This past weekend, I got the opportunity to do a “stay”cation at the local hotel- it is a premier 4-star hotel that offers quite a bit- golfing, spa treatments, kids’ activities, swimming pools (several tiers), and food aplenty. In any case, it was a deal my husband got by virtue of his employment and it was fun. As I was getting my massage treatment on Saturday morning and pedicure, I started to think about all the wonderful things of a VACATION and all the even better things about a STAYCATION so here goes:
A vacation is great because you truly “get away”. There is no choice of whether you go home or not- your hotel or place where you are staying is a temporary home, a resting place of sorts. So, a vacation makes you truly get away from it all – no house to clean up, no problems to worry about because you are physically gone away. However, the negative to this, it is all waiting for you when you get back and sometimes you may need to deal with emergencies remotely. You also have to physically travel which is hard with two kids – packing just the right amount and the right things can be daunting. With two kids, it is even more of a juggling act. You have to also buy tickets to go to that place which adds up in cost. A staycation tends to just cost you the gas to get back and forth. In the end, you go away on a vacation and support the tourism industry of another state.
A staycation supports the local community – the local masseuse, the local concierge, the local bell boy, the local hotel, the local restaurant, and of course, if it is right in your backyard, you have supported your community and your State. A staycation permits you some flexibility. You do not have the arduous task of planning – you do not have to pack everything because if you should forget something, it is not the end of the world, unless you go 2 hours away that is. But the drawbacks are that because you did not plan, you may end up going back and forth a lot between home and “stay”cation site. In any case, a staycation can be cheaper and more relaxing but may leave you longing for a true vacation as well. All in all, I had a great stay cation but recommend the following – if you do live within 30-45 minutes of the staycation site, you may want to forego the room/lodging because home is truly better to be at. The better suggestion may be to do a trip 1.5hours or 2 hours from your home so you truly get away and get the benefit of being close to home as well.
