Who doesn’t crave time out every now and then?
In this day and age, when life is so busy and fast, we all need a getaway from our daily routines. But the thing is that planning a trip somewhere can be really time- and money consuming. So the question is: how to escape your daily grind if you have no time for planning even the shortest trip? A great alternative to the classic vacation can be a recent trend: staycation.
As you can guess from the word itself, a staycation is a vacation-like experience without venturing too far from home. But the goal has left the same: break the vicious circle of the nine-to-five regime and take a break from your day-to-day life.
Why a staycation?
That’s a reasonable question.
First of all, travel to distant locations becomes increasingly more expensive. Airplane tickets, transportation and accommodation expenses easily add up to thousands of dollars. While on a staycation, however, you can easily save on the most expensive part – tickets and transportation, which makes it really affordable.
It’s also much easier than taking a vacation. Unfortunately, planning a vacation is often easier said than done. The worst parts of it – logistics, transportation, and planning. Just imagine, you get almost all the benefits of a vacation without losing the precious time on planning the routes, packing your luggage and killing time at the airport or on the plane.
Besides, a staycation is a great chance to know the city you live in all over again! I’m pretty sure there are parts of the city you’ve never visited before or restaurants you’ve always found great but too expensive or a museum that you can never find the right time to visit. During a staycation, you get the perfect opportunity to fill in those blanks.
Bonus point for pet lovers! You don’t need to leave your cutie pie in the hands of your friends or family! No more worries and begging for sending pictures of your cat or dog or lizard every two hours – your four-legged loved one can join you in your staycation.
If I convinced you that a staycation is a great alternative to a vacation, let’s go to the main question:
How to plan a perfect staycation?
Turn everything off
Let’s start with the basics: turn off your phone. Okay, maybe not completely, as you’ll definitely need it for taking pictures, but make sure you mute the ringers and the answering machine, and do an “out of the office” message from your email, as well as tell your colleagues that you’ll be on vacation and not available for any communication – you don’t even need to say that it’s a staycation (wink).
Plan
Think of the places in your city you’ve always wanted to visit but never had time nor money to do so. A staycation is a perfect chance to treat yourself – chic restaurants and a luxury spa, places and things you’ve never had a chance to do and visit. The list of places and activities is of the biggest importance here because all the planning you can delegate to a local travel assistant – a MeetnGreeter. Just tell what you wish to do and see and let a MeetnGreeter do their magic. Why plan and search yourself if you can get everything done and tailored to your wishes?
Book a hotel/rent an apartment
Staying at home while on a staycation is always an option but let’s think: is it really a good idea? Will you feel that you’re on vacation if the space around you stays exactly the same? Plus, if you stay at home, you’ll have the temptation to spend “just a little bit” of time on redecorating, decluttering or something like that – which is good but it’s not the staycation! Let’s remember the main goal which makes a staycation work as well as a vacation: take a break from your day-to-day life. Is it possible while staying at home? In my opinion, not so much.
Book a nice hotel with a spa or some extraordinary apartment or even a house on Airbnb – you’ll instantly feel that staycation vibe.
Invite your friends
Another benefit of a staycation is that you are not separated from your friends and loved ones and finally can meet the friends you couldn’t meet because of your schedule. You can invite them to join you for any part of your staycation – for a dinner or to visit a party together, or even invite them to your temporary home. The good news is, that they don’t need to stay with you for the whole week or two and you can enjoy some precious time with yourself as well.
My friend wants to unwind and relax on her upcoming long break that she requested from her boss. I like your idea of getting an apartment where he could take a break from her everyday routines. We should probably look for a luxury vacation rental that he can try out!