Staycation: A Good Time for All
In my most recent newsletter, I mentioned that we were heading to the YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch for Spring Break in Colorado. And then a Snowpocalypse threatened the area and we had to cancel our plans at the last-minute. I put in a valiant effort to find an AirBnB somewhere else (South Padre Island, Galveston, Wimberley, rural Louisiana, Arkansas, etc.). But in the end we opted for a Staycation.
I went back to my own advice about how to plan a meaningful and memorable Staycation.
Our Staycation Week
- We decided to stock up on junk food that we don’t normally eat. Doritos. Ruffles with onion dip. Pringles. Candy. Fanta. Sprite.
- We decided to have a movie night every night.
- We bought new toys to bring some novelty into our life. Henry got a big Lego set. We took Tate to a military surplus store for a costume, and we bought a portable air hockey table for all of us to enjoy.
- Next we planned new-to-us excursions each morning. We grabbed gluten-free donuts from Bourgie’s and walked around the Sunset Valley trail. We went panning for gold in a real river. Another day we drove through an exotic animal park and fed zebras and giraffes. We hiked to waterfalls. We went to a pioneer village focused on German settlers. Also, we visited the Cave Without a Name.
Although we spent a chunk of money on the food, the toys, and the admission tickets, we still spent way less than we would have on a real vacation. And it was fun! During our trip to Target together at the start of the week, Henry exclaimed, “This is going to be the best week of my life!”
At the start of the week, I made a list of intentions for myself. I wanted to get to the end of the week and feel good about what I had accomplished. For example, I pulled together two birthday presents for friends, I bought blank cards for my grandma to mail out to her friends and family, I worked on the resource I’m putting together about perimenopause, and I squeezed in naps.
It was a very different vacation from Stinson Beach or Los Angeles. But it was definitely fun and memorable in its own right.
I just hope our kids will be willing to go on a vacation away from the house in the future! They are such homebodies.