How to Use a Staycation to Keep You Sane Between Trips
We’re all familiar with the never-ending cycle of an avid traveller:
1. Pick an adventure
2. Plan your trip
3. Take your trip
4. Share your adventures
5. Rest
6. Repeat
If you’re like me, it’s that 5th step that can be the hardest!
No real planning goes into it. It always lasts longer than we’d like. We can get a little (a lot?) stir-crazy. Know what I mean?
One of the best ways to combat the rest-phase of the travel cycle is to take a staycation!
WAIT! Aren’t staycations for people who don’t have any money or don’t like to really travel? NO WAY!
Sometimes a perfectly-timed staycation is the only thing that keeps me sane between trips. Let me explain …
What The Heck Is a Staycation?
In case you’ve never heard of a staycation (or holistay), it’s a combination of the words “stay” and “vacation”. Essentially a vacation spent close to home.
It normally involves day-trips or activities within driving distance of home, so you can sleep in your own bed at night.
I’m willing to bend those rules a bit to include an overnight stay … who wants to drive home after a day of local winery or brewery tours? You’re welcome 🙂
I’m blessed to currently be living in Toronto, Canada. A world-class city where we have access to just about anything you could want to do on a staycation.
I know not everyone lives in cities. You may be feeling “there’s nothing to do where I live”. I grew up in the country, and I’m very familiar with that feeling. Fear not! These tips will help keep you sane between vacations too.
Take Advantage of Local Culture
No matter how big or small the place you live in, there’s always something unique about it. I can almost guarantee that most weekends in the summer there will be a festival or other event taking place nearby that you can attend.
In Toronto we have a great variety. We’ve got neighbourhood parties like The Night Market – a variation on your everyday farmer’s market. There are great city activities like Door’s Open Toronto. And we’ve got more than a few huge, world-renowned events like Caribana or the Toronto International Film Festival.
I grew up in a small town in Ontario. We’d normally have to “go into town” to participate in local activities, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. People in our town had lived there for generations, and were very proud of their family history and the history of the area. That may have been what sparked my interest in genealogy research, but more on that another time.
No matter where you live, there’s something culturally or historically significant about it. Seek it out and you’ll love what you find.
Day Trips
No matter where you live, it’s always nice to take some time to explore different surroundings. Enter the day trip.
Taking a day trip is a great way to feel like you’re “getting away” without actually going away.
So what can you accomplish in a day trip? That all depends on how far you’re comfortable driving in 1 day (and don’t forget to include the return trip).
I personally find that anything inside of a 2 hour drive is fair-game. Anything more than that and it starts turning into one of those staycations that you need a vacation from. For you it might be more, or less. It’s entirely your call.
Once you figure out your time constraints, pull out a map and see how far that can take you. Google Maps is great, and so is Waze as they’ll show you how long it takes to get to your destinations, not just how far away they are.
Now comes the fun part … finding activities along your day trip route!
From where I live I’m able to visit wine country, craft breweries, amazing antique markets, national parks, and even one of the Wonders of the World (Niagara Falls). All in under 2 hours. A few weeks ago we even found a Pumpkinferno event in a small town north of the city, and it was amazing!
Find Some Travel Buddies
Family and friends can help take your next staycation to another level.
My wife and I share our love of travel and adventure. We’re always up for trying new things, and experiencing whatever comes our way. We’ve even developed a saying of “you don’t know what will happen” because sometimes going with the flow of what life throws at you is when you make the best discoveries.
Having said that, we definitely have some individual interests that we don’t share. How boring would that be!
A great staycation activity is to grab a partner, pick up your camera and go out shooting for the day. Try a new pocket of your city or neighbourhood that you’ve never explored before. Incorporate new (or new to you) restaurants, cafes or bars.
Take some time after your adventure to compare stories and pictures. It’s always interesting to see how different people can have completely unique experiences while engaging in the same activities.
Use Your Perks
As travellers we have lots of perks and rewards we can use both at home and abroad.
Services like Groupon are a great way to treat yourself in your hometown, and save while doing so. You can find deals on everything from shopping to activities to food.
If you belong to a travel club, be sure to utilize those perks too! I belong to a couple and am always surprised to learn about new offerings I can use on places I’d be visiting or things I’d be doing anyway. Best of all, by using these perks I earn discounts off my next travel adventure!
