Advantages of a Staycation

As Jim and I approach the last two days of our almost week long staycation, we've found some advantages.  Instead of packing, we did a little spring cleaning a couple days before.  The house looks and feels more relaxing. 

There's no road lag from driving and no moving in and out of hotel rooms to get there.  Also, we're appreciating the money we saved.  

We're fortunate to live in a place with front facing windows that have a picturesque view, surrounded by a lot of green and some beautiful flowering plants.  The bees are having a field day with the rhododendrons.  

It's quiet, having turned off the various rings of on our cells phone. Cell phones aren't pinging all day long.  

For health reasons, while on vacation, we prepare most of our meals; cooking in our favorite kitchen is an added bonus. Though we did get one take out meal from a local restaurant.

Both of us got in some of our best exercise due to a friendly challenge, thanks to Virgin Pulse. We're both on teams of five. Jim is in second place on his team.  On my team there are two of us competing for second place.  It's been great to be able to complete 20,000 steps a day.  The challenge ends soon.

There's also been time to listen to the birds, take some photos and read, but most of all to rest our minds.  This being our second staycation, we've found that once the vacation is over, we can make a little vacation time during our work week by setting aside time to be together.  Time like Friday night movie nights and even impromptu going out to eat in where we set the dining room table a little fancier and have a special meal which may include something like scallops.

Though we've enjoyed our time at home, we're still looking forward to fitting in our typical two week vacation, traveling to Myrle Beach, SC next year.

Is It Possible to Have a Meaningful at Home Vacation?

With a little bit of apprehension my husband Jim and I started a stay-at-home vacation a week ago last Friday.  We wondered if two work-from-homers could actually find sanctuary and rejuvenation at our place of residence/work?

The night before, “out of office” email reply messages were set and our cell phone notifications turned off.  What quiet bliss.

Friday night is usually our at-home date night.  Since we are pretty introverted, this has worked well for us.  We started the first evening of vacation watching the Broadway play “Hamilton”. We are so grateful to live in a time of “online streaming services”.
 
Prior to vacation we found a sale on cushions for our lounge chairs, located in the breezeway. This is a comfortable place to read.

 

My favorite part of the day is sitting outside first thing in the morning and listening to the birds. With no other major responsibilities, this lasted much longer than usual.  No rush breakfasts, an added plus.

On our list of things to check out since we moved here, was the town beach.  End of season is a great time to go.  It wasn’t crowded.  

We went for a walk and were joined by a friendly duck.

We found a relaxing spot to sit by the water. 

During our time at our home, we got an idea.  By moving, a small table that we had off to the side, and placing it in front of the large basement window, then re-purposing two office chairs without arms, it gave us another place to eat meals and we like the view.

To answer the question, “Is it Possible to Have a Meaningful at Home Vacation?” The answer is "yes".  Our at home vacation has worked out well. We didn’t miss the usual 32-hour round trip or the packing and unpacking that goes along with it.  Along with what was shared, we watched another Broadway play and a couple movies.  There was plenty of time to relax and find sanctuary. Feeling rested.