Whether you are continuing to hunker down at the tail-end of the coronavirus pandemic or you simply don’t want the hassle of traveling far for your summer trip, you have landed on a week or two of staycation to rest and relax after months of good, hard work.
Staycations boast a number of benefits — you maximize your time off, you save money, you aren’t worried about transportation or accommodations — but there is one downside: the potential to get bored. If you want to plan a staycation that keeps you relaxed and engaged, here are some fun activities to plan for your summer staycation this year:
New Digs
Just because you are staying in your hometown during your vacation doesn’t mean you need to hole up in your own home. Renting different accommodations during your staycation is a good way to flip the switch in your brain to rest-and-relaxation mode. If you can afford it, you should splurge on a hotel room at a luxurious resort close to home, but even taking a weekend at a nearby Airbnb could help put you in the vacation state of mind.
Spa Day
A spa is a place designed to make your worries and stress melt away. You should gift yourself at least one professional spa treatment during your staycation, which might mean a massage, a facial treatment, pedicure or something else.
If you don’t have a quality spa close to home, you can create your own spa day. Some products and tools you might need to pick up to achieve a relaxing at-home spa experience include:
- Fragrant candles or essential oils for aromatherapy
- Moisturizing masks for face, hair, hands and feet
- Scintillating bath products, like salts, bubbles and bombs
- Warming lotion for a self-massage
Fireworks Fun
Who says you need to have a special occasion to set off fireworks? Pyrotechnics are fun, and as long as you take precautions when you are setting them off, you can safely enjoy a fireworks show in your own backyard. You can buy bulk fireworks online, putting together your own collection of ground and aerial pyrotechnics to delight and astound. However, to be courteous, you might warn your neighbors before you start your display, so they can prepare their pets accordingly.
Outdoor Explore
“Staycation” isn’t synonymous with “stay indoors.” You can take the opportunity of some time off work to explore your regional outdoors and spend much-needed time in nature. Studies show that spending two hours per week in a natural space improves health and well-being. You might walk around your neighborhood park, or you can go farther afield with a hike through a wilderness area or a camping trip in a nearby state or national park.
Film Festival
You probably don’t live in Toronto or Cannes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t host your own film festival and appreciate history’s greatest cinematic masterpieces. If you are a cinephile, you might curate your own schedule of movies to delight and entertain; alternatively, you might ask the members of your household — or any friends who want to be involved — to select some film titles based on a theme. You can devote your entire staycation to your festival, or you can watch one movie per night to unwind.
Tourist Traps
Every town has at least one tourist trap designed to attract travelers just passing through. Often, locals don’t pay all that much attention to their area’s traps — but a staycation is an excellent opportunity to indulge your inner tourist. No matter how hokey your area’s tourist traps are, you can devote some time to exploring them. You might finally be able to tell visitors that you have seen The Thing or the world’s largest potato chip.
Bar Crawl
There is nothing like a refreshing cocktail at the end of a relaxing staycation day, and if you are partial to alcoholic beverages, you might devote an evening to a local bar crawl. Especially if you haven’t participated in a bar crawl since your youth, you might enjoy the excitement of journeying to different pubs and taverns over the course of the night, talking to the different types of bar patrons and ordering different types of drinks at each place. However, you should be careful to drink plenty of water and snack throughout your crawl, or the rest of your staycation could be blighted by hangover.
You don’t need to fly to Greece or Hawaii to find rest and relaxation during a summer vacation. With the right planning, your staycation can be just as thrilling, stress-relieving, and memorable as any trip across the world — and you can save money to boot.
