5 Tips for Planning a Staycation

When you need a break from your routine, but don’t want the stress of travel, a staycation is a great idea. Learn 5 staycation planning tips to plan for a time of family fun and relaxation in your own city.

The entire premise of a staycation is that you aren’t leaving town. To have the best staycation for your family, you’re still going to need to do some planning for your days.

With any vacation, you are sure to spend some time planning out your meals and activities. Planning the perfect at-home adventre starts long before your first day of vacation arrives.

Staycation Planning Tip #1

Leave Work Behind

The first thing that you’ll want to plan is to leave work behind. Don’t check your work emails or take calls from the office. Unplug your work laptop and stick it in a closet if you have to!

Work can wait but time with your family passes quickly. The same goes for kids who may have homework and chores. Pretend that those things are a thousand miles away during your staycation.

Staycation Planning Tip #2

Don’t Focus on Cleaning

Secondly, you need to accept that you are on vacation and let the housework go. The dust and vacuuming can wait until your vacation is over.

You might even want to purchase paper plates and plastic silverware ahead of time so that you don’t spend your time washing dishes.

Staycation Planning Tip #3

Plan Meals in Advance

Next, plan your meals before your staycation begins. You’ll want a good mixture of dining out, home cooked meals, and picnics. Make sure you have a food budget for the week in place and do your grocery shopping before your trip begins.

A good schedule would be to have breakfast at home, picnics or quick meals for lunch, and then go out somewhere nice for dinner. You can get your kids involved in the planning process by letting them pick restaurants to visit or find a fun way to surprise them with where you are going every day.

*Family Friendly Tip: Want to still eat out, but stay in budget? Eat out for lunch, which is usually cheaper. You can then have sandwiches for a quick, easy, relaxed dinner at home.

Staycation Planning Tip #4

Plan Family Fun Activities

You’ll want to plan activities for your family for every day of your vacation. These plans can be as simple as a day of movies on the couch or more elaborate such as a themed movie day with popcorn and movie-themed crafts and snacks.

Even though it’s a staycation, you should still plan a few day trips. No matter where you live you’ll be able to find something fun to do. It could be a trip to the zoo, an amusement park, a national park, the movies, a concert, or just about anything that you can dream up!

Staycation Planning Tip #5

Put Your Phone in Time-out

Lastly, you need to put the phone down. If you want to be genuinely present and have the perfect staycation with your family then you need to be there for them.

Phones are a wonderful thing, but they are also a huge distraction. Don’t share every detail of your staycation on social media. Just spend time with your family. You can always share pictures of your staycation later if you want to!

You don’t have to fly around the globe to have the perfect vacation. All you need is your family, some planning, and a little imagination and you’ll have the perfect adventure with your family at home.