Using your existing perks can be a great way to explore places that are off the beaten path. Who knows, you may discover your new favourite place!
Was this helpful for you? If so, please share it with a friend who you think would get value!
Be sure to comment below and let me know what you’ll be doing on your next staycation!
P.S. If you’d LOVE to start Your Own Blog with “Just 3 Clicks”, check THIS out!
Was this valuable for you? If so I’d really appreciate your comments below and shares on social media.
Resources
Here is a list of the resources mentioned in this post:
Groupon – Service offering discounts on activities, products and services worldwide. Available online and by app.
Travel Clubs – Providing VIP benefits to travellers both at home and abroad
Blogger’s Jumpstart Guide – Download my FREE guide outlining how to successfully start your own blog
Staycations are deffo a necessity for me. If I don’t have a trip planned I do go crazy – so its great to opt into something that gets me going to tide the time. Living in London means there are tons of places around for day tripping.
Love it Dom! Yes, London is another amazing place to take advantage of staycations
Certainly a great idea… we love Staycations… it’s an awesome way to rejuvenate … great post Bruce..
Thanks so much Ron! Glad to hear you’re already enjoying them
This is a really good post! I do it quite often: going to the SPA, taking a weekend trip for one or two days to another city…suddenly a weekend feels like a week. Thanks for the inspiration!
Absolutely agree Renata! Making the most of the time we have
I love a good staycation. It can be really tough to wait for that next trip, so these tips will really help the blues.
Glad you received some value Debbie. Is there anything worse than counting the days til the next vacation? 🙂
This is a phenomenal concept- I see I need to visit this blog much more often!
LOL … glad to have you here Joseph!
I live in Melbourne, Australia & like Toronto it has an abundance of local culture to see. I think we over look what’s in our back yard sometimes because we’re busy looking at exotic over seas destinations. Love the blog Bruce.
So true Martin. I’ve been to Melbourne and absolutely agree with you!
Yes, this is me to a tee! We love our big trip adventures but life’s practicalities mean we can’t do as many of those as we’d like. We love taking short breaks in between, not just overseas but here in the UK too. And occasionally we do a staycation in London, which is always fun – I love seeing my own city as a tourist!
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Isn’t amazing what you can discover right under your nose when you be a “tourist for a day” in your own city!
Yeah I love the idea of this! We recently took a trip to a nearby town that we always got o for shopping or lunch, but this time we became full on tourists and did everything in the guidebooks. We had such a god time and didn’t even realise there was so much to do so close to home!
I love finding those hidden gems! Thanks for sharing that story Jade 🙂
I’d go nuts if I had to do my daily routine all the time in between my trips. Hiking in nearby forests, visiting spas, going on “lost places” trips, or just visit my local divebase and have a dive at one of the lakes here… I try to have my trips during the cold months usually, as there are more activities to do here during spring & summer…
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I completely agree Mario. We also try to enjoy the warm weather at home and save our travel for the cold months.
Thanks for the information Bruce. We all need staycations, and you gave us the best way to have them!
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Thanks so much Adewale! Really appreciate you my friend
This is a great idea. I think we already do this between trips but we didn’t know the label staycation. A lot of people don’t end up seeing the sights near where they live so it can be quite the discovery to find there is cool stuff to see. Between trips you might as well do something to ease the wanderlust.
Absolutely agree! No matter what we call it, we definitely need to do it 🙂
This surely is a great idea, I totally agree with you. After we travel the best way to relax is to have a short staycation..
You’re right! Staycations are a great way to relax
I staycay almost in between long term travels.. feels like i’m always out there, exploring, meeting new people. It’s an awesome experience by itself.
You’re so right Jen. It’s such a great way to continue exploring and meeting new people
I need a vacation from my vacations! This is so meee! 🙂 It is so imperative that we rest before our next trips and rejuvenate ourselves and I love how you have put this across. It is a very important part so we don’t rush into every travel experience and helps us absorb our travel experiences bit by bit! 🙂
“No matter how big or small the place you live in, there’s always something unique about it. I can almost guarantee that most weekends in the summer there will be a festival or other event taking place nearby that you can attend.” BANG on!! there is always something to explore in any place!
Thanks so much for leaving this comment! Sounds like we’re definitely on the same wavelength 🙂
You’re so right about taking day trips, you get to discover more of your home territory without spending so much! I plan to do more staycations next year, let’s see how it goes! Thanks for sharing.
