Staycation Inspiration
I’m all about travel. I love to see new places, experience new cultures, and try new foods. There’s nothing more refreshing to me than time away in a beautiful, foreign place. But… sometimes you can’t take the trip. Sometimes you don’t have the money, or the kids are too sick, or you have appointments you can’t change, or… whatever…
The good news is, you can make your staycation so awesome that the kids won’t even mind staying home-based. I survey my kids after each trip to see what they liked or didn’t like. Canada: the arcade; New York: getting ice cream before dinner; Pittsburgh: breakfast. All of these things are reproducible without leaving home! So, from a family who loves to travel, but sometimes can’t, here are some tips to making your staycation the best non-trip yet!
1. Get into vacation mode. This is the single most important factor in making a staycation a success. You can’t act like you’re at home. Act like you’re on vacation. 100% in. This means all of those loosy goosy things you do on vacation that you’d never do at home, you do at home. Really, the rest of my staycation tips are just solid examples on how to do this.
2. Sleep in. Ok, just kidding, young kids will never let you do that. Instead, let them watch TV. What?!? I know, I know. I feel you. I hate screen time. Kids, however, love it, and it lets you get dressed in the morning with minimal interruptions – just like you would in a hotel. You can still stick with PBS Kids or something that you don’t strongly feel is actively making your kids dumber, but this will make mornings more enjoyable for all of you.
3. Make a big breakfast. This sets the tone from the start of the day. A breakfast buffet is just like vacation. It doesn’t actually even have to be all that fancy. If there are multiple foods, kids think it’s a feast. I love breakfast, so I can go all out on this, but kids are just as happy if you keep it continental. Think two or three different fruits, toast, cereal, muffins, yogurt, etc.. It’s the variety that makes it feel big. You can really mix it up and eat breakfast outside!
4. Make your house a fun zone. Don’t just let the kids play in the kiddie pool out back. They can do that any day. Instead, turn on the sprinkler, get some water balloons, fill up some water toys, make a water slide, picnic outside: make it an all out water day. If it’s winter time, mix it up with some fort building and then all play, eating, and napping takes place in the fort. The key is in remembering that you’re on vacation and acting accordingly.
5. Splurge on a ridiculous activity. You’re saving a lot of money by staying home. Pick one thing that you would never waste money on, and then go ahead and waste that money. When we went to Niagara Falls, our hotel included arcade passes. It was $10 per kid, but it was like gold to them! If we do an arcade in real life, our six year old gets one or two games, and we count on the toddlers believing they’re the ones controlling the game… without ever putting any quarters in. The arcade is just an example. This can be anything fun that you would normally consider a waste. It could be a movie, or bowling, or a bounce place, or a kids’ museum, or a million other things. It’s especially awesome if it’s a place you’ve never been. If you’re local to South Central PA, stay tuned for next week’s list of awesome accessible kid activities.
6. Eat dessert first. Kids thrive on things like this, and it’s not really that big of a deal for their diet. Double bonus if you can go out for ice cream. Triple bonus if you go somewhere new. If you’re really feeling wild, you could just do ice cream for dinner.
7. Go somewhere new. Adventure is a big part of a successful vacation. Exploring something new is a great way of building enthusiasm and creating memories. My suggestion would be a new hiking trail or walking path, but it can really be anything. A shop, or museum, or park, or farm… anywhere that you’ve never been. Preferably somewhere free.
8. Avoid cleaning. Ok, this is a tricky balance. If my house is a dump, it’s hard for me to relax. That being said, it’s also not vacation if you pull out the broom when the kids go to bed. If you can swing it, get someone else to clean. If you’re a part of your community’s fb page, you can make a post and some college kid will happily come clean your house for $9 an hour. Say they come three times during the week and do just as much as room service, that’s $27 to make the staycation a peaceful time for you. Worth it. If money is the reason you’re staying home and you can’t swing it, just choose your battles. Keep up with the straightening, because it’ll make you crazy by the end of the week, but let the big things wait. You can figure out which staycation tips work best for your family.
There you have it! You may not see the Eiffel Tower, but with these staycation tips you won’t miss out on family bonding and creating lasting memories.
