A vacation does not have to be a trip; it can be a break from your daily routine to have fun and relax. During uncertain times, you can enjoy a staycation at home, turning your home into your own private getaway, where you and your family can achieve a sense of wellness, feel enriched and grow closer together. Here are 15 Staycation Ideas to help get you started.
All you need is the proper setup. This consists of a projector, a media player like a DVD player or laptop or media streaming apps on your phone, speakers, and a screen – a white bedsheet works just as well, or you can project the movie on your garage door. Seating can range from patio furniture to blankets and pillows on the lawn, or even a blow-up mattress. If you have a pool, lounging on floaties is nice too, but beware of JAWS!
While you may not be able to go camping in the great outdoors, your kids can spend an evening under the stars in the safety of their backyard. Before bed, cook s’mores over the grill, and in the morning, have a picnic with trail mix, pancakes, and fresh fruit, if you like.
If you like cuisine, your kitchen can become a dining destination, where you and your family cook recipes inspired by Italy, China, Spain, England, and so many other wonderful places. Plan your meal out – if you like, it can start with brunch, move to dinner, and then a toast over dessert.
When it comes to wellness and finding your inner balance, yoga is an ideal means of achieving both. You can unroll your yoga mat in the living room, or better yet, out on the back patio or lawn, and practice chair, mountain, dog, and other popular poses, releasing the bad energy and replacing it with the good.
Fill the tub with hot water. Add bubbles and Epsom salts. Set the mood with candles and soft music. Hydrate with a glass of cucumber water beside a glass of wine. You can make your own body scrub to refresh your skin, try a face mask, or perform simple massages on reachable muscles to promote better circulation. Your goal is to unwind, relax, and feel beautiful at your own hands in the comfort of your own home.
Discover new talents and interests for yourself and the rest of the family. This can be most anything, from painting to sculpting to toy model building to scrapbooking. Anything that keeps your hands busy and gives you a sense of accomplishment, as you make something that was not there before. You can set up shop in the garage or a spare room or at the kitchen table, if you like.
It is all in the embellishments. You can recreate the comfort of a hotel by changing out items in your home. Get you and your spouse matching terry robes. Switch out the bed sheets for ultra-high-thread count ones and get comfier pillows. Even the most minute detail, like leaving mints on the pillows, can bring a smile.
Your porch or patio can become your new space to relax. Clean and prime it, then customize with rugs, comfy chairs, sofas, or throws. You can embellish it with lights, plants, and knickknacks that align with a theme or style you like, be it exotic, bohemian, tropical, nautical, or traditional. Then, when your new outdoor room is complete, you can sit outside with a glass of lemonade or spirits in hand, read a book or magazine, or just sit and listen to nature.
If dining out is not an option, dine in. Arrange a babysitting trade-off with your neighbors, where one night, they take the kids, and another night you take the kids. The night you are free, you and your spouse can cook dinner together, maybe play a game or watch a movie, and reminisce together about your favorite moments, best dates, how you met, etc. This is a chance for you two to reconnect and grow closer, without distraction or interruption.
If you have a pool, you already have the advantage over most who miss their local swimming holes or the beach this summer. Get floaties for the kids, maybe a pool game, and do your best cannon ball. If you do not have a pool, you and the kids can cool off with a slip-n-slide, inflatable sprinklers, and water guns, maybe even have a water balloon fight! Have lunch outside too; nothing tastes better after vigorous water play than grilled burgers and hot dogs.
Using Zoom or a similar video chat application, you can host a digital family reunion. Set it up for lunch or dinner, where everyone makes a special dish on their end, and all sit down in front of the camera to eat together and socialize. This is better than a phone call because the miles apart feel less so when you can hear and see your family.
If you are unable to go out for some culture, bring culture to the big screen in your living room. Tune into live streamings of concerts, operas, and Broadway musicals, most for free. You can also take a virtual tour of a museum to see exhibitions on art, history, science, and more.
For the avid youth who likes to learn, turning your kitchen or outdoor driveway into the site of many science experiments can be both fun and educational. You can try one experiment a day for a week, give your child his or her own lab coat, and together grow crystals, build rockets, erupt a volcano, or make slime.
A whole day of games or one game a day for a week – this is about fun! You can play outdoor sports – practice your free throw, trick shot, or fast ball. Rainy days are better for board games, like Trivia, Monopoly, or Scrabble. If you can have friends or neighbors over, party games like charades or Pictionary are great fun, or maybe you would like to host your own casino, with cards and five-cent buy-ins.
Getting active, exercising, helps release endorphins, which in turn make you happy. Also, exercising is good for your overall health, as well as that of the whole family. Walk the trails and paths of your neighborhood or take a bike ride through your community. If there is a local park, and it is not overwhelmed with visitors, you can take the kids to enjoy a timeless pastime – flying a kite.
In conclusion…
With creative ingenuity and a little know-how, you do not have to think of yourself as “trapped” this summer but “lucky” and “free” because you and your family can have fun, learn and grow together during your staycation. You will also save money and stress, as you void planning and paying for a trip and skipping travel checklists.
At Lennar, we would love to see you into your new dream home this summer. Our new homes feature open floorplans, ideal for entertaining guests and family, and include desirable new home features at no extra cost to you as part of our signature Everything’s Included®. These features can enhance and make more efficient your new home experiences this summer and every season after. Also, our Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Home Designs, equipped with admirable smart home technology, allow you to stay connected with what matters with no dead spots. Should you like to visit and tour our model homes, visit Lennar.com to schedule your visit.
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