3 Free Summer Staycation Ideas for Young Families
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A summer staycation might be the perfect option for your family. The annual summer vacation is a treasured family tradition that ensures family fun and relaxation. These days, the cost of a family get-away can seem astronomical due to the expense of vacation entertainment and accommodations.
However, you can avoid the cost and fuss of travel and lodging by making the most of the home you have created for your family. By prepping your home, you can create a fun, vacation-like atmosphere that’s relaxing for you and your family.
Staycations also allow you to vacation with your pets in a place that’s familiar and comforting for them. This reduces stress on your furry friends and the entire family.
Try these steps when planning for your next staycation:
Home Summer Staycation
- Clean and organize your living space. A great deal of the enjoyment from staying in a hotel or resort is the clean, comfortable atmosphere surrounding you.
- Clean your house for tidiness and sanitation. Knowing you’re in an ideal environment will free your mind of worries that plague you during regular days at home.
- Completely catch up on your laundry. After all, even on vacation outside your home, you would need clean laundry for the week. The goal of having clean laundry is to match the atmosphere and comfort level that you would experience at a place away from home.
- If you prefer not to clean your home yourself, search the numerous websites that give the customer coupons or discounts on cleaning services. Websites such as Groupon and LivingSocial offer such coupons for most cities in the United States.
Local Summer Staycation
- Plan activities to do in your home or surrounding area. Staying at home the entire week of vacation is impractical and can cause friction after a few days. A staycation should still be active. Survey and utilize your surroundings to plan fun activities for the whole family.
- Do some research in the weeks beforehand and have a game plan in place.
- Look into low-cost or free local attractions to visit during the day. Depending on your family’s interests, these may include a museum, butterfly garden, aquarium, or a picnic at the local park. Many local education-related venues allow kids in for free.
Minimalist Staycation
- Not every activity has to be outside of the home. Plan activities that your children enjoy doing, such as arts and crafts. If your children are older, play sports or set up a slip and slide in the backyard.
- Turn off the electronics. By creating a relaxing atmosphere, it’s essential to disconnect from everyday life.
- Turn off your cell phone and shut down your computer. Make arrangements with work beforehand and communicate that you’ll be out of touch for the entire duration of your vacation.
- On your work email account, you can set an automatic response to reply to senders to let them know that you’re out of the office. This way, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that you will handle your responsibilities at work.
Having a staycation is a positive, cost-effective way to take a break from your everyday life. Taking a short break from life’s responsibilities will allow you to become inspired to do better in other aspects of your daily life.
Your mind, body, and soul deserve a break. Even if an extravagant vacation is not financially viable at the moment, with a bit of creativity and some extra effort in planning, you and your family can experience a relaxing and rejuvenating vacation – right in your own home.
