It’s nearly summertime, this is the last week of school, and we’re getting ready for a quick vacation next week. We tend to take off right after school lets out to celebrate some much needed family time after the hustle of spring sports and end-of-the-school-year testings and events finally winds down.
I like vacation time and traveling somewhere to do something fun, even though it’s always a chore to get things ready to go and then wash all the dirty clothes when we get back.
As a contract worker, I don’t get paid vacations. If I work, I get paid, if I don’t, I don’t. So I’ll also be taking my laptop and sneaking in some work as usual. It’s way less work than if I were at my desk at home, but I still try to at least answer emails so that when I do get back to my desk it’s not quite so overwhelming to catch back up.
Lately, I keep seeing the word staycation thrown around quite a bit (on the news last night, on digg just the other day) and I’m loving that there’s a new word for one of my favorite vacation ideas. I guess it makes sense, since I work at home, that I also like the idea of vacationing at home. I suppose I take mini-staycations all the time, but this summer I’d like to try a few extended staycations and daycation or two.
With the price of gas these days, folks are talking about the wonders of taking some vacation time without traveling far to do it. We live fairly close to the zoo, so I think one of our daycations will be spent there. I’m also going to let the kids help me plan a summer staycation, where I’ll promise not to sit at my desk at all while we spend an entire couple of days enjoying the fun things there are to do around the house. We can play Wii, xBox, draw with sidewalk chalk, get out the paints and brushes to make a wonderful messy creation, watch movies, build a campfire and roast marshmallows, sing karaoke, and anything else that hits our fancy.
I doubt we’ll talk my husband into taking a staycation – but you never know! Unfortunately, when we’ve both attempted to have staycations before, we end up finding some work around the house that needs to be done. It’s harder than you think to vacation at home.
I think that the “staycation” trend will rise unfortunately (both for us and the tourism industry!).
One thing I know is that the next car I buy will be either a hybrid or a cooper and if we can get a cooper/hybrid that would be great! 😉
With the price of oil these days I’m surprised more people don’t travel by train, bus or any other alternative way of mass transit. There is always plenty to see nearby as well.