My Accidental Staycation Made Me a True Believer

I am guilty of assuming the “staycation” trend was for families who didn’t have the means or motivation to do more. I am here to quickly confess how wrong I was!

Like many of us, my vacation time at work is reserved for just that… vacations. Sure the occasional date night or long weekend sneaks in, but generally, if I set aside a stretch of days, we’re usually packing up for an out-of-town adventure. This summer, I was sort of forced into an accidental staycation of my own and it opened my eyes to how fantastic they are. We still filled our days with plenty of fun and made memories with our favorite people, but the best part is, when it was over, I didn’t need a vacation from my vacation! I was relaxed, rested and relieved that I didn’t panic and book an trip, just because that’s what I had always done in the past.

It all came about over the Fourth of July holiday. I had taken time off for our daughter’s birthday, but my husband wasn’t able to get the same days approved. We decided, after quite a bit of back-and-forth debate, to keep it casual and enjoy the extra family time it granted. He probably did a victory dance when I wasn’t looking, since I’m usually to blame for keeping us so busy {with my unwavering commitment to filling our lives with rich, wonderful experiences}. In short, our first official staycation was awesome. So much so, that I legitimately found myself taken-aback at how much I enjoyed it thinking, “Why don’t we do this more often?!”

Turns out, there’s something magical about staying close to home, catching up on sleep and just going with the flow. It was everything we needed and more in this busy season of our lives {but really, is there a season that’s NOT busy?}. The daily grind requires a lot of energy no matter what your family structure looks like. There’s no shame in taking a break and not rushing off to the next planned thing. Sometimes we need to just… slow… down…  

I am now a firm believer. A convert. A staycation advocate! Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first in line for planning our next getaway, but now I know that sprinkling a few bonus stress-free staycations into our schedule might just make the bigger adventures even more enjoyable. Embracing the beauty of an open schedule creates new windows of opportunity that allow life to happen organically and sometimes those moments are our biggest memory makers.

I would love to hear about your own staycation success!

Here’s a little snapshot of some highlights from ours:

• Catching candy at the {HOT} Freedom Parade in Fenton
• Laid back playtime {Barbie had time for like 243 outfit changes…}
• Backyard cookouts, cold drinks {wink} and lots of birthday treats
• Swimming at Blue Belle Beach
• Petting all the animals at Hess-Hathaway Park
• A beautiful date night bike ride around Kent Lake at Kensington Metropark
• Fireworks in Ortonville {An impromptu local mom meet-up, the kids had a blast!}
• Exploring the trail at Bicentennial Park {…baby bunny sighting!}

Other ideas:

• Visit a local zoo, museum or water park
• Have a family game night
• Snag movie tickets or visit the drive-in
• Relax with a book, even better if you have a quick set hammock
• Attend a local ‘Concert in the Park’ series or your county fair
• Play putt-putt or go see a baseball game
• Go for a walk or hike
• Eat all of the ice cream… <3
• {Add your own in the comments below!}