The art of the staycation: how to get the most out of your time 'away'
It’s not always easy to find the time or money for your next getaway, but everyone needs a break from the daily grind sometimes.
Vacationing in your home city or country, often referred to as ‘staycations’ or ‘holistays’, can be a great, next best option to traveling abroad if you do it right. Since packing my bags to move to a new country, staycationing has become one of my favorite ways to explore my new surroundings. I’ve taken road trips up and down the state of California; slept under the stars; and indulged in local luxury hotels.
If you’re thinking about planning a little holistay of your own, check out the three rules that I live by to get the most out of your time ‘away’.
Pick a theme
Before doing anything else, begin with a good understanding of the type of vacation you want to take. I love to pick a theme for each vacation, not just because it’s fun but because it immediately inspires and brings focus to my ideas.
Depending on the mood or vibe you are going for, a theme can help you with deciding on your your location, planning your itinerary, meals, etc. Giving yourself a theme to work with help to inspire ideas and eliminate others. It also has a way making familiar places and things, new and exciting again.
Disconnect
One of the perks of taking time off is… time off. You don’t need to travel halfway across the world to excuse yourself from taking calls, texts or e-mails when you’re not working.
For a long time, I was convinced that staying connected to work related things while I was away gave me less anxiety than completely disengaging. I feared that things would fall between the cracks or that I’d fall behind and create more stress for myself than I would otherwise have if I just kept an eye on things.
Thankfully, I eventually realized that none of this ever actually happens; and even if it did, I would survive. I also learned that it is necessary, and enjoyable, to completely disconnect for a small window of time.
So be sure to make it a part of your plans to disconnect; let whoever you need to know that you won’t be easily accessible so that they know not to expect or rely on a response from you. Other than an emergency, and hopefully there are none, nothing should disrupt or prevent you from being able to truly relax and enjoy yourself.
And on a related note, be sure to leave room in your plans to catch up on sleep. Way too many of us forego getting enough sleep day-to-day, and ignore the vital role it plays in maintaining good health.
Explore and Indulge
You don’t need a formal vacation to discover new things or immerse yourself in unique experiences and cultures.
Because of how committed we are to our routines, we either forget or ignore that the there are still things that we have yet to explore in the town, city or state that we call home. Your staycation is the perfect excuse to indulge in the things you’ve been eager to try, curious but reluctant to do, or take for granted.
Whether it’s camping in your backyard under the stars; pampering yourself with a luxury spa treatment; trying a new restaurant; going for a sunrise hike; or exploring tourist attractions - take inventory of your bucket list, get yourself in vacation mode and go for it.
