Staycation – Top Tips For A Stay At Home Holiday
There can be many reasons for staying at home instead of going away on holiday, including finances and the need to avoid all the issues that can come with travelling.
Whatever the reason it’s becoming more and more common. It even has its own name, “staycation”.
If you do decide to spend your well-earned, and much needed, holiday at home, you want to make the most of the time.
The good news is, you don’t have to lie on a beach, take a cruise or take a city break to enjoy your break from the day to day. Even better news is that you can all of the enjoyment without spending a fortune.
4 Tips To Enjoy A Stay At Home Holiday
1. Know your Budget
Even if you opt for a stay at home holiday you still have to plan your budget. Yes, you will save money on travel costs and hotels, but it’s amazing just how much you can spend if you don’t plan ahead.
Once you know what you can afford to spend, then you can go ahead with making your holiday one to remember.
2. Stay Away From the Routine
Probably the most important thing to remember during a stay at home holiday is not to stick to your routine. Yes, you may be at home, but you should act as though you aren’t.
You should never get involved with work. In fact, don’t even tell the people you work with that you’re staying at home for your holiday. That way, they won’t be as tempted to try and contact you.
If they do try, ignore them, remember you’re on your own time. This applies to emails as well as phone calls. Your email account isn’t going to self-destruct if you don’t use it for a week or two.
Staying away from routine also applies to your home life. If you have children, let them stay up late and watch a film.
Eat out as a family more often, and choose places where you haven’t been before. If you can, it’s often a great idea to join up with another family for your stay at home holiday.
You can distract each other from sticking to any routine, and the adults can relax and put their feet up, while the children mix and play together, occupying themselves.
3. Turn Your Home into a Holiday Space
If you’re staying at home for your holidays you should think about turning your home into a place where the family will all enjoy the holiday.
You can turn your garden into an outdoor dining and entertaining space. Even if you don’t have outdoor space, there are still plenty of things you can do.
1. Create a campsite in your home. You don’t need to have a tent for this. Children love creating their own den from chairs, sheets and cushions. They get their own bit of independence, in their own private space, and you make sure they are still safe.
2. Use flowers and candles around the house. Having different colours and scents around makes your stay at home holiday different from the normal day to day.
3. Create an outdoor assault course. It’s simple to set up a simple assault course in the garden, as long as you make sure it’s safe. All the family can enjoy it, including the dog or cat.
4. Turn your garden into a fun and relaxation zone. If you do have outdoor space then you should make good use of it. If you don’t already have one, invest in a barbeque for outdoor eating. You can even just buy a disposable one, to save on money. You can also have a little fun with the furniture, by investing in some bright coloured outdoor dining set, or maybe even a hammock for afternoon siestas.
5. Splash out on water fun. If you’re having your stay at home holiday during the sunny weather then it’s good fun to invest in some water activity, such as an inflatable pool, or even just water guns.
If you have a big enough garage or outhouse, you can even have a pool in less sunny weather. It can be fun to create an indoor beach space, with water and a sand pit.
4. Act like A Tourist
You will be amazed at just how much you don’t know about the place where you live, and what activities take place close by.
If you are having a stay at home holiday then think like a tourist and consider what they would like to do if they were visiting your town or city.
- Check online for activities that are happening locally, during your holiday period.
- Keep an eye out in the local press, or in local shops for events like summer fetes that might be fun to attend.
- If there is a tour bus for your town or city, then take a trip. You’ll be amazed at how much you can learn.
- Make a plan to do something different, or visit a place you have never visited before, each day.
You can see that a stay at home holiday can be just as much fun, and just as different as going away. All you need to do is plan your activities, use your imagination and make sure that you switch your brain to holiday mode.
This last point is probably the most important. If you don’t feel as though you’re on holiday then it’s going to be difficult to make it work. Relax and enjoy your stay at home holiday.
Your Turn…
Have you ever had a stay at home holiday? What did you do to make sure you or everyone had a good time?
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This summer we couldn’t afford to go away for a holiday abroad so we had a stay at home holiday. It was really fun, much more than I had expected. We visited local parks and activities centres I never knew where so close by. This experience has shown me how much fun I can have without having to spend so much time and money travelling away from home.
Hi Jessica
Thank you for sharing your personal experience with us. Stay at home holiday can be really fun – it’s amazing how much fun you can have if you just take the time to plan ahead.
We had many a stay at home holiday when I was a kid. Usually because my dad was between contracts and so income was low. TBH there are some of my fondest memories as a child as my dad was around all summer.
My fondest memories were also the times we spent together as a family on picnics and outings. These were my favourite moments; because it was a time of playing, sharing and great laughter.
We are having a stay at home holiday week before a week of going away holiday in September and I am super excited and will definitely be remembering some of your tips to make the week even better! Thanks! Stopping by from Financially Savvy Saturday link-up 🙂
Jessica, I am glad you found this post useful. Have a great holiday!
Avoiding the routine and acting like a tourist are two of my favorite suggestions! We don’t live all that far from Chicago, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I’d ever been to the Sears Tower. There are so many things to do right in everyone’s “backyard”, but they often get overlooked in favor of more exotic things.
I find switching my to holiday mode to be the most difficult. Once you are able to do this, avoiding the routine becomes much easier.
We’ve done this a time or two, and unfortunately, my husband has a hard time seeing chores that need to be done and leaving them undone which turns a vacation into chore time.
Hi RAnn, A great way to help your husband switch to holiday mode is to plan your activities ahead. This will help relax and enjoy his stay at home holiday.
In college one year, my roommate and I totally did a staycation we called Discovering Lynchburg and every day we would go check out a historical site or do some activity that we’d wanted to do for years but just hadn’t gotten around to. We spent like 5 hours exploring a historic cemetery one day that turned out to be awesome and cost us nothing.
Hi Mel, thank you for sharing this. In addition to saving money, staycation can be just as much fun as going away on holiday.
While everyone is crawling through bumper-to-bumper traffic to squeeze in their last summer getaway, I will be staycationing at home this Labor Day. Staying put this summer?
Chi, I hope you have a great staycation this summer.
I do a spa retreat from time to time. The only thing is my spa is a stay-at-home holiday, where I turn soak in the tub, condition my hair with oil, do a facial, etc. It is so relaxing. All electronic devices are off and I do meditation, yoga, or take a long walk in nature. Nancy Andres
Switching electronic devices off is brilliant idea Nancy. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comments Nancy.