Staycations

[rembrandt]

I just take staycations. My mind is in the South of France, but my body is in CT. It is alot cheaper(and safer) that way.

 

[Gumby]

Now that I'm retired, every day of my life is a staycation.

 

[Ronstar]

I like northern Illinois staycations in the summer, not so much in the winter.

Kayaking can be chilly in the winter

 

[ABQ2015]

A couple of years ago I spent a week in Santa Fe, an hour from my house. Stayed at the historic La Fonda hotel and explored the city. A little pricey but much nicer than driving back and forth.

 

[flyingaway]

My staycations are to visit local casinos, cost more than getting on airplanes.

 

[skyking1]

We plan on camping all over Vancouver Island one summer. it is a 20 minute drive from the house to the ferry in Port Angeles. Leave the 5th wheel trailer over there.

 

[mystang52]

Everyone is different. Way back, when money was especially tight, I took one staycation. It beat going to the office of course but it was not great. We then found a way to have at least one "real" vacation each year. Nowadays, we're doing anywhere from 2 to 4 a year. We enjoy our life when staying at home, but also enjoy change of scenery.

 

[wrigley]

I like northern Illinois staycations in the summer, not so much in the winter.

View attachment 51876

Kayaking can be chilly in the winter

View attachment 51879

I was born and raised in Chicago. I can relate. Seems like every time I HAVE to go back to Chicago it's in the winter. I've been in Florida for 31 years now. Cold is not my friend!

Mike

 

[pacergal]

Frequently took staycations while working, especially after kids were out of the house--enjoyed the quiet!

 

[Koolau]

Waikiki hotels sometimes offer Staycations for about 1/2 price or less. We've never been interested. We stayed PLENTY of times on Waikiki when we were actually tourists. Besides, why would I want to drive my car to Waikiki and pay $45/night to park in their lot and live among all those tourists smelling of suntan lotion.

Besides, our lanai has a better view than most of the high rise hotels. YMMV

 

[Route246]

I was a road warrior and spent a great deal of my time when I was single on the road living out of suitcases. The airlines and hotels did a good job with perks and treating me pretty well compared to non-road warriors but I was still living out of suitcases, eating restaurant and room service food and planning the next city grind and commitments. After almost a decade of 40-60 percent travel it wore me down and I really cherish staycations now, not a popular view of the family, though. Vacations now are too much like work due to my PTSD.

 

[Dawg52]

Whenever I give up my beach condo I could easily adjust to staycations. The older I get the more comfortable I am just staying home or close to home. I live on a golf course and there are other nice ones I can play within a 90 mile radius so haven’t got to go far to do what interests me.

 

[Surewhitey]

I count camping as staycations too. Simple and cheap. We do this a couple times a year. Spring, fall and winter are the best seasons.

Beach camping for free in Port Aransas
Tyler state park (minimal cost for powered site)
Blanchard Springs, AR for off grid quiet

 

[CaffeineMe]

Staycations are definitely lower cost, but I am curious about the "safer" comment. Maybe it's just where I vacation, but I don't recall feeling unsafe while traveling very often. Or are you just meaning that being on the road is unsafe? Because the way people drive these days I have to agree with that! But crazy drivers are on the roads in town as well as on the highways.

Anyway, I am saving the staycations for the "slow-go" years. Hopefully at least a decade from now.

 

[Yoheadden]

I once surprised my DW with a Staycation. I secretly packed our bags and made reservations at an Inn located a little over an hour from our house. The area is by the coast and has a lot of places to visit. I convinced her to “Go for a drive”. Well, after about 20 minutes of dodging her inquiries into where we were going, I had to break down and tell her. Needless to say, she was shocked. Lol
We could have easily done day trips from home, but it was nice not having to drive home late at night after a long day and waking up already there to spend more time in the area.

 

[Dtail]

Not truly an extensive staycation, but from time to time, we stay at the Hard Rock Cafe for 2 days (20 minutes from us), eat a great meal, little gambling, perhaps a show.

