Embracing the Staycation
Whether it’s the $4.00 plus per gallon at the pump, the rising airline fares, or the current exchange rates, people are staying closer to home this summer. The “staycation” has become the new alternative to pricey and sometimes stressful travel. If you decide to embrace the staycation, as with all things there are rules one must follow to make the staycation a truly relaxing time.
It is essential that when taking a staycation that it be treated as you would a vacation. Let your clients, employer and/or employees know that you will not be available. Forward your emails, if necessary, to others in your office, and change the message on your voice mail letting people know that you won’t be available for the dates you are gone. Curb the impulse to check your email, or answer your voice mails, unless this is something you would do while backpacking through Europe or South America don’t do it while staycationing.
Stay in a nearby hotel. Let them know you are a local and they may offer a discounted rate or an upgrade. If leaving your house doesn’t sound all that great to you, hire a maid for the staycation period. Let them know that you are staycationing and would like them to come in once a day make the bed, empty the garbage, and generally treat it as if your home were a hotel. A number of house cleaning services would be glad to offer you a slightly discounted rate for daily service in hopes that after your vacation you will retain their services.
Do not become a sloth. You wouldn’t sit in your hotel and watch television if you were in France, don’t do it at home. Set the DVR to record and go out. Plan each day to take the most advantage of the time you have off. Make it crazy, make it lazy, just don’t sit in the house.
Become a tourist in your town. Consult guidebooks and travel websites. Check into museums, street fairs and festivals, concerts, outdoor movies, and nearby hotspots. Or get really creative and plan to participate in activities that would mirror the vacation you would have taken. Were you planning to go to Italy? Look into anything Italian that your area may have to offer i.e., restaurants, films, museums, or plan a La Dolce Vita evening at home. Order in from the best Italian restaurant in the area or hire a chef to come over and cook it for you, splurge on a great bottle of Chianti, and throw some Italian music or a film on and enjoy.
