ChickSpeak

These days, vacationing doesn’t always mean the sandy beaches, and the spa treatments. We vacation to get away and relax, of course, and in doing so we experience the things we wouldn’t normally experience at home, but shelling out the money for such a trip is not always an option.

If this is the case, never fear. Vacationing at home is surprisingly fun and easy. Even though home isn’t quite the place we imagine when that week off work starts rising over the horizon, there are great ways to make that staycation of yours feel like a real bonafide vacation.

First and foremost, turn off your cell phone and computer and don’t open your mail. This is a must. Unless there were unforeseen business circumstances, you generally wouldn’t bring your computer or cell phone with you to Mexico, Whistler, or Paris, so the same goes here. This isn’t a permanent thing, you can still communicate with family and friends, just try not to spend your afternoons surfing Perez Hilton, doing your bills and texting your friends. Relaxing is about getting off the radar for a few days. Tell people you’ll be “away”, and promise yourself at least 48 hours away from the technology that you associate with work and that subsequently brings on stress.

One or two days before the start of your vacation, do all those boring chores you dread. Lay out fresh towels, change the sheets, and vacuum the floor; pick up messes, organize bookshelves, and do some laundry. Stock up your fridge and put out some flowers. Make your home look shiny and clean. A great perk during vacations is that someone usually does some of this stuff for you. Try to get it done so you don’t have to worry about a thing later on. 

Also, plan an itinerary ahead of time. Treating your staycation as a vacation means planning ahead. Set a budget. Decide how often you want to eat out. Make a list. Instead of waking up and wondering away half the morning about what you’re going to do for the day, look up shows at museums, or the timetable at the local ice rink. When was the last time you bowled? Find something in your city that you’ve never done before. Do the touristy stuff, despite how ridiculous or unauthentic you may think it is it is. Now you can’t say you’ve never done it before, and besides, isn’t that what memories are made of?

Apartment Therapy, a website devoted to home design, suggests reading a book. If you’re particularly busy, you can’t always do the things you want to do. For a lot of people, that’s reading. In university, I always felt guilty if I picked up the book I wanted to read as opposed to the book I had to read. Now is the chance to get lost without the guilt, and read that cheesy novel that’s been taunting you the last few months.
Oh, and take pictures regardless. Document this vacation as you would any other, and don’t upload them onto your computer until your vacation is finished. Create a scrapbook or photo album and later on, email the snap shots to family. And better yet, send postcards. If you live in a big city, buy those cheap post cards with pictures of cityscapes and write fun messages like, “Wish you were here”.  Mention all the things you’ve been doing, and pick up little gifts and souvenirs.

A great solution for creating that feeling of escape is camping in your backyard, tent and all. If you don’t have a backyard, camp in your living room. Build a fort. Sleep in. Have a themed movie night, take a stab at a really difficult puzzle, go mini-golfing, learn to knit, or attempt to cook something completely out of your comfort zone. Do weather appropriate things like running through a sprinkler, jumping into leaves or building a snowman. Take a beginner dance class, or rearrange the furniture in your living room.

Even though you can do all these things whenever you want to, the difference here is there’s no price to pay for having fun. Learning that you have to say home for vacation can be a bit of a bummer, but there’s always a silver lining. Figure out that one thing you’ve always wanted to try, and go for it. And just think, from the money you’ve save with this vacation, imagine where you could be this time next year!

Jasmin Charters has a degree in art history from Mount Allison University in Canada. She loves those praline seashell chocolates, and hates being cold (like Eastern Maritime Canada cold).