The Luxury of a Great Staycation
So summer is here and school is out. We are all looking at our schedules and carving out precious time to enjoy our families, recharge our batteries, and shut out the usual background noise, all while staying on a budget. That’s easy!
What we too often wind up doing as we take vacations is: spending too much money, rushing around using time traveling, getting insufficient sleep, and supersizing our carbon footprints. Well, we have other choices! Did you ever think about a stay-cation?
Wouldn’t it be great to spend our time laughing with friends and family over delicious healthy meals, being physically active in beautiful surroundings, and sleeping enough every night – waking up without an annoying alarm clock?! How about totally unplugging from the “wonderful” technology … that winds up using us rather than vice-versa!
Say it and it’s so! Just plan the Staycation with your friends and family. Stay as a group at each others’ homes – as you have already paid your rent or mortgage! Keep your athletic gear and accessories in your cars to be ready for whatever spontaneous activity emerges. Google all of the awesome activities that you have mysteriously and paradoxically never visited even though they are located relatively short distances from you!
Visit the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill or Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square – both serene and beautiful botanical gardens. Go paddleboarding, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, and picnicking at Marsh Creek State Park in Eagle PA – just park legally or you’ll get a ticket! Go hike in the Wissahickon (Fairmount Park) or at Valley Forge State Park or any number of beautiful parks in our area. Go to a local yoga studio and take some classes as a group – it’s fun, great exercise, and ultimately rejuvenating.
Forego the expensive restaurants and go shopping for food – plan simple healthy meals, prepare and clean up after them as a group with grooving tunes playing and delicious wine pouring. If you have a roving party, everyone has a chance to cook. Get coolers and pack healthy and delicious lunches – and eat them in the natural settings listed above. Enjoy the luxury of a great staycation.
We really don’t need “Butta-book, butta-boom” or Trivago. We don’t need flight delays or traffic. We don’t need to burn a lot of fuel or pay for overpriced Air BnBs, VRBOs, or Homes Away. Just like Dorothy realized, there is no place like home! Now … have a GREAT Stay-cation. When you return to your regular routines, you’ll feel rejuvenated, have more money in your pockets, and will have sustainably cared for your environment – it’s the only one we have.
