Wasting time
Let the hours roll by
Doing nothing for the fun
A little taste of the good life
Whether right or wrong makes us want to stay, stay, stay, for awhile.
Dave Matthews Band “Stay”
Months ago we decided to take the week after the 4th of July off for vacation. Originally, there was no plan, but through the course of several months there were several ideas floated about what we could do including a trip out west or to Waco, Texas by means of family in Mississippi. Ultimately, for numerous reasons we decided for a “Staycation.” It worked out for many reasons, not the least of which was we have all been recovering from a nasty upper respiratory infection and none of us were in the mood to travel. However, the “staycation” has been fabulous for a number of reasons.
Here are my reasons to try out a “staycation:”
- You get to stay in your own bed! As far as I’m concerned, this benefit cannot be overstated. Staying on somewhat of a routine is great for the entire family. I sleep best in my bed, and I know my son sleeps best in his bed and staying on routine is great for him. As I said, we have all been recovering from a URI (except my son who somehow coughed a few times and was over it) so this has been huge for all of us to get to feeling better.
- You can do some errands without disrupting your entire vacation. I was able to see the doctor and meet with Representative Chris Sprowls in district without feeling like it disrupted our entire vacation. I even made one conference call (there were several I declined due to vacation). We put some IKEA furniture together and organized our playroom/office, so we really felt like we accomplished something. Not only that but because we were home the usual things like trash and laundry have not stacked up like they would have if we had left and traveled on vacation!
- You can save some money. There is no doubt we spent less on this vacation than if we had driven somewhere and had to stay in a hotel and eat out for so many meals. Now in full disclosure, we spent some money at IKEA as noted above–but let’s be real–those purchases were happening wether we went on vacation or not.
- You can get some well deserved rest. So many times we go on vacation and feel like we have to constantly be going to take advantage of wherever we are and not miss out on anything before our vacation is over, but being home we were able to take a more leisurely and flexible pace. The results is I feel more rested headed back to work than if we had been in constant motion the entire time.
- You can explore where you live. I got to run on the Dunedin Causeway at Midnight for the 4th of July, see the Florida Aquarium on a Wednesday, and go to Altitude Trampoline park with my son during the day. These are adventures that I do not normally get to go on so they were great fun for us all! Our area has so much to see and do it was worth staying here and having fun. We had planned to go to Weekie Watchie and explore that area but it has rained every day and since we live close we decided to save that particular adventure for the future. I think of my friends in places like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, etc, and realize it is easy to take where you live for granted so this is a great way to explore where you live.
Thank you for those who have reached out wondering about where my blog had gone. As what my wife refers to as ‘the plague’ has gone through our house recently, it has taken quite a while to feel back to normal and get back to writing. I really appreciate the fact that people look forward to what I write.