Plan Your Next Staycation

As much as I love to travel the world, I love a good staycation too. Before you ask, a staycation is a vacation where you stay in the area you live instead of going out of your city or country. It is more relaxing and hassle free than traveling to another country. Some of us live in popular tourist destinations, near them or a potential tourist destination without even realizing it. For instance I live only a few hours away from the great Rocky Mountains in Alberta. While people from all over the world fly to Alberta to see these beautiful mountains, I have taken them for granted because I grew up around this beauty.

Staycation Planning Tips

Staycation | (c) Photo By Wikia

Staycation is the perfect solution to stress of booking hotels and planning a big family vacation. Not to mention the host of benefits it brings. Staycations can save you money, if you’re on a budget, that would otherwise be spent on flights, hotels and rent-a-cars. It also enables you to be a tourist at home and uncover or revisit local attraction. This will inject money into local economy, which make staycations a great excuse to stay local.

Tips For A Great Staycation

• Take a look at your local and state parks. Often you can find the best attractions and things to do in state parks. Things like leisurely strolls, hikes, camping and picnics. Even if you are not a photographer, take your camera with you. You might be surprised to see what you capture at the park when you are there for a couple of hours
• You can ask your friends and family for the best attractions in your local city. Even if you live in a small city, there could be something that you never knew about or seen. A trick that works great is to pretend to be a visitor from elsewhere and ask around. You might be amazed what the locals would tell you
• Go on an adventure. Take a drive down the street that you would not normally go on. However, make sure it is a safe area. Try roads that lead to hills. Who knows, you might find a waterfall that you never knew existed during your staycation
• Spend time in downtown. Even if you know every corner of it, you might have overlooked some unique buildings, hotels and great places to dine

As you can see, you don’t have to fly a thousand miles to have a fabulous vacation. There are local hotels, restaurants and attractions you can visit, and activities you can engage in. We are so used to driving back and forth from work and shopping malls that we miss to appreciate our own city. So why not plan a staycation this time and get ready for a getaway by staying put?