7 Reasons Why You Need a Staycation

You get to slow down

The first and ultimate reason why I love staycations is not because I get to save money (although that will be one of the reasons) but it’s because I get to slow down. I get to destress from my daily busy life and I get to do whatever it is I want. On my last staycation I was able to sleep in, made my favorite breakfast and drank some hot tea while looking out into the backyard. I ran a few errands and the remaining of the day I went to the river and read my favorite books. Luckily the river is not too far from our house (walking distance) and because we live in sunny side California the weather is just too good not to be outside on a day off!

I love being outdoors! It gives me the peace of mind that gives me a reboot for the next day (week). When I’m in nature, I get to be in tune with my mind and body and engage with God’s creations.

You need some alone time

I love being around people, and around my loved ones, but I also love the alone times I get. Don’t get sucker in to the fact that you must be around humans 24/7. We need that alone time to relax, listen to OUR favorite music, dance to whatever the heck we want, and eat whatever we want. We go on this journey pleasing others (kids, spouse, parents) and forget our wellbeing and health. Take a day off from everyone and stay home and get tuned in with your body and soul.

If you’re a mother, drop off those kiddos and take a day to rest. A day to catch up on sleep, don’t even do your chores if you don’t want to. You need some time to get rejuvenated/pampered so book a spa treatment if you must. Catch a movie and go to your favorite restaurant. Don’t think about diapers, or cooking. No one will die of starvation.

The more we run around like maniacs, the more we get stressed out and our minds take a beating. It’s a must (at least once a month) to do a staycation and do it by yourself if you can.

Save money

Okay, so let’s face it, you want to get out of town but every time you do, you break your bank and you don’t even know where all that money went! Let’s break out the costs for a day trip out of town.

Lunch $10
Dinner $15
Attraction $20 – $100
Gas $20 roundtrip
Coffee $5

You’re spending anywhere from $70 – $150 for the day trip out of town (if you go solo). Now, if you add a hotel night, it’ll bring you easy to $220 with the hotel night, plus another days of food. If you go out with the family it will cost you $200 – $400 for the trip.

We love to reward ourselves, and love to give ourselves some room to live freely. We can get the same joy factor from going on a trip and going on walk around your neighborhood. Did you know that the same joy that gives us going on road trips as it does reading books? Define your joy and don’t set high limits. Being a minimalist allows you to live a simple life where your joy factor is not surrounded by spending money but it’s surrounded by experiences that we treasure.

Set goals

I absolutely love to set goals and revisit them to make any necessary adjustments. I do a check to see where I’m at and what’s left on my lists. I have two running journals; one at home and one at work where I’m constantly writing down goals, and jotting down some good quotes from podcasts that I listen to. During my staycations I get to hone in on my journal and get a broader vision of my life. I turn on some intense classical music and get carried away with goal setting. I’ve seen amazing transformations when I implemented goal setting in my life.

No traffic anywhere you go

OMG! Did I just say no traffic?! If you decide you want to take a drive to that farmers market but it’s always so packed when you go, or it normally takes a long time to get there. If you’re going off peak times on your staycation, that’s when it’s a bonus and you get a smooth ride on the roads. You get to drive through the streets without any hard commute and your day goes a lot smoother.

Wherever you decide to go on your staycation in your town, it will take you so much faster to get there because everyone else is at work! This is why I normally don’t travel anywhere out of town during the holidays. Just because I’m over all the commute, traffic, crazy lines, crazy people, and everything gets too crazy. I hope I’m not getting too old, but I just have to say I’m a lot more at ease when I get to my destination without any hassles and horrible traffic.

Tune everything out

During each staycation, this is the time when you’re giving your body a rest and your mind a breather. Your mind should be turned off from the distractions from the emails, social media, TV and text messages.

This means that you keep your staycations as a secret. Don’t tell your friends and coworkers that you’re taking a day off for a staycation. This way, no one will bother you and no one will ask you questions during your time.

I have a friend who recently retired and before she went through that door to step into her retirement dreams, she gave me one advise: “Always have one day off a month for yourself.” Her statement was a regret that she took work too seriously and she never took any days off. She worked extremely hard and no one noticed. Now I’m not saying that we need to slack off at our jobs, but taking a day off and enjoying a staycation will bring you great rewards with your career.

Don’t plan, just do

Don’t ever stress the staycations. Just do them! Take a day off work and plan to do absolutely nothing on that day. You deserve to slow down, you deserve to get rest from our busy inundated lives. I’m so sure that when you wake up that morning if you feel like you want to check out that local yoga studio down the street and never have, you would! Your body might be telling you it’s time for a massage and to destress. Your heart might be telling you to go visit your mother that day.

Whatever you do, don’t overthink this. Don’t stress it, and take it easy.

So, what did you do on your last staycation and what were your rewards? Tell me in the comments, I would love to hear some great benefits and ideas for a staycation.

Happy living!