I absolutely love to travel, see the world, and explore other cultures. But because of this, most of my vacations aren’t too relaxing, I love to get up early, get out, and explore! I have to admit that it can be pretty exhausting and not the traditional relaxing vacation at the beach. That being said, I’ve recently grown to appreciate the ‘staycation’. There is something to be said about just staying at home, taking a break from work, and getting your life together (adult style). Regardless of if your ideal vacation is laying on the beach or exploring a new city, we can all agree that a vacation means taking a break from everyday life and doing something that benefits you. During the workweek I feel like I’m drowning because I get home and all I want to do is climb into bed but there is so much that still needs to get done. And we can all agree that weekends are never long enough. This is where a staycation comes into play.

I’ve heard the rumor that Millenials are scared to take vacation days and, as much as it pains me to admit this, I fall into this category. This year, I found myself drowning in vacation days! I had so many that I stopped accumulating days and as actually losing vacation, the horror! Which is both good and bad, the good news is if anything super important or urgent came up then I could take time off work, the bad part is that I’m losing paid time off and working for free!

When we take vacations from work we feel like we have to utilize the time and go somewhere new. And while this is the most common approach, staycations are highly effective and in my opinion can cure any bad week and the ‘need-a-break’ syndrome.

The most important part of a staycation is getting what you need out of it. Whether it be relaxation and blocking yourself off from the world, or getting things done and accomplished, your staycation is yours and yours alone. So do exactly what you want to do!

These are some of my favorite things to do on a staycation:

Clean and Do Laundry

For me, this is an adventure all in itself. Every weekend I find excuse after excuse not to do laundry, mainly it’s because I just have better things to do on the weekend. But imagine actually having time to sit down for an hour, turn on an episode of Jersey Shore and just fold laundry with no other responsibilities. For me this sounds amazing, and you can put off doing laundry again until your next staycation.

Organize

For me this includes getting all that pesky financial paperwork in order, tackling the junk drawer, going through all the mail that has somehow taken over the kitchen counter.

Be a tourist in your hometown

I’ve lived in Dallas my entire life and still find different things to discover and things that I’ve never done. Sometimes new restaurants and museums pop up and other times a new neighborhood has perked up it’s urban charm. Wherever you live, new things are always out there you just have to find them, or Google them.

Take a break from Social Media

It’s so difficult in todays technology driven society to truly disconnect from the world. If you’re offline for even an hour there is so much you can miss. Take yourself away from the outside world and focus on you. I spend so much time on social media comparing myself to others. Now I’m a victim of this and I find myself lusting over other people’s account, wishing I was them. And while it’s good to see what other people are interested in, I feel like it takes away from my personal creativity. Because no one wants to see two of the same things so finding your own uniqueness is critical. So the main reason I take a break from social media is to remember my own sense of style and photography so that my page can stay as authentic to me as possible.