Stay Smug on Your Staycation
Image by Yuliya Huseva via Unsplash
It’s officially summer in my corner of the world. Summer is the season of longer days, glittering fireflies, and fragrant, bloom-scented air. It’s also the time of year where vacation FOMO can kick into overdrive.
Social media offers a portal into others’ lives, and the seemingly endless carousel of exotic getaways has a way of dulling ordinary moments. Not everyone can take the vacation of their dreams right now, but the good news is that you don’t have to go anywhere (really!) to escape. Today, I’m offering some tips to optimize your staycation.
Because who says you can’t stay home and stay smug this summer?
Remember Your Why
Even though I wrote a beach read and am currently working on another one, I’ve had summers where I’ve stayed close to home. The first time, a pregnancy clipped my wings. I remember feeling initially disappointed that I wouldn’t satisfy my beach craving that year. I wallowed in self-pity until I remembered my “why.”
Then, I dived into the sweet rewards of a staycation. I took great joy in preparing our home for our second son, and I concentrated all of my energy on ensuring that my older son (a toddler at the time) knew I was savoring those heady days with him. We went to the park; we played; we baked. Those quiet memories might not meet a travel guide’s standards, but they imbued us with sense of rootedness before a massive life change.
My perspective shifted when I remembered what mattered more to me than a walk on the beach that year: supporting my growing family.
Your why is likely personal, too. Maybe you’re trying to stick to a budget. Maybe you’re caregiving and leaving isn’t feasible for you at this time. Maybe you’re burned out from a high-stress job, and you need the peace of one week at home. Maybe trips produce anxiety for you. Maybe the last one you took left you more drained than refreshed.
You have your reasons. The first step in a successful staycation is choosing not to make apologies for it. Your time at home will be meaningful because you’ve decided its value in advance.
Prep Your Space
So, you’re not traveling this year. You might not be exchanging your view for a faraway landscape, but there are aspects of past vacations that can be recreated in your home. I would encourage you reflect upon your favorite trips. What worked well? What meals do you remember? What special touches stayed with you?
Tidying your home the week before your staycation, with clean sheets and fresh flowers, might lift your mood. Maybe knocking out laundry now will bring you peace later. Maybe stocking your refrigerator will streamline meals. If vacation has always meant a reprieve from chores, I’d advise you to do what you can to support your most relaxed, lazybones staycation self.
When I’m on vacation, I love rising early and reading with a hot drink. I absolutely made sure to do that during those pregnancy summers. (There were two, and baby kicks have a way of waking you up with the birds!) You might start your vacations mornings with a run or a bike ride, so make sure to take that time for yourself at home, too.
As with a regular vacation, planning matters. Examining your preferred aspects of vacation life would will yield dividends during staycation week. With a bit of creativity and a firm commitment to Staycation You, you can set the tone for the ultimate relaxing week.
Romanticize Your Staycation
I can feel you rolling your eyes already, but bear with me. In some key ways, a staycation can be more relaxing than a traditional vacation. You’re promised a week free of obligations in a space you know well, without logistical issues or concerns for cost or the stress of hangry people scrambling to make a plan for dinner.
Yet appreciating these advantages requires intention. Whether by wearing your vacation favorite standbys or maintaining your vacation rituals, you can shift your perspective by giving your staycation the standard vacation treatment.
Essentially, enjoy your staycation with an eye toward its highlight reel.
Take pictures. Lots of pictures. Catch the moment on video. If you’re determined to go analog, paint the sunset instead. Keep a journal and fill it with ordinary moments of gratitude. By keeping your camera close, you will automatically signal to your brain that you intend to notice as much as you can.
As photographer Dorothea Lange famously said, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people to see without a camera.”
Who knows? With a camera in hand, you might see your time at home through new eyes. And you might fall in love with it all over again.
Reframe Expectations: Local Adventures are Lasting Adventures
This is the part where your author friend (that’s me!) would remind you that you can escape where you are. A book can instantly you transport you to a new destination. Because your brain can’t tell the difference between fiction and reality, an immersive novel can trick your subconscious into a novel experience from the comfort of home.
(And incidentally, if you wish you could travel to the east coast with some girlfriends this summer, I’ve got you covered.)
Books can work magic. A television series, an engrossing film, and even a nostalgic playlist can also help your spirit escape and find rest.
But also, a staycation doesn’t mean you have to stay home.
Staycations offer an opportunity to take part in local experiences that, too often, we take for granted. The close proximity of that coffee shop in the next town or that concert hall in the neighboring state lessens the sense of urgency to explore it. A staycation can light a fire under us to make fresh memories closer to home, no less significant because they required less effort.
If your time and budget allow, you might consider an overnight stay in a hotel in the closest city or camping for the weekend close to home. One special excursion can refresh the energy of your staycation.
Best of all, if you love your brief trip, you can recreate it easily at any time.
Reflect on What Worked: Staycation Lessons Might Stay with You
Sufi mystic Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote, “Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.”
How you ever left a beautiful place feeling crestfallen that you can’t take it with you?
I’ve known that ache when I leave the beach behind at the end of vacation. Perhaps, I miss the landscape or the people I love or the peace I’ve realized. No matter the aspect of vacation that sparked the emotion, the bittersweet ending lingers too long.
During a staycation, an ending feels softer. There’s less delineation between the best aspects of your time close to home and your actual life. You can, in fact, take it with you. Staycations shimmer with empowering lessons.
If the lesson was that you appreciated the extra time spent in nature, you can prioritize getting outside again. If you’ve missed your people and a staycation allowed extra time with them, you can recommit to showing up for loved ones. You’re under no illusions anymore that rest requires a journey or that peace depends on a view. Because the intangible pleasure we find on vacation has less to do with a setting than who we become when we’re inside of it. A staycation reminds us that the choice to make a place beautiful is ours.
And this summer, whether you stay home or travel widely, you can take pleasure in a relaxing break that’s all yours. Wherever you go (or don’t go), I hope rest finds you there.
Have you ever enjoyed a staycation? I’d love to hear your tips!
