Pandemic has changed the way we spend holidays. Now we don’t have to save for the trip, book tickets, pack the bags, and travel to the airport. All because our own houses have become a place for a staycation.
So what is a staycation exactly? It is a combination of two words: "stay" and "vacation", which literally means taking a vacation within your household or somewhere close enough. It can be an overnight experience or a week-long camping trip to the nearby mountains.
Also, you can bring a holiday vibe right to your home. Comfy furniture with soft slipcovers on, a zen place for mental recovery, and a hotel-like experience. All this is real!
Benefits of Staycation
The best thing about a staycation is that it begins right after you come after work and shut the door. No need to prepare long "to-do" lists and plan everything in advance.
No need to pack
You don’t have to spend several days in a row thinking about what clothes you need during your trip, what weather will be in the place you leave for. No more endless questions like: ‘Should I bring a coat? Won’t I get a cold? Where can I wear these loafers?’ You can just stay in your pajamas. From now on your vacation motto is "comfort"!
It’s affordable
Traveling abroad requires spending quite a bit of money — that money you’ve been saving up for months. Tickets, accommodation, transport, and food will be your largest expenses. Add some extras caused by the pandemic restrictions and the whole situation will get stressful in a matter of seconds.
On the other hand, by staying at home you save a fortune on flights and Airbnb-s. Getting to know places in your city or state can be really refreshing. Plus, you can have a staycation time not once a year but every week!
More quality time
If you cut down the time spent on a traveling routine (waiting in airport queues, flying, driving to your hotel, etc.), it may turn out that you get not that much quality time out of vacation itself. Tiredness and jet lag take so much strength! A spa day or a meditation in the zen zone can have more benefits for your mental health and body.
How to Spend a Perfect Vacation at Home
Start with an aperitif. Arrange a cocktail hour and spend some me-time daydreaming. Then you can continue your journey with a virtual museum visit or a movie that turns on a relaxing mode.
Educating yourself and getting a cultural and historical perspective is an experience you can’t always get by wandering through the streets in a new city. Also, Google Arts have thousands of art collections and tour guides online. Explore as a tourist the streets you’ve experienced as a passerby million times!
Set up relaxing corners around the house
What is staycation made for? Exactly for finding a low traffic place where you can relax from work. While the lockdown turned our house into the office too, it’s important to have a separate space for mental restoration.
Set up your own European-style cafe by arranging a comfy corner with an armchair for reading and chilling. To enjoy it the most, cover your upholstery with a pleasant-to-touch slipcover that will make your sitting the most comfortable. Also, these little helpers are great wine-spilling and food-falling solvers. You just throw a slipcover in the washing machine, and the furniture is saved.
If you have French windows, consider yourself lucky. Grab pillows and design a sitting bay there.
Have a zen place for mental recovery
Staycation time means disconnection from all working tasks and an overwhelming routine. How to do it the best way? Organize a place for yoga and meditation.
You can have it inside the house with some aromatic candles and fading light. Or you can isolate yourself from any outside noise and organize a spot for mental recovery in the garden. Summer house would be the perfect spot for that.
Go with the space-saving furniture for a neat vacation
Remember that feeling when you open the door in your hotel room? The anticipation, excitement, serenity. A neat and tidy space is so pleasant to stay in. Nothing is cluttered, everything is in order.
Try to create the same hotel-like experience by keeping all the stuff in its place and following the rule of cleaning the moment it gets messy. Postponing for weekends or spring cleaning won’t help the chaos.
Also, choose quality fabric for bed covers and soft pillows. Comfy sleeping is a basis of a proper staycation. As well as a free walking space and warm lighting. Move the TV to the modular wall and place floor lamps for task lighting.
To free up the space, go with a modular wardrobe to have all clothes in one place and don’t clutter up the room. And that's it — a boutique hotel vibe is there!
So, a little bit of effort and you wouldn’t want to leave home! A staycation can feel like a real trip, only more affordable and less stressful. Learning to value your home and finding new things to be excited about is a much more important skill than building a route to a far town on the map. The main routes are in your heart. At home. In your living room.
