Sometimes you don't have to go far to get away from it all.
When people think of taking a vacation, they typically look for a destination that's somewhere other than where they currently live. While this is good for the mind and body--to get away from the normal day in and day out routines you've come to expect--it's sometimes not necessary. I know it sounds strange for my first 'official' travel blog post to be about staying local, but that's exactly what I'm going to do. Sometimes, you don't have to go far to travel big or be able to relax. Sometimes, all you have to do is hop in the car and just go.
Most people overlook taking a "Staycation" as a viable option when they want to get away from it all, but I'm here to tell you that if done right, a Staycation can rival any far away destination that you can conjure up. Don't believe me? Well, keep reading and you'll see that it's not only possible, but beneficial.
"It's not really a vacation if you don't leave."
“According to American Express, the average vacation expense per person in the United States is $1,145, or $4,580 for a family of four.”
Typically, when people look to vacation, they don't see their backyard as a viable option. This can be for a variety of reasons, but justifiably, staying within the confines of your own neighborhood can cause the same stresses that we face on a daily basis to remain. Obviously I don't mean 'backyard' and 'neighborhood' in a literal sense here, but you get the idea. Justifiably, staycations can be hard to be seen as true vacations, but as with most things, proper planning can turn any staycation into a vacation that you'll remember for years to come. Staying local can provide you with some great benefits compared to going long distances. Traveling far away from home--especially for a short period of time (think less than a week)--can be cost prohibitive, difficult to plan, and can even be bad for your health. So, while going off to a far away place can help with the immediate stresses and strains of day-to-day life, if done right, staying local can bring you the same amount of stress relief you would get by traveling long distances.
Benefits of Staying Local
By now you're probably wondering how you can benefit from staying local when staying local, frankly, sucks. Firstly, let's clear something up. When I say 'Stay Local', I'm not implying staying at your house and throwing rocks. Quite the contrary actually. The point I'm trying to make is to not overlook what's right within your own city or state just because it's an area that you're familiar with. This brings be to my first benefit of Staying Local: first hand knowledge.
Ybor City State Museum. Ybor City, FL
Be a Tourist
I'm sure by now you've seen a commercial or two on TV focusing on getting you to not be a tourist. Since I'm not trying to sell you anything, I'm going to tell you the exact opposite. Be a tourist. Especially if it's in your own city. Let me explain. When people travel to an unfamiliar area, some experience a certain degree of anxiety that comes with being in an unknown area. Sometimes it manifests as excitement and wonder while other times it can present itself as a debilitating anxiety. If you stay in an area that's familiar, you can bypass the jitters and go straight to making memories. I know it sounds like useless advice to say to be a tourist in a place you already know, but think about this: people typically go to where you live to vacation. Remember: somewhere else is always somewhere else to somebody else.
By being staying local, you have a distinct advantage over the typical tourist. You know when the peak seasons are. You know when places are open. You know what areas to avoid. And if you live in Florida, you'll know when bad weather is coming. 3 o'clock if your curious. By being a tourist, you'll allow yourself to see the parts of your area that you may have not known existed. See museums that you typically pass right by and learn the history of what formed your town/city/state. Sure, you can do this without having to take a staycation, but that's not the point. By doing it as a tourist, you can see things from an outsiders point of view. Take the audio tours. Listen to the docents. All those things that you as a local think you know about your town, but never really took the time to understand. By allowing yourself to not think like a local and see your town from an outsiders point of view, you can gain a new appreciation for where you live. And not only that, you'll do it durning non-peak season, and (hopefully) stress free.
Kona International Airport. Kona, HI.
Long Distances are For the birds
Another distinct advantage over long distance travel is the time and resources needed in order to just to get where you want to go. Distance and time are two things that a lot of people overlook when try to plan a vacation that involves going halfway around the world or even closer. Here's an example. Say you finally got that week long vacation approved from work. That's 40 hours of sweet relaxation that you've earned by putting in a MUCH higher amount of input. If you were to plan a Monday - Friday vacation (as most people do), you have to account for the travel time. So let's start with a baseline. A week long vacation is 120 hours. Factor in recommended sleeping time, and you lose 40 hours, leaving you with 80 hours to do whatever you want. That's plenty of time, right? Well... yes, and no.
