"Staycation ... a portmanteau that combines "stay" and "vacation" and refers to a holiday that takes place either at or near home."
With gas well above $4 per gallon this summer, and with airlines raising prices and canceling flights because of high fuel costs, it's not too surprising to find a word like "staycation" gaining a toehold in the North American lexicon. Google now finds nearly 200,000 web pages that use the word -- most of them added within the last few months, if my casual browsing is any indicator.
But even back when fuel wasn't so pricey, some of my favorite vacations were spent within a 50 mile radius of home. It's easy to forget how many parks, museums, nature walks, boat rides, and all-around fun can be found close to where you live -- which makes a staycation a perfect opportunity to reconnect yourself to your home town.
So I'm curious: Is anyone out there planning a staycation this year? Where are you, and what do you plan on doing?
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Comments
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katakanadian Posted 11:25 am
01 Jul 2008
Here's my bike trip blog.
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Bart Anderson Posted 6:34 pm
01 Jul 2008
I became interested in "staycations" about 15 years ago when I went through a period of outdoor sports: kayaking, skiing, etc. I loved the activities, but I hated the travel and hassle of finding places to stay. A typical ski weekend might mean 6-8 hours of driving (each way) and two nights of crowded noisy accomodations.
I went on group kayak trips in Baja, San Juan Islands and BC. Fun, memorable, etc. but what a hassle. I realized that there were plenty of places to kayak near where I lived. Why go far away, when I hadn't even explored the places that were nearby and convenient?
Now I think of three separate categories of trip:
Destination within 30 minutes by car or bike. Easy, relaxing, don't have to plan or worry. About 90% of my trips are like this now.
Destination within 1-1/2 hours. Museums, family visits, occasional outdoor trips. Can return home to sleep. Ideal for weekend trips, so you can drive, enjoy the place for a day or two, return home.
Destination within 8 hours. Our yearly trip to Ashland, Oregon. We stay for about a week, so the % of time spent driving is reasonable.
Concepts
If you want to learn an outdoor sport or activity, it's much easier to learn it near home. You don't have to go to Costa Rica to learn about birdwatching. If you go to Costa Rica later, you will have gotten the basics down so you can enjoy the unique nature of the foreign location.
Reduce the ratio of Travel Time to Fun Time.
Plan trips with the philosophy of going to somewhere nice and staying put, as opposed to long-distance trips to multiple locations. Take day trips out from a central base. In my experience, kids and spouses tend to prefer this to the forced march approach.
If you go to a foreign country, you can expiate your GHG sins by staying in one place and really getting to know the country. I love full-time foreign language courses (hint: learn the grammar at home first).
Bart
Energy Bulletin
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amazingdrx Posted 9:15 pm
01 Jul 2008
Yep Bart, the daily 30 minutes away vacation is excellent. Biking to the trail and swimming after the workout. After an hour you are really on vacation, from your problems.
Need a velomobile to travel to the ski trail here in winter. With studded tires.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin
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wiscidea Posted 3:16 am
02 Jul 2008
So, I won't be traveling more than 500-1000 feet from my house. I'll be traveling by foot. And my primary tools will be my hands and a lopper. It's very peaceful out there.
I have my own project, but there are plenty of conservation organizations looking for help if anyone wants to get some fresh air and exercise.
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mihan Posted 4:01 am
02 Jul 2008
But I'm with wiscidea. There are always projects around my place I want to do. Maybe I'm just a homebody.
But if we don't travel anymore, how do we connect to the larger country, let alone the larger world? I feel like it's important to get out of our comfort zones; far too many Americans have never had the experience of being a racial/sexual/cultural/linguistic minority, and I think it's a good experience to have.
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paz Posted 1:05 pm
08 Jul 2008
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