How to make a staycation feel like you’re actually on holiday
With foreign travel looking unlikely this summer, here’s how you can create those holiday vibes at home.
It’s 3:30 and you wake with butterflies in your stomach to the sound of your alarm clock. There’s only one reason you could possibly feel happy to be awake at this time: you’re going to the airport.
You’ve got your airport outfit laid out; completely inappropriate for UK temperatures at 3am, but not for where you’re going, so you don’t mind shivering in it for the next couple of hours. Your bag is packed with magazines and snacks for the flight and you’ve made a new playlist (probably called ‘flight’ or ‘vacay’ — am I right?). And once you’re in that taxi, you’re invincible. Nothing can reach you for the next two weeks.
But thanks to COVID-19, foreign travel from the UK is out of the question for at least the first half of the summer and so, many of us now are racing to book a staycation.
If like me, you don’t feel like you’ve been on holiday unless you’ve actually left the country, read on.
From packing nice snacks to buying new holiday outfits, the trick is to do things which are out of the ordinary to reinforce that feeling of going away on holiday.
Buy some new holiday clothes 👗 🕶
One great thing about being in a foreign place where nobody knows you (and the climate allows) is that you can experiment with some new looks.
Whether you want to wear a little white sundress which shows off your tan, or a pineapple shirt and trilby hat, the clothes you wear on holiday form part of the memories and define your vacation alter ego.
From packing nice snacks to buying new holiday outfits, the trick is to do things which are out of the ordinary to reinforce that feeling of going away on holiday.
Just because you’re on holiday in the UK, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy yourself some new outfits specially for the occasion. You’re still getting away, and it’s nice to look forward to wearing some new clothes. The same goes for any other rituals you have to prepare for you holiday: getting your nails done, tan, eyebrows, buying some holiday reads, etc.
Non-essential retail is open from 12 April in England.
The journey is part of the holiday 🚎
I never thought I’d miss having an air hostess serving me unidentified meat on a tray table or hearing the roaring sound of jet engines and the air-con whooshing through the cabin. From the taxi to the airport, to smothering yourself in duty free perfume samples and flying through the clouds, the journey is very much part of the holiday. The same goes for your staycation.
Pack a picnic 🧺
It’s likely you’ll be driving to your holiday destination this year, so why not plan to stop somewhere idyllic along the way to have a picnic? Buy the nice sandwich bread and pack little goodies you wouldn’t normally eat. It will take you back to your childhood when you knew you were on holiday because your mum bought the fancy crisps.
Make a holiday playlist 🎵
Avoid playing anything on the speaker in the car that you listen to everyday on your commute to work. Avoid listening to the news. You don’t need to know what’s happening outside of your holiday bubble. Instead, get a new holiday playlist on. This helps you to feel that sense of escaping the ordinary.
Think like a tourist 📸
It’s hard to feel like you’re on holiday when there’s no language barrier with your waitress and you aren’t paying in foreign currency.
Try to look at your holiday destination through the eyes of a foreign tourist. The UK attracts millions of visitors every year and they all come to marvel at the culture (namely, cream teas and the Queen) and our quaint English towns.
Plan some sightseeing 🏛
You may be in the same country but you are in another place, so go and explore it. Get your camera and lose yourself in photographing an idyllic town or some beautiful landscapes. Do some research before you go and see if there are any museums or sites of interest to visit. We’re all guilty of taking what’s on our doorsteps for granted. So use lockdown as an opportunity to travel in your home country.
We’re all guilty of taking what’s on our doorsteps for granted. So use lockdown as an opportunity to travel in your home country.
Wherever you go on your staycation this year, make sure you switch off, enjoy what’s in front of you and come home feeling recharged. After all, that’s what holidays are about.
Are you used to going abroad on holiday and have booked a staycation this summer? Comment below.
