Staycation: What in the world is it?

With escalating fuel costs driving up the prices of just about everything one of the current buzzes in the travel industry is the “staycation". What in the world is a “staycation”?

Well a “staycation” is a vacation spent at your home in your hometown. I would also like to add day touring to the definition. You use your home as a base of operations and conduct day trips from it.

If done right a “staycation” can be just as relaxing and offer up the same benefits as the traditional vacation. And in some ways, it can be even more stress-relieving because it typically involves less planning and expense.

However certain measures need to be taken to maximize the benefits of a staycation. Turn off the ringers on all your communication devices, the Blackberry, land line and cell phone. Also try to avoid logging onto the computer and checking business emails and do not perform other normal on-line activities. Stop the newspaper and have your mail stopped.

Remember that the vacation idea is to break away from your everyday life and do something different. Otherwise your time away from your regular routine is not really a vacation or time off. It becomes nothing more than a stressful extension of your regular life. You are not benefiting from your vacation at all.

In my next few posts I'll talk about the benefits of vacations and offer up some more "staycation" ideas.