How to Have a Staycation in the Age of COVID

The idea of going on vacation can be hard to muster when you already have the lackadaisical lifestyle of staying at home all day. Personally, this summer was the first summer in many years that I didn’t work my usual camp counselor job, so the whole summer already kind of felt like a vacation, minus the fact that I was basically trapped in my house.

But my parents really did need a vacation by the time the heat of the summer set in. Even though they were at home with me, they were at home working. Most days, my parents actually worked longer and harder than they did pre-pandemic because of their nonexistent commutes and the lack of distraction in a talkative workplace. They needed time off to relax, just like any usual summer.

In the age of COVID-19, however, there are few ways to safely go on vacation. We considered a couple of fairly low-risk options, such as renting a beach house and making it our quarantine bubble for the week, but we settled on staying home and forging our own staycation.

The key to having a successful staycation is to plan out things to do every day and treat it like a typical vacation––just one where at the end of the day you sleep in your own bed, not a hotel. Usually, on a normal vacation, my family plans out each day either the night before or the morning of, so we did essentially the same thing for our staycation.

Before my parents’ week off from work even started, I gathered ideas for local fun vacation-like activities. Although everything we did had to be physically-distant from others, I was still able to think of fun things to do.

Here are some things that we ended up doing: we went mini-golfing, drove into Boston and ate cannolis in the North End, made beignets, went to the beach, went flower picking, had a movie day at home, and of course, no vacation would be complete if we didn’t go out for ice cream.

We made sure to do at least one fun activity every day. Most days, we enjoyed the whole family having free time to do whatever we wanted. We are also very fortunate to have a beautiful backyard with a pool acting as our own little slice of paradise.

With all the fun activities we did and our hotel-like pool area outside, our staycation really did feel like a vacation. The experience definitely served as a good reminder that you can make the best out of any situation. You can still have a fulfilling and relaxing vacation during a global pandemic. Honestly, the staycation was so nice that I wouldn’t be surprised if we did it again, even after COVID-19 is long gone.

Next time your family needs a vacation, whether or not we’re still in the age of COVID, consider planning a staycation from the comfort of your own home/bubble.

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