Getting a break from your busy life to travel can seem almost impossible. One easy way to get around the troubles of traveling is to have your own staycation. A stay-at-home-vacation or staycation makes relaxing easy all the while saving money. With lower cost on the vacation itself, you will have more money to spend on treating yourself. You won’t waste any of your vacation days having to travel, allowing you more time to relax. Follow these ideas and tips to help planning your own personal staycation.
Don’t follow your typical daily routine
- Instead of worrying about doing laundry or making dinner, skip the laundry and go out to eat. Make sure you are enjoying all the things you typically enjoy while on vacation. Even though you’re still at home, you are on vacation. Tip: To prepare fully for your staycation, make sure you do all the laundry and clean up your home prior and complete all your typical chores.
Plan for your Staycation
- Even though you’ll be staying at home, a great way to fully enjoy your staycation is to plan beforehand. Plan your activities you want to do and go shopping in advance if you want to eat at home. Planning out your days before, allows you to have more time to enjoy them. Pre-planning your meals and deciding when you are going to eat out allows to alleviate the stress of making dinner. Tip: Still allow time for spur-of-the-moment adventures.
Don’t do any of you work at home
- Unless absolutely necessary, try not doing any work. Pretend you are out of the state and don’t run into work, even if it is “really quick”. Try not to check your work email either while staycation-ing; instead let everyone at work know that you’ll be unavailable.
Become a tourist in your city
- Always wanted to visit that place everyone is talking about? Your staycation is the perfect time to become a tourist in your own town. Really channel your inner vacationer by acting like you’ve never been there and have fun exploring your own city. Tip: Go to your local tourist office and have them help you plan your day; plus they will let you know of any local events going on.
Make the vacation days clear
- To completely enjoy your vacation, lay out the days you will be “vacationing” like you typically would. On those days make sure you are fully vacationing, whether that be staying in and watching movies all day or enjoying your apartment community’s amenities.
Relax and enjoy your time off
- Keep in mind that your vacation is about relaxing. It’s easy to get stressed out while missing work or planning what to do for the day but you need to remind yourself that this week is all about leisure and enjoyment. Take this week to try and detox from using your phone or tablet; instead pick up that book you’ve been wanting to read for months. Tip: Book a day at a nearby spa or plan on getting a massage over your break.
Photos are from Cadence Cool Springs, The Boulevard and Addison at Kramer Station.
