How to Staycation at Home

Hands up, who could really use a holiday right now? Unfortunately, with the way things are going, it will be a long, long time before you go on an actual holiday (like sit on the plane kind of holiday, or even take drive to cuti-cuti Malaysia!).

Your next best thing to do? Have a staycation.

Yes, yes, we know a staycation would usually mean going away to a hotel or resort nearby your home for the weekend but COVID-19 has made that impossible. Doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to have a break like you should while on holiday. With your home also becoming your workplace, it can get really hard to separate the two. You’d probably notice that you are working even longer than you used to in an actual office.

Yet, it is important to have a “holiday”. Especially now where it can be really stressful and to navigate the world. Cooped up, all-day video calls, lack of fresh air and lack of company – all of these can really get to someone. Hence why you need to log off and turn your home into your own private hotel where you can enjoy all the fun activities you normally would on a vacation.

Here are some tips how:

#1 Take actual leave from work
It might sound absurd; you’re already working from home so why take leave? Until you actually tell your boss and colleagues that you’re on leave, you’d be most likely working even if you decide to take it easy at home that day. You wouldn’t be replying emails or working on a report while on holiday, would you? So do that same when you’re on your home staycation. Take a few days off, put up your out-of-office email reply, turn off notifications and actually not think of or do any work.

#2 Leave the chores to another day
You’re probably tempted to give the kitchen a good scrub on your day off since you’re using it more often now. Don’t. Drop the kitchen cloth, hide the vacuum cleaner, lock up the mop. Remember, the whole point of your staycation – even if you’re doing it at home – is to have a mock holiday, and this means you don’t do your usual cleaning, wiping and organising. But if you really can’t stand the mess, hire help to do everything a day before you go on break so you can properly enjoy your new, clean staycation home.

#3 Stock up
Do a grocery run or get it delivered – your favourite ice cream, snacks and OK, some healthy stuff too because you don’t want to get sick during your holiday. Stock up the fridge and treat yourself to all these goodies during your break (you can think about working out when it’s over).

#4 Schedule? What schedule?
The whole point of a vacation (or in this case, staycation) is to relax and do nothing at all. So turn off your alarm, sleep in and when you get up, take it leisurely. Want to spend an hour reading – sure. Maybe two hours catching up on your Netflix – why not? The whole point is to do whatever you want, whenever you want.

#5 Do something fun
Don’t let your staycation go to waste either just by watching TV (that’s what the weekend for is!). This is the perfect time for you to do the things you’ve always wanted to. Maybe sign up for a virtual tour of a museum you’ve never been to before. Load up that cooking or baking video so it feels like a cooking class. Wish you were at the beach? Make one at home! Pick a sunny day and serve up a special mocktail, put on your favourite music and just relax on a makeshift lounge chair. Or you can go all out and buy yourself an inflatable pool to chill!

Photo by Drew Coffman on Unsplash