How To Maximise Your Staycation

It’s late. You’re in bed. And you find yourself skimming through the ever-lengthening Instagram feed, packed full of (everyone else’s) holiday adventures.

You are left with three options:

1. Continue, as if entranced, to scroll. The mindless act of the occasional double tap becomes second nature, whilst you wallow in a helpless world of non-vacation self-pity. This option involves binge eating.

2. Swiftly and effectively remove the phone from your presence and shun all those who wish to inform you of their glamorous gallivanting across different continents or on some island in the middle of nowhere with miraculous internet connection. From there, go out on “adventures” yourself. Lap up the sunshine. Return to your home exhausted. This option, regrettably, involves leaving the house.

3 The final, and some might deem idealistic, option, is to take a so-called “staycation”. It’s a wonderful experience in which you feel the pleasures of a vacation from the comforts of your own bed and couch; a terrific balance between actually expending energy on local fun-times and couchpotating for a few weeks.

A conventional holiday – one fraught with countless opportunities to rejuvenate a particularly stale Instagram – can bring the exact opposite of relaxation. Instead, you battle father time on a journey to see and experience it all. Perhaps, for a change, those seeking to refresh after a grueling semester should go on a vacation that doesn’t require you to leave the house?

This option starts with a trip to the local grocer. Buy up fun ingredients for different meals that you have been meaning to attempt. It may not be pizza in the famous and far off Piazza but the holiday feels start with good and different food. Forget those staple meals that haunt day-to-day life.

Next make lists of things you want to do. An itinerary if you will. Not chores necessarily, but things that will enrich your days. On holidays away from home we inevitably learn new things and see the world through a different lens.

One doesn’t need an expensive airfare to be enlightened. Your list could involve the occasional trip to the garden, a book, or the latest coveted drama series. Invite people over if you need to some company. Watch a doco; I guarantee you they filmed that scenery on cameras better than your smart phone. Why not enjoy some epic footage?

Slowly but surely, tick things off your list. Get it all done. There is nothing more satisfying than a bunch of ticked boxes. Above all else, don’t be dumb. Don’t stress out trying to do so much. It’s okay. You’ll be fine without a stream of new photos. A lil’ “staycation”, for lack of a real word, could be just what you need.

Congratulations to Curtis for winning this writing challenge, answering: Maximise Your Staycation. Curtis wins a $50 Westfield gift card for his submission. For your chance to win, check out our latest writing challenges in our Comps section. Also, be sure to follow this guide on how to win the writing challenge!