A Vacation At Home Can Be Rewarding And Relaxing
Article by David Eldridge
Perhaps you don’t have the money to take a real vacation this year, but you know you need a breather from your stressful work environment. “It’s okay,” you tell yourself. “I’ll just stay home and do nothing!” But you soon find out that taking a vacation at home doesn’t come naturally. You’re tempted to work on home improvement projects, paint rooms, garden, clean the floors, do the dishes, finish that mound of laundry and cook elaborate meals. By the week’s end, you may actually feel happy to go back to work after all the drudgery you’ve done — and worse still, you’re not likely to feel refreshed at all! In this article, you’ll learn how to take a successful staycation — one that is relaxing and rewarding.
“I think there are new innovative ways to think of vacation,” says Lois Backon, vice president of the Families and Work Institute. “Maybe you don’t get to go to Cancun, but you can still take a break from your work.” In a 2005, the Families and Work Institute discovered that up to one-third of employees who get paid vacation time don’t use it all, for fear of getting too far behind or being unable to afford a trip. She says it’s important that people get away from the office and at least vacation at home once in a while to ensure mental sanity. Employees who don’t take vacations report feeling more stressed, more overworked and more aggravated with coworkers than those who spent some time away. Moreover, these overworked employees happened to have more unscheduled absences and made more mistakes on the job.
Erin Bircham of Nashville, Tennessee spent her vacation at home. She writes in her blog, “I blame the price of gas (and not my minor shopping habit) for robbing me of that much-needed trip to the beach that I had been hoping for since flip-flops hit stores last spring. Instead, I decided to make the most of Nashville.” She and her boyfriend began their stay-cation playing games and eating out at Dave & Buster’s, then staying the night at an opulent suite at the Opryland Hotel. They went to a sports bar, enjoyed shops while strolling by the river and had a romantic evening in the revolving dining room at Cascades Terrace Lounge.
Mark Kennedy writes that one of the most enjoyable parts about deciding to vacation at home is being able to sleep in. “Each morning of my “stay-cation” I turned off the alarm clock and slept until 8 a.m. This lolling about proved to be a much-needed ‘lay-cation,'” he writes. He watched some of his favorite Food Network shows, attended an Independence Day parade, grilled steaks, took a sail down the Tennessee River, ate triple layer chocolate cake, went to a baseball game, watched fireworks and surveyed his garage for eBay-worthy junk. Even though he hates the term “staycation,” he found there was some merit to sticking close to home after all.
A vacation at home could be an excellent bonding opportunity for parents and children. For instance, 46-year-old Michael Bombardiere says he’ll take his 11-year-old son to sentimental locations in his old neighborhood. “It gives him a chance to see things that are right in front of his face,” he says. His New York City tour includes a spot along the East River where he met his wife, the restaurant where they had their first drink together, his brother’s house and a friend’s restaurant. “This is something he should know, you know what I mean?” Mr. Bombardiere explains.
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If you’re staying home this year, why not splurge and decorate your property with outdoor rope lights, an easy and attractive way to provide accent lighting to your property. White rope lights are especially popular because they can be used in the summer for garden lighting and at Christmas as part of your holiday decor.