According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)--you know, the folks in the blue shirts at the airport that people love to hate--it is recommended that you arrive no less than 2 hours before any domestic flight and no less than 3 hours for international flights. So by doing simple math, you'll need to allot 4 hours of time just waiting around at the airport before you even go anywhere if you fly domestic. 6 if you're international. Before you even leave, you're down from 120 hours of vacation to somewhere between 74 and 76 hours. Factor in an average of about 3 hours domestic flight time or 7 hours international flight time and you're down to 68 hours for domestic flights or 69 hours for international. What that equates to is your 5 day vacation being truncated down by almost an entire day, just in travel. See? Science.
Mt. Charleston. Lee Canyon, NV
Money Over Everything
Money Over Everything is a terrible song. Seriously, don't listen to it. And unless you're extremely wealthy or willing to get into copious amounts of debt for a vacation, money will always be a determining factor when deciding where, when, and how you travel. There's no shame in not being able to take a vacation that is the equivalent to a downpayment on a house. Vacationing isn't about outdoing someone else, it's about making sure you get a chance to "get away from it all" without brining on more stress in the process. Since resources are a sticking point for most of us, why not maximize your budget by cutting out a huge chunk of the expenditure process? By staying local you can be provided the opportunity to experience things you wouldn't get to experience if you had to shell out an extra thousand or so dollars in just travel costs. In a 2015 report published by Expedia, the average domestic airfare is somewhere around $496. $496! If you want to travel internationally, that fare jumps to $1,368 on average. Multiply those numbers by however many people are traveling with you and you can see that your budget shrinks rather quickly.
Let’s do some simple math again (I know, I know). Let’s say that you’re starting with a modest budget for vacation, for the sake of this exercise, let’s say $2,500. This immediately rules out international travel unless you snag a sweet deal on airfare or are willing to sleep in a Hostel. Or perhaps a bus station. Any way you slice it, $2, 500 is not a small amount of money by any stretch of the imagination when you consider the median household income in the United States is $53,482. Since so many things can go into how much you’d pay in taxes and subsequently take home, let’s just assume that the $53,482 is your take home pay. Divide that number evenly by 26 (the number of paychecks received on bi-weekly pay) and you take home $2,057 per paycheck. Modestly saving money for your vacation—let’s say $500 per check—it’ll take about two and a half months to save for your vacation. That’s a lot of work. If you were to fly somewhere for your week-notweek vacation, if you’re a family of 3, you’ve already burned through $1,488 just in travel fees. That leaves $1,012 for the remainder of your vacation which can include hotel stay, car, food, entertainment, etc. Which, if you use the average prices for all of those categories, would put you well over the remaining amount in your budget.
Now, on the other hand, if you decided to stay local, with the same budget, you could live the life of upgrades. The average price of a hotel room is currently $137 per night. While that’s not always a bad deal, you’re typically not going to get many frills for that price. Sure, it’ll be nice, but it won’t be extra nice. Staying locally will allow you to you spend more for the nicer hotel, or eat at the swanky restaurant, or rent the wave-runners. Basically, if you cut out the biggest expenditure by opting to stay local , you’ll still be able to enjoy yourself and even might get to enjoy things you might not get to experience on a regular vacation.
Valley of Fire State Park. Las Vegas, NV
Bottom Line
By now, I’ve given you a lot of information that’s, well, just information. But let’s be clear on something: I’m by no means telling you to NOT travel. That actually goes against everything I believe in. What I’m trying to tell you is that if you weigh your options, staying locally may bring you just as much of that much needed ‘R&R’ as you can get from traveling long distances. The bottom line is this: Staycations can be--and are--just as fun as typical Vacations. Enjoy where you go and don’t worry about the conventional norms of travel. Think outside the box, go wherever you want, and enjoy it. Just don’t overlook what’s in your backyard just because you’ve seen it before.
That’s it for now, friends. Keep exploring!