I’d sell staycations if I could

If I could sell staycations, I would.  They aren’t sellable at least in the travel industry.  There’s the underlying message that we must do something grand, great, or out of this world so everyone wishes they could do that too.

Get away – enjoy time away – go to the beach – go sailing – go traveling the world – get away from your life and enjoy life.

We shortchange ourselves when we run away from our lives every time we have time off from work.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a great beach vacation.  In fact, we have one planned for the spring, and I can’t wait to go.  I’m super excited about it – we take time away for a trip like that once every 3-4 years.

But when I take on the pressure of I need to get away to someplace grand, then I don’t take vacations and I work instead to save up my time for the “best getaway” vacation ever.  And then I miss out on spending time off at home, the place I love being too.

I rationalize that it’s okay to never take time off.  Or I hide my thoughts about wanting to have a staycation because “I could never admit I didn’t do something great with my vacation time.  People will think I wasted my paid time off.”

There’s a part of social media images I don’t particularly enjoy.  What’s that you ask?  It’s the underlying “I’ve got a perfect life, I took a grand vacation – notice me thingy going on.”  Sorry – it’s kinda sad and true.  Why do we do that?  Why do we let those feelings creep into our existence?

Okay, maybe my feelings have to do with that I felt sorta sorry for myself I don’t have much to show for my staycation.  You know, the kind of stuff to WOW readers into wishing they had that life too.

But then I thought more about my week off, and I frankly enjoyed it more than words can say.  It was exactly what I needed.  A no-pressure, no-frills, no-notice what I can do better than anyone kind of time away.  It was relaxing and refreshing in a no-toes in the sandy beach kinda way.

It is kinda blurry to think back on a week so full of relaxing moments.

I enjoyed one outing to a coffee shop.  Shared conversations with a friend over a cup of chai latte.  It was an “I’ve never tried one before first” for me.  Every vacation must have a try something new component, right?

Since I wasn’t at work, I adjusted as I watched 3 men work really hard while I (and Mr.) re-upholstered my sewing chair.

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I read 5 books, ate lots of fruits and veggies, and drank LOTS of water – yay me, it was the best alcohol-free vacation ever.

I took lots of moments to pause and watch the pets as they rested.

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I watched the birds along with Dessy.

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I dusted my collections – amazed myself when I timed it to see how long it really takes to dust my spoon collection.  All 124 spoons, were dusted individually in 20 minutes.  Only 20 fricken minutes…jeez, why do I put it off for so long, I’ll never know?!  Sigh…but when all the collections shine it makes me smile too.

I threw kisses to the moon as I thought about our kids from our empty nest.

I created a blanket enjoyed by all three pets, and a couple of cat toys I tossed out to gather the cat attention.  I lost track of time while having fun, and that’s a good thing.

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I daydreamed a lot –

I admired Mr. as he created eye appealing and delicious meals – I even paused to notice the steam rolling off the dishes as each meal was served.

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I curled up on the couch with Copper while we watched the TV show marathon (a few episodes in between sleeping) of Thriller.

I watched the Packers lose to the Rams – what a bummer, but I thought they did play well up until the end.

And I watched the glow of the sunset on my last day off.

I couldn’t have planned for a better staycation week.  On second thought folks, I don’t know if I could sell staycations, after all.  At least I wouldn’t want to sell mine to anyone, I wanna keep it.

But I hope I can sell you on the thought that it’s okay not to run from your life when you take time off from work.  A staycation is a perfect way to pause and notice how wonderful your everyday life’s moments are.

PS – Happy Monday, all!  Enjoy your week!