 

[mountainsoft]

I'm not sure what qualifies as a staycation, but the vast majority of our vacations are within a few hours of our home. We live in Washington state and there is so much to see and do I don't know that we'll ever see it all. Every time I think I've exhausted the list of possibilities, I discover new sights or activities we can enjoy, often right here in our home town. If anything, multiple things typically fall on the same date so we have to pass on the others.

One of our most memorable staycations was seeing a movie at our local theater, staying at the boutique hotel in town, and going for a small hike the next morning. All within 15 minutes of our house. We had just as much fun as trips that take hours to get to.

After that would be multi-day road trips. We might do one or two of these a year, usually to a neighboring state. Last year we took trips to Idaho and California and enjoyed both very much.

Finally would be trips further away by plane. We don't do these very often, maybe once every five years or so. Our last trip was in 2016 when we flew to Fairbanks, Alaska. These days flying doesn't even sound fun with cramped seats, long waits and security checks at the airports, unruly passengers, doors and wheels falling off planes, etc. Airfare has also gotten quite expensive compared to what we used to pay.

 

[CO-guy]

We live in a resort area, so friends and family often come to vacation while we're "staycationing" at home. Similar to others, we also have an abundance of nearby camping, and often go out for a night or two of camping near home. Sometimes, we'll leave after dinner with little more than a tent, air mattress and sleeping bag and then stop at the coffee shop on our way home in the morning.

 

[audreyh1]

Based on staycation definitions here - South Padre Island is only 80 miles away, mostly interstate. So we usually go once a year for several nights. It’s also a fantastic birding location during spring migration and I like to walk the beach at sunrise and sunset. Last time we visited we extended a night and were able to catch a SpaceX Starship launch!

 

[Zona]

We just did a "staycation" about 20 minutes from our house - used an Amex "fine hotel" credit to stay one night at one of our city's historic hotels and had a $100 credit towards a really nice dinner at their restaurant. Of course, it's 100+ degrees here, and a Tuesday night, so the hotel wasn't very crowded -- but we got great drink service at the pool!

Many hotels in the Phoenix area offer steeply discounted rates during the heat of summer, so we occasionally do a staycation if we are staying in town and not traveling to cooler places during those hot months.

 

[disneysteve]

Most of the responses so far aren’t about staycations. A staycation is when you stay at home and do local attractions and day trips. When I was working, we did that a few times over the years. Now that I’m retired, that’s just our normal everyday life.

If you’re packing up and going to a hotel an hour or two away or spending a couple of nights at a campground, that’s called a vacation.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Most of the responses so far aren’t about staycations. A staycation is when you stay at home and do local attractions and day trips. When I was working, we did that a few times over the years. Now that I’m retired, that’s just our normal everyday life.

If you’re packing up and going to a hotel an hour or two away or spending a couple of nights at a campground, that’s called a vacation.

Staycation is also when you book a local hotel/resort and relax and do whatever you want. It may include going to a concert or dining at nice restaurants around/at the resort.

 

[rodi]

We've done several local staycations - where we rented beach places. Stayed at the La Jolla Shores Hotel a few times... it was great when the kids were little because we could walk out the door and be on the beach... No packing/unpacking the car with the beach gear. I walk my dog past this hotel most mornings. We stayed on Crystal Pier - that was fun - a bungalow OVER the water. In San Diego there's a snarky saying that "There's no life east of I-5"... that weekend we were saying there's no life east of the low tide mark. We've rented Airbnbs in Mission Beach... We live in a tourist town, it's nice to act like a tourist and enjoy it.

Only done one local staycation since retiring... I guess since I walk the dog at the beach most mornings, I don't need to rent at the beach...

 

[disneysteve]

Staycation is also when you book a local hotel/resort and relax and do whatever you want. It may include going to a concert or dining at nice restaurants around/at the resort.

What do you consider “local” by that definition?

 

[RetiredHappy]

What do you consider “local” by that definition?

A hotel within an hour's drive.