How to Plan a Staycation – Plan a Vacation at Home

How To Plan A Staycation That's Relaxing - Self Care Activities To Relieve Stress - Self Care for Mental Health
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Lucky me my side gig doesn’t have anything for me this week. Which means it’s the perfect time for a staycation. I will not be leaving my house for anything. As I planned some personal time and self care I thought to myself “Crystal, Staycations are pretty popular. Maybe you should show people how to plan one.” Which is exactly why I’m writing this post.

It just so happened that my staycation was planned around my work. 5 days of complete uninterrupted me time. I plan to lay in bed, read, and binge watch all the Netflix my heart desires. To do this properly though it requires a bit a planning.

What is a Staycation?

A staycation is taking a vacation at home. This could mean taking a week off work just because. Planning to visit some of the sites in your area. Anything you can do at home that is vacation like.

Staycations are tricky because it takes effort to not do all those pesky chores or silly errands that consume most of our non vacation lives. If you were on vacation would you be grocery shopping? Paying bills? Running the dry cleaning? Hell no.

It’s difficult to stay home and not do all these things. They are habit. So the better thing to do is make sure bills are paid before or scheduled to be paid after the staycation. Clean like you would for a vacation. Grocery shop for everything you need before your staycation. Basically run all of your weekly chores like you would if you were leaving.

What to do on your staycation?

Figure out what you hope to gain personally from your staycation. Do you want to go out? Do you want to relax? It can be several different goals you want to achieve during this time.

My own staycations are usually when I plan to take a break from my day to day life. This means I escape all my normal responsibilities and spend my time down only what I love to do.

Things to do on your staycation:

  • Read
  • Watch a TV series
  • Watch movies
  • Get a massage
  • Go to a local spa
  • Visit a local museum
  • Take the kids to a local amusement park
  • Act like tourists in your city
  • Indulge in your favorite hobbies

Check out my post The Ultimate Spa Day Gift Guide.

What will you avoid during your staycation?

Write down some of things that you are looking to avoid? Do you want to disconnect from technology? Do you want to avoid people? Figure out what you want to avoid in order to enjoy your time at home more.

Your staycation should be focused on doing things you enjoy in the comfort of your own home and town. Put any big chores and responsibilities till after your staycation is over.

Things to avoid during your staycation:

  • Major cleaning projects
  • Anything work related
  • Normal day to day tasks
  • People who cause unnecessary stress

Things You Can’t Avoid On Staycation

Due to this not being a typical vacation where you leave your home behind there are obviously going to be a few things you will still need to do.

For instance, you’re probably still going to be cooking in home so that means you will probably need to clean up after yourself. Garbage will still have to go out and kids will still need baths. Some of your responsibilities will need to be handled.

Those general cleanliness responsibilities are important to your health and the health of your family so go ahead and do those things. However, unless you really want to do it, don’t take on any additional large projects.

Take the time to relax.

In case you decide to handle a huge project

Now some people like to take staycations in order to tackle large household projects. They take that time to focus on big deep cleanings, organizing, and decluttering tasks. People will take time off in order to attend nearby events or volunteer.

These are absolutely fine – so long as it makes you happy. If you are going to tackle a big project try to complete it with a couple days to spare. This way you can rest and recover from the big project you just completed.

Plan it out

To plan out your staycation there are a few things you will need to do. The first is probably telling your work. Go ahead and request your time off work.

If you work from home, you’ll want to do a little extra work in the weeks leading up to your staycation. Use automation tools like Tailwind to schedule out your marketing for that week. Put an auto responder on your email letting subscribers know that you are off for the week and will respond when you get back.

After you have to time figured out with work or your business you’ll want to inform friends or family. Let them know that you will probably not be available during that week even though you will be at home because you have plans.

Next purchase any tickets you will need for any events you want to attend. Make reservations at any restaurants or spas. Make appointments for any hair or beauty treatments you want to get.

Purchase anything you may need for the week in the days and week before your staycation. Fill your fridge with comfort food and drinks so you don’t have to run out and battle grocery store lines.

The day before gather any supplies you might need for your first day. Download books from your local library via the Libby App to read, set up playlists, movies or shows you want to watch should be in your lists too.

The night before your staycation make sure you turn off any alarms you have set so you can get a bit of extra sleep. Chances are high you’ll still wake up at your normal time but at least you’ll have a more gentle wake up instead of a blaring alarm.

Check out my tips for self care you can try on your staycation.

Understanding the Staycation

Staycations are whatever you make of them. Just like a vacation you can see the sites, enjoy some pampering, or just chill the eff out.

Staycations can actually be a little more difficult to pull off. A lot of that is due to family or friends not understanding why you are unavailable when you are home. Sometimes people just don’t understand it.

That’s ok, just do your best to explain it to them and then don’t answer your phone. If that’s what you desire.

Treat it like an actual vacation and all is well.

If you enjoyed this post let me know by commenting below. Follow me on Pinterest and pin this to your travel boards. Share it out to anyone who may not understand what a staycation is.

Related Posts:

How To Plan A Staycation That's Relaxing - Self Care Activities To Relieve Stress - Self Care for Mental Health

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