Staycation
2020 is just me erasing plans from my planner. My planner is color-coordinated. I have erasable pens. I am 12 but also very organized about my schedule. Social events and vacation? It’s pink. And on every month there is faded pink where once a plan was. * July was no exception. We tried to come up with a safe, responsible way to travel for my MIL’s 70th birthday but there was a whole quarantine order, I don’t know about you but I’m not really about being in the news as the person who traveled home and infected 18 members of my family.*
Regardless, it’s incredibly critical to give yourself a break from the whole layer of underlying stress in addition to whatever you have going on right now so here are some ideas for a staycation - even if you’re in Austin (Or Phx or Anywhere in the South) and it’s hot af.
Hot Tip: The key to a great staycation is to plan activities like you would if you were literally anywhere else. Also, importantly, all but one of these plans were IRL. Do you have virtual-whatever fatigue? I love talking more with my family and friends but a weekend in front of a computer does not a vacation make.
All of these ideas are no or low-cost (except for the ridiculous amount of delivery) but still, adventure and summer are out there!
1) Early Morning Outdoor Time: Hiking and Biking
There are a lot of state parks in the area but they can be a bit of a drive - and when you’re trying to beat both the oppressive heat and low-occupancy park closures, we need something closer. Travis County parks were the perfect fit. We were able to get in a full 5+ mile hike even on a 100-degree day. The end was a literal brutal but the vistas were stunning and it was something we would have done on a normal trip. The next day, we got up early and went for a bike ride. It’s a little difficult right now on neighborhood trails to find one that’s not crowded but we went ahead and got lost in the neighborhood.
2) Resort Time
When I close my eyes and think of a resort vacation, I think of two things: A pool and pool drinks. We don’t own a built-in pool so we accepted the summer of 2020 for what it is and bought a Big-Ass Inflatable Pool. #Noregrets. We put out our colorful hammock and made a batch of summer Pimm’s Cup punch which we drank out of floating flamingo cups. Big sun hat, sunnies and Blammo! Resort time! Play the global music.
3) Painting Class
Another vacation and/or fun-time activity we would normally do is a painting class! We’ve taken a solid dozen of those painting and wine classes and I’ve even done a waterpainting class in France on a wine cruise. Anyways, there’s tons of painting classes online but also nice to support artists. I’m in love with EttaVee’s (@ettavee) prints and it was awesome learning new techniques. (Check out her classes here). We set up a tarp, mirrored the class to the TV and drank some champagne! Va.cat.ion. The downside? Umm. At some point in a live class, someone would have come save my painting. Ah well.
4) Wine Tasting
Speaking of that wine cruise, we also thought it’d be fun to do a blind wine tasting. Heck, we even took notes and compared the notes of our favs. “Wow, Selfs. A lot of these relate to alcohol.” First of all, there’s no judgment in quarantine. Second of all, it’s vacation. Calm down. *Slurps insane, high-calories pina colada *
5) Fancy/Fun Meals
When I think vacation, I also think “LET’S EAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!”^^^. For real though, I’ve been doing Noom since early June and reading a lot of wellness and nutrition books because, let’s be real, the whole stress eat/drink shenans of early-Pandemic times has been unkind to the whole waistline. But part of taking a break, an actual break, is letting up a bit. Here’s some of our vacation food that, much like a pina colada, I would never eