Top Tips for your 'staycation'!

Well it’s early 2021, it’s freezing, the telly’s full of holiday adverts, the inbox is being bombarded with special offers from Jet 2, Easyjet and Ryanair….and we’re not allowed to go anywhere….yet.

If you’re anything like us (and about half the rest of the UK population apparently) you might be thinking about a ‘staycation’ this year.

Now there’s a couple of different ways of doing the whole ‘staycation’ thing. One might be to stay in the UK and go and have a holiday somewhere other than where you live. For us that might be Scotland (if we’re allowed), Wales (if it’s open) even Cornwall (if it’s not already full).

The alternative might be the original, purists ‘staycation’ i.e. staying at home, but a lot of people will dismiss that straight away, because they think it’s not a real holiday. Well stop playing at it and make it one! We sat down the other evening and came up with our top tips to make your ‘staycation’ a holiday to remember.

Top Tip 1 – commit to it being a ‘holiday’ from the outset. Think of half a dozen (maybe more) things that you would usually want to escape from on a holiday, and leave them behind. Write them down and plan how you’re going to NOT do them for the duration of your holiday. It might be laundry, it might be answering emails, it might be watching the news, wearing tights, it might be getting up early. It doesn’t matter, just pick something that’s important to you to get a break from – and God knows we all need a break from something at the moment- and do it! On the flip side of that, try and think of a similar number of things you really want to do during that same holiday period, and plan how you’re going to do them.

Top Tip 2 – plan a ‘holiday’ routine. An element of this will be NOT doing the things you routinely do when you’re at home. Do something different! I have a bit of a routine if we’re away in Europe, of going out early doors and sourcing fresh bread or croissants. OK we may be holidaying just outside Liverpool, but you know what, we have some fantastic bakeries within reach, either walking, biking or driving even. Adjust accordingly! We tend to get into a holiday routine around mealtimes which is very different to ‘normal’ mealtimes at home. What’s to stop you having that lazy, alfresco lunch and a glass of wine. Relax! You’re on holiday! And why not dress for dinner? You would on holiday.

Top Tip 3 – give yourself a budget. You wouldn’t expect to go on holiday for nothing would you? We don’t have extravagant holidays, but we spend money on accommodation and getting there, and we plan to spend money while we’re there. Well if you’re being serious about your ‘staycation’, why wouldn’t you invest in it? Why wouldn’t you give yourselves some ‘spends’? Some of that money you might otherwise have spent on flights, a hotel, an Air BnB, you can free up to spend on creating the holiday ‘vibe’, making your time spent at home more memorable, more relaxing. We’ve always fancied sunbathing on one of those double sunbeds, but never got round to it. Well we will this year! If I don’t buy one for the Summer, I’ll buy the materials and make one. Likewise, we’ll never have a swimming pool, but we always have access to one on holiday, so I’m going to buy one! (.... we may have to use a bit of imagination and temper our expectations, but we’re going to have one hell of a paddling pool!) Now I know a lot of this might depend on our not very dependable weather, but don’t wait for it….plan for it. Look at a long range forecast and commit to a start date and duration that makes the most of it. If those balmy evenings on the hotel balcony aren’t going to be available, get yourself a garden table and chairs and a patio heater, and use your imagination (might be worth considering a big umbrella/parasol as well …..just in case)

Top Tip 4 – get away from it all. Actually do something which is different. We’re going to pack a suitcase and go and stay in the back bedroom. How could we ever say, at the end of the holiday “it’s good to be back in my own bed” if we didn’t? We don’t tend to watch the telly when we’re on holiday, so we’re going to spend our staycation evenings in a different room, doing the things we might usually do on a holiday, reading a book, listening to music, talking to each other even!

Top Tip 5 – appeal to your senses. It’s another way of recreating the holiday experience, but at home. One of our favourite holiday places is Carvajal, on the Costa del Sol, between Benalmadena and Fuengirola. We grab a couple of sunbeds on the beach outside Los Marinos Paco, one of the best chiringuitos you’ll find, and we listen and smell as the lunchtime service approaches. The barbecue gets lit, and the smell of fresh sardines, grilled ‘al espeto’ fills the air. Well I’ve got a barbecue, I can buy fresh sardines (if the truth be known the sardines in Spain are probably caught here anyway), and I can ask Alexa to “play some Spanish music”. Hey presto! With some imagination and maybe a cold San Miguel I could be there.

Now I appreciate not all these options are going to be available to everyone. The important thing is that in these difficult times, more than ever we need a break. A break from routine, a break from seeing the same things, hearing the same things, doing the same things. A ‘staycation’ may be the only thing available to many of us this year, but that doesn’t have to mean just staying home. We’ve all had enough of that. Use your imagination and make it a REAL holiday. You’ll know you’ve got it right if you come home with a bag full of laundry!