I have the same plan! Let’s compare notes at the end of the year and see how much we were able to re-explore 🙂
I am all for a staycation in between all those travels. It DOES help to give you a much needed “break” minus all the planning and implementation that goes into traveling (Even thoughi wont stop that anytime soon). I do this often like stay in a lovely resort in town/ outskirts – just take a break from “it all”. Works like a charm too 🙂
Thanks for this Jo! So important to take some time out for ourselves so we can get the most out of every experience
Hi Bruce,
I love that you kept this so simple and like so many people, really appreciate this approach to keeping it local.
Canada is also indeed an amazing place to be – just north of Toronto you have Algonquin, right? I remember staying overnight in that park and it was absolutely stunning. A short trip which may have lasted just one night but had all the same rewards of a longer adventure.
Thanks for the write up and thanks for keeping it real!
Derek
Yes, Algonquin is the largest, but we have National parks all over the place just a short trip from the city. Thanks so much for this Derek, appreciate you!
I love a staycation and have done one or two to celebrate some special occasions. Being a tourist in your own city sometimes really opens up your eyes to things that you have missed. I for one, discovered some new aspects and corners to the city I have been living in for 20 years now. Glad to see that you too feel the same way.
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Yes! Completely agree that taking the time to explore really brings out the areas you never noticed before
As travellers, a lot of us tend to be blind to the charms of our home cities. This post makes me want to know my city just a lite better. Thank you for this.
So glad to have given you that little bit of inspiration Denny! Go explore 🙂
Oh well, I actually do a lot of staycations, but never called them that way. I find this kind of trips poorly covered in general, good that you make an effort 🙂
You’re right Alexander. So many people ignore them or don’t count them as “real travel”
I’d have to agree that the only people I hear talking about a staycation are the ones living in large cities (myself included), as we’re the ones who don’t always get the chance/time to take advantage of what our city has to offer. Beyond that, I’ve often thought that the yearn to travel somehow involves a rejection of home, not that we hate it but that correctly realize that our home city of course doesn’t offer us everything we need to experience in life. I used to live near Toronto, and I love it, but it can’t give me what Paris/Taipei/Sicily/ect can give me.
Really great perspective Tom, thanks so much for sharing. No one place can provide “everything” .. .and the more we explore, the more we realize the truth in that.
“Staycation” seems to be a great idea. Staying at home and visiting nearby places. Thank you for sharing the concept.
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Thanks Manali! So glad you stopped by for some travel inspiration
I love staycations! Whenever I don’t have time or money or whatever reason to not go anywhere far from my home, I just jump into my car and drive somewhere close to my home and enjoy the time. I prefer to always choose new places, but I don’t mind going to the same place twice especially if I really liked it. You offered some great tips!
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That’s so awesome Bella! Staycations really are a great way to explore places we think we know everything about!
My husband and I usually do staycations during weekends and book hotels/resorts near our place. It’s our way of R&R without traveling far from home.
I love that idea Liz! Booking a hotel really lets you create an entirely new experience, even if you’re in your own backyard
Staycations are a good way to save a lot of money to boot.
You’re bang on Mark! Great way to have a lot of experiences for little cost
Totally Agree…. we love staycations, it’s one way to appreciate the beauty of where nearby surroundings. Great post.
Very true! I love finding new things in a place I “already know everything about”
can’t agree more on this with you. Since i am a backpacker it is even crucial for me to relax between my long trips and have a short staycation..
I totally hear that Devesh, and you make another great point about staycations. … they’re great for helping you relax and rejuvenate
Appreciate the Staycation ideas here! We just had our first Staycation (during a pandemic!) since we’ve canceled so many trips.
We created a detailed plan for our adventures and day trips. We spent multiple days kayaking down a river, inner tubing, climbing the rocks, and generally having a blast. Even though we were in our local region, we still treated it like we were internationally traveling — no phones, no interruptions; time together.
Your point about enjoying local cultures is true, even though we weren’t in a foreign place, we still spent some time learning about the history of our area to see it with fresh eyes. And, like you mentioned, we had some other quarantined travel buddies join us.
I did some research ahead of time for various staycation ideas and yours was helpful, so, cheers!
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I love hearing about how you’ve re-imagined your local adventures to help replace your ability to travel internationally!