Staycations

[Libby]

Times are tough, pennies are being pinched. The days of a buy now, pay later luxe dream vacation are being passed up in lieu of staycations simply b/c people are realizing that they can't afford it.

I do realize some like to use the time to deep clean their homes or for home reno projects but I'm talking about ideas for a true vacation feel without actually going to a far away destination.

What are your tricks & tips to planning, creating and enjoying your perfect staycation?

[Russ]

A staycation/vacation to me, is the act of slowing down and no schedule. It's the enjoyment of life without the structure of the job.

So, when I have a staycation it's all about variety and spontaneity. Doing what I want, when I want. If I want to lay in the hammock on a lazy afternoon, I can do that. If I want to take the wife to a museum, or drive over and watch freighters, I can do that without looking at a clock.

First night of ANY vacation >> Unplug the alarm clock.

[greekislandgirl]

Visit the attractions in your hometown or home area. So many of us live close to attractions that we've never even been to. I have been guilty of recommending places to people who were visiting as tourists, and I'd never been myself. It's so easy to drive past something 1000 times without stopping.

Parks, rivers, museums, art galleries, historical districts in the town, battlefields, coastal areas, hiking trails, petting zoos, pick your own farms, open air markets, historic churches or state buildings, garden shows....

I once spent a summer back from college with my parents and in an effort to get more exercise, I sought out places to walk in the town where I grew up. I believe I saw more of that town in 2 months that summer than in the 17 years I lived there growing up!

[pollypurebred39]

Get Organized for Your Staycation ? Simple Mom

Staycation Strategies - Have a Staycation - Stay Put on a Staycation

I used to do this all the time while the boys were growing up, of course they were not called staycations then, and it was NOT a vacation for me.

If I wanted a staycation now, I think I'd think about the things that I like to do on vacation. Spa stuff, good food, dinner theater & shopping would be my kind of vacation. I'd then find those kinds of things in my area and make an itinerary. I'd turn off ALL communication from the outside world. I'd buy some vacation clothes And enjoy!

Wikitravel:Itinerary article template - Wikitravel

[ErikM02]

I'm lucky to live in Colorado so when the weather is nice, I can just get up to the mountains and do some camping and decompressing from everyday life

Cost a little bit of gas money & all, but not too bad

[Spirit Deer]

We live where other people spend big bucks to come here for their vacations. So it's a cheap vacation for us to go camping somewhere and since it's a tourist area, there are tons of campgrounds to choose from.

We are also two hours from Duluth, which is a harbor city with lots to see and do. And we're an hour and a half away from the north shore of Lake Superior, so it's not unusual for us to take a day trip and a picnic lunch to enjoy a day along the big lake.

We live on a lake, so staying home means we do what a lot of people come here and spend big bucks to do, spend time in a cabin on the lake. We are, in fact, on vacation this week, although we have been working through this one, building a garden for the most part and catching up on work that got neglected in favor of our numerous vacations last year.

We're attending our town's first-ever city-wide rummage sales tomorrow, so that'll be our fun and games for this vacay. We're also taking some of the money we're saving by canceling our trip to the Black Hills and buying ourselves a big honkin' brand new gee-whiz stainless steel grill. Gotta love price-matching!

What we do when we don't plan home projects for vacations is just a whole lot of nothing. We're boring, so we watch movies, preferably cheesy disaster flicks, sit on the dock and read, eat junk food, eat out more than we should, take naps, cook with Dutch ovens out in the yard, and just do whatever sounds interesting or fun at the moment.

[McD]

I took a week off in April. Kiddos and I did all sorts of fun activities that we normally don't get to do during the weekend: zoo, botanical center, science center, library story hours, had play dates etc.

It was a great time and I'd like to do it more often.

[joyofsix]

We vacation rarely (and then it's a campground/amusement park sort of thing) but we do try to set aside a week and some $$ for fun in the summer. We do things like visit a park and get ice cream in another town, attend a minor league baseball game, spend a day swimming at the pool then pick up pizzas and picnic at a park, we might take in a matinee movie (something we don't do often either). I like to get in some foods that the kids think are special but are easy for me so it feels like a vacation.

[shoiji]

Once I went to a bed and breakfast about an hour away. We did the touristy things for the area. It was surprising how it felt as if it was a big expensive vacation.

Another option is to trade homes with a good friend or family member for a couple of days or a week. If it is close enough to drive you can see a different area, experience different things, and not have to worry about a large expense.

[Libby]

shoiji - those are great ideas!

[maw-p]

Well I was just researching some places close to me to "get away". I am in definate need for some isolation from the every day hubub. So if anyone knows of a secluded little place close to southeast missouri that wont cost me an arm and a leg please let me know.

[PlainCash4]

Times are tough, pennies are being pinched. The days of a buy now, pay later luxe dream vacation are being passed up in lieu of staycations simply b/c people are realizing that they can't afford it.

I do realize some like to use the time to deep clean their homes or for home reno projects but I'm talking about ideas for a true vacation feel without actually going to a far away destination.

What are your tricks & tips to planning, creating and enjoying your perfect staycation?

My last vacation was a "staycation" and i had a blast. I went to a concert downtown, went to a winery, hung out with friends, went out to dinner. ONe day i actually did nothing and loved it....lol

[frugal is fun]

heading out on a staycation tomorrow. Took the day off and my boy and I are going camping at a state park 20 minutes away.

it will cost me $34 for the site plus food which I'm bringing with us.

[mauimagic]

I am taking a staycation at the end of May - I will have four days (including the weekend) from when school ends and summer school starts. Among the things I want to do are:

1. Spending a few relaxing hours at the pool every day.
2. Get a massage.
3. Go to a movie
4. Go out to lunch
5. Go out to dinner at Hula Grill.
6. Make a quilt for charity
7. Work on my family tree
8. Go out to breakfast

Sounds like a wonderful time to me and I bet I can think of more things to do too!!

[NicJean]

I like having a list (yes, I'm a list maker) of ideas, and referring to it while on vacay. (Partly because my mind is so on overdrive, I forget what I really wanted to do.) I also live in Vacation-Tourist area. Taking advantage of State park specials (Half off or free on Father's Day, for example) as well as combining a fave hobby of mine - eating (excuse me, I mean cooking), me and Hubby can enjoy homemade goodness while out and about.

Using a list to refer back to, we usually lump activities by area: for example, there is a natural formation of really cool rocks in Plymouth, NH. Driven by a zillion times. We went there for that activity, but while there, we realized we'd never spent any time just poking around. We spent the day, found classic books for cheap at a used-book store (it is a college town), found an artist's guild and picked up some wonderful hand crafted items to celebrate our wedding anniversary: his, a wooden flute, mine, a shaker style jewelry box.

Even though we are in New England, and everythings kinda close, we don't stray too far from our VT border, or NH (been to Maine once since dating, Northern NY once for a cousins wedding).

The whole staycation is so appealing as we both don't like dealing with lots of folks, and I think we're homebodies at heart.