I took the week of the 4th off from work, despite the fact that I only planned to be out of town for a couple days.  Instead of taking the couple days off and going right back to work, I decided to take the rest of the week off for a mini staycation.  I haven’t been able to make a week-long staycation happen just yet, but I’ve done a 48-hour staycation and a 4-day staycation and I have some great suggestions and tips for you!  In addition to my personal tips, I’ve also done some research for you.  Hopefully the info I provide will help you maximize your staycation experience when you decide to take one.

Tip #1: Plan

Your staycation can be as adventurous or as chill as you make it.  If you’re going the more adventurous route, you should definitely plan your activities!  Some of the things you may be interested in like local tourist attractions and restaurants may require reservations or some kind of action in advance.  It wouldn’t be much fun to plan to go to a museum and wake up the morning of and realize that all of the tickets are sold out for that day.  If you’re going to take it easy and lounge around, planning may still be beneficial.  If you’re anything like me, you may be easily persuaded to do something for someone else during the time you had scheduled for yourself.  So be intentional about scheduling that time.  Also talk to the people around you and let them know what your plans are so that they can plan accordingly.  People who don’t know you’re taking a staycation as opposed to just taking the week off may get a little confused.  So if you’re trying to do things solo or disconnect for a while, let your friends and family know!  You don’t have to schedule everything (and you shouldn’t because what fun is being on a schedule your entire staycation?), but you should schedule some things.

Tip #2: Use your tourist office

Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out how to vacation in a place you’re so familiar with.  I came across an article in the New York Times that suggested going to your local tourist bureau when looking for staycation ideas.  It can be hard to find new things to do in an area that you probably feel like you’ve done everything in.  But I’m telling you there is SO much to do out here!  I live very close to DC and I can say from experience that the list of potential adventures in a big city is endless.  But even if you don’t live in a major city, go to a nearby city and explore!  If you’re not up for doing all the research yourself (I get it), your local tourist bureau will be able to assist you.

Tip #3: See your everyday thru fresh eyes

I ran across this tip on Life Hacker and thought that it was brilliant because they touched on dopamine!  I’ll be writing a more detailed post about dopamine in the future, but in short, it’s our “feel good” hormone.  Dopamine is what makes you feel really good when you eat something you like or hear your favorite song on the radio.  So according to Life Hacker, research has shown that new sights and sounds can give us a dopamine hit, which is connected to the tip before this one about touring your own city.  Seeing and hearing new things can make you just as happy as eating your favorite food or spending time with some of your favorite people.  If you take the train to work, take the train to a stop you’ve never been to before, hop off, and explore.  Instead of going to the grocery store down the street and getting ingredients to make lunch, Yelp some good restaurants in your area that you haven’t tried.  To make the most of your staycation, try seeing your everyday thru fresh eyes.

Tip #4: Disconnect

This one is so important to me because I can see how my life has changed since I started disconnecting!  This can be applied to your life outside of the staycation realm, so I’ll touch a little bit on both.  In everyday life, it’s important to disconnect because our bodies really do need the time to recharge.  According for Forbes, continuing to communicate with colleagues after hours not only creates stress, but it prevents your brain for relaxing and recouping after a long day to prepare for the next.  As far as staycationing goes, disconnecting it’s even more important here because there won’t be a lot of physical distance between your home and your job.  So you need to create that distance mentally in order to recharge and rejuvenate.  Don’t read your work emails, don’t take work phone calls, avoid all things work related while on your staycation!  Everything will be right where you left it when you return.  I started doing this about a year ago and I’ve seen how disconnecting from work has also helped me to disconnect from my phone/technology altogether (more about that in another post).

Tip #5: Budget and Splurge

While I don’t typically condone splurging, staycations are a little different.  Think about the things you spend money on for a destination vacation: airfare, lodging, food/eating out, excursions and activities.  Because of these expenses, I’m sure you budget for destination vacations.  You should also budget for your staycation.  Save the same amount of money you would for a destination vacation and use the money you won’t be spending on a lodging or cheap airfare on a mini shopping spree or a massage.  Because you’ll be staying close to home, splurging can make your  staycation a little more fun.

Tip #6: Schedule your self-care

If you know anything about me and this blog, I’m sure you saw this one coming. Self-care should be incorporated into everything you do!  I also talked about this in my “how to manage self-care while on vacation” blog post.  Be sure to get your self-care in.  It can be something as simple as taking a long bath as opposed to a shower, or reading at the beach.  Your self-care routine should take a staycation with you and stay or remain a part of your daily routine.

That’s it!  What other tips do you have for making the most of a staycation?  Leave your answers in the comments below.  I hope you found this useful, be sure to share, and thanks for journeying with me!