit the Pike Place Market and ride the Ducks tour, but sure a lot cheaper when you pack your own lunch, sleep in your own bed and ride the bus! We also did fun and free things as well, like tide pooling on the beach & exploring the art museum on it’s free admission day.
I love the idea of a Staycation…we need to save money and it would be a great way to find out all the reasons why you love your home and your community!!!
When we realized there would be very little funds for a vaca, we decided we still needed some ‘fun’. We painted the trellis next to the deck periwinkle, and planted red and white climbing roses. We added some ‘welcome to the beach’ signs, painted some old planters in fun colors and glued sea shells to the rims. Then we took some oars( Mom’s garage) , painted ‘welcome to OUR beach’ on them and hung them over the doorway. Two old adirondack chairs got the periwinkle paint, as well as a junk table we ‘found’ in Mom’s garage. We got bags of beach sand and filled a galvanized tub with sand and took a second one and filled it with water and sea salt. We downloaded an hours worth of ‘ocean waves’ onto the IPOd,hooked that up to the speakers and stocked up on s’mores ingredients, margaritas and ice. C’mon in, the water’s fine!!
My kids love to tent in the backyard!!! I used to do that as a kid and it was great
Staycations are great! My honeymoon was a staycation. No phones, no one was allowed to stop by, we didn’t check the mail, nothing. My cell phone was on silent and I might have checked it once or twice the whole time (just in case of emergencies).
Come on people, the honeymoon is about the people, not the location.
Great tips! Thanks : ) My family and I like to host pot luck picnics. It’s a great way to see out neighbors and enjoy the outdoors. We can’t afford a vacation this year, but we’ll still have plenty of summer fun!
It’s amazing how much fun you can have in your own backyard! We live in an area that has hundreds of camping and attractions within 50 miles of our home. We can drive 9 miles and stay at a beautiful campground right on the river. It’s even fun to camp out in the backyard. We set up the tent and pull out the grill and we are ready for a fun filled weekend.
My children enjoyed a few camping nights on our back deck in our tent. It was safe, close to the door and a great way to entertain their friends for a sleepover! Not to mention they just loved hanging out in it during the day. You just encouraged me to do it again this weekend and make a plan-less weekend into something exciting. Thanks!
I grew up camping in the back yard at least once a year and always loved it! A great suggestion!
pdxbabysigns at gmail dot com
I just discovered you on Twitter. Kids think anything different is fun so the staycation is a great idea. I would like to try it with my grandchildren.
I truly enjoyed your article about “Planning A Couple’s Vacation”. My husband and I always planned a yearly trip together around our anniversary time and it meant so much to both of us. In 2003, I was in an automobile accident and my whole life changed. It has destroyed my health and we have taken no trips since then because of medical bills and other factors due to the accident. I miss our trips so very much. Our closeness has suffered as a result of what has happened to me – auto accident, 4 surgeries since then, stroke, diagnosed with 4 autoimmune diseases, very painful and rare spinal disease diagnosis. I would LOVE to take a trip again. I plan to send this to my sweetheart and maybe we will be able to afford it again some day.
bargainmom08
This is such a terrific article. We are moving to a new home next week so we can’t afford any vacations away from home this summer. This gives us so many great ideas. Thanks!
- Coach Jenn
http://personalfitcoach.com
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