By staycation I simply mean a sort of vacation done at home. It could be very short (even a day or two) or it could be a week or more. Ideally not a replacement but rather an addition to a vacation (a going way of some kind), a staycation can be an excellent enhancement to life in a household.
In these three reasons to do a staycation we can see a little more about what a staycation is and how we might do one.
1. A staycation can highlight the priority of people in our life.
More explicitly than a vacation, a staycation says “it is simply worth our spending time together, even if we’re not doing something especially exciting.” If a husband says to his wife, “Dear, let’s do a staycation with the children this Labor Day weekend,” this is powerful way of showing that he prioritizes being-with the family. If his wife says, “Sure. But what are we going to do?” his answer might be simply, “I (or we) will figure that out, but most importantly whatever we do, we’ll do together. And we’ll clear a space for that by setting aside as many of the ‘practical’ aspects of life that we can.”
Perhaps for several of the meals we order-in, or go out so no one has to worry about getting people fed for every meal. Further, we can make some of the meals together and then all clean up together. Most importantly, we won’t make anyone handle the practical things alone, and we’ll do as much together as possible.
2. A staycation offers flexibility and freedom.
When we go on vacation we can feel like we have to ‘make special memories’ and go out and see the things we’ve come to see. A staycation can remove that pressure. It’s more low-key. Yes, it will take some planning, but we can feel the freedom of deciding not to go on an outing at all today—with no danger of ‘missing anything.’
Of course it goes without saying that a staycation is also more budget friendly. But again, the point here is not to replace vacation with that less expensive alternative (though in some cases this might become fitting and so be a great option).
3. A staycation helps root our household life in the ‘place’ where we live.
This is one of the most surprising and rewarding aspects. In the normal course of life many do not take the time really to get to know the history, geography, and cultural heritage of our physical place in the world. A staycation affords the opportunity to remedy this. A battlefield, a hiking trail, an architectural landmark, a pilgrimage site: these are often in our immediate or proximate surroundings.
Simply experiencing these things can afford a real enrichment to our everyday life. And who knows, maybe something we discover will become one of our normal activities. A short staycation might be marked by only one or two such experiences. Yet in combination with some sitting on the porch time, reading a book or short story aloud, walking around the neighborhood, or playing a family game, our staycation can blossom into a memorable and enduring feature of our shared life in the home.
Truth be told, we are doing a little ‘end of summer’ staycation in our home right now. (The ‘summer’ for a professor is determined more by academic schedule than by planetary movements.) I intended simply to say “I’m on a staycation,” and make a very brief post to share this week’s podcast, etc. But, the reasons we love doing a staycation welled up in my mind, so I wanted to share.
Wherever you are in your ‘summer,’ I hope you might have occasion to do some kind of staycation before it is over. Yet if not, the good news is you can do it most any time of year. ~ ~ ~
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An excellent article because the best charity always begins at home.
#3 is such a great point!
We too are planning this in September to gather the family that is most of the time at a physical distance unable to share in the everyday. There will be a work project but I will be delighted if we achieve a togetherness that I always felt when the children were young. Thank you for affirming our reasons to do this with your great article.
Thank you, Marshall, Bob, and Helen!