A Staycation? You mean a stay + vacation?
Something very weird has happened in the world lately. And nobody knows how to deal with it. This weird thing is believed to have traveled from a farmer’s market in China to the rest of the world in just about 2 months. And in these 2 months, we all went bonkers!
Terrible things have happened since then. Just like a toxic partner, the insidious COVID 19 virus arrived and changed the way we lived and traveled. It completely ended our social life, halted our travel plans, and locked us in. Now we are all stuck at home this year and next because the paranoia is real and legit.
To put it honestly, there is not much to complain about. As much as I love traveling, I am happy staying home – at least for the time being. But I often find myself wondering how I will travel again, if and when I do! I have come up with a few things and I want to share them with you.
Make staycation your new therapist
Why do people travel or go on holiday? For me, I travel to learn about new cultures, the cuisines, explore the destination, click lots of pictures, or maybe pull off a good hike.
Think about what makes you want to travel. Is it the food? Is it the vibe? Whatever your jam is, you can recreate it on your staycation. Whether it is fine dining, or sitting by the beach reading a book or if it is a physical activity, most of these can be done from home or a staycation.
Why staycation is the new hero we all have been waiting for – Staycation vs vacation
Vacations are great and all. No doubt about that. But why do the pre-vacation planning and post-vacation fatigue almost makes me never want to go on a vacation again? Unlike vacations, staycations demand less effort and planning. There are no to-dos, no strict timelines. Just you and your glass of wine chilling on a lounge chair.
Flying can be cumbersome. It does no good to anyone involved – not to us, not the environment either! That is where staycation can be your best bet, your ultimate destination for a budget holiday. Remove flight tickets, and you just ended up saving a whole lot of money.
Staycation is eco-friendly. Most of the staycation places coming up in your city give you the luxury of staying close to nature, a privilege people living in concrete cages are deprived of. Especially now when all of us are cooped up in our cages for far too long.
One of the things I have begun to like a lot about staycations is that they are local. You do not have to fly or travel on a train to get to your destination. So skip hours of waiting at the airport, layovers, or flying time and head straight to your staycation destination in a safe, sanitized vehicle. Use all of the time, instead, on discovering yourself, pampering, and giving yourself a much-desired break. Read a book, chug that glass of beer, cook something nice, do yoga with red wine, binge watch shows on Netflix, get a tan, do gardening. Sky’s the limit.
And last, but definitely my favorite, you do not have to pack! Throw in a couple of pajamas, loose T-shirts, 50 face masks, a few large bottles of hand sanitizers and you are good to go. I have hated packing my whole life and I cannot think of one good reason why anyone would love packing. Even if you pack just the essentials for your trips, most of us hate going through the process. So save yourself some more time.
What exactly is a staycation?
Let’s start with the pronunciation first. It comes from two words, “stay” and “vacation”. Hence, staycation. A staycation, according to the dictionary, is a holiday or vacation spent in one’s own city rather than abroad or overseas. Or it can be one spent at a resort a few hundred km from home, involving a short road trip. I’d like to add something to the meaning of staycation. It can be doing all the things you want to do and enjoy, at a peaceful quiet location, that you never have time to do otherwise.
Since international and inter-state leisure travel may take some time to spring back, take this time to explore your city. Sometimes even locals need a push to discover the charm and flavor they’ve been missing, right in their own backyards.
“Hey Siri, find me a staycation!”
“Hey Savaari, find me a cab!”
Stay Safe!
Happy Staycationing to you!
P.S over the next few days, we will be providing you with tips, hacks, and some amazing suggestions for your first ever staycation experience.
Last Updated on June 19, 2020 by Harpreet Janeja
