I recently found myself with handful of days in which I had no obligations – no work, no travels, no obligations. I knew that sitting at home would get dull pretty quickly, so I made a list of all the things I’d heard or thought about doing in my new city (Washington, D.C.), but always assumed I couldn’t find time for:
- Visiting free tiny museums with limited hours
- Taking an off-the-beaten path guided tour
- Waiting in a long line for a popular restaurant
- Completing a (free) screening for TSA Pre-Check
- Eating through all the free food coupons that come my way
I can now breeze through airport security, I’m way more knowledgeable about Deaf education in the United States (thanks Gallaudet University Museum), and I have greater certainty that I’ll never be a real foodie (a restaurant may be famous, but I’m still a picky vegetarian).
I realized I don’t actually have to miss out on all these weekday wonders; I can take advantage of my own city with a staycation.
These are five things to consider to make the best of scheduled time off spent in your own town:
1. Ask around for advice.
Collecting ideas from friends or family about what to do and where to go is always a good idea, but it’s even more helpful when you can leverage your network that lives within that own city. Find out what places are beloved by own your neighbors.
2. Plan as much as is needed, and no more.
On the one hand, staycations should involve minimal scheduling and stress. That said, some activities require that you book months in advance, so it can pay to be organized.
3. Don’t do the things that you can easily save for the weekend.
Treat your staycation time as a special chance to do things you wouldn’t normally do. Otherwise, your “home spa treatment” day could morph into something inane like scrubbing the bathtub or clipping your fingernails.
4. Pretend you’re off the grid.
If you’re going to truly refresh, you won’t want to get sucked into work. Turn off notifications from your work email and apps, avoid the route you usually take to work, and plan your staycation dates around any must-attend after hours work activities.
5. Act like a tourist. Or don’t.
Where I live, there are plenty of tourist sites to be seen, and I feel it would be a shame not to take advantage of them. I also didn’t have any plans to stay somewhere other than my home. But your interests, budget, and location might dictate another plan. You can stay at home, book a stay in a hotel like an out-of-towner, or live out an alternate life in an Airbnb on the other side of town. You might want to spend a day at a coffee shop working on a passion project rather than doing something active. Either way, make the most of your free time!
Have you staycationed where you live? Was it worth staying in your own town to get a new perspective? Or do you prefer to see somewhere new every chance you get? Share your thoughts!
Kayla O'Neill 
You write much older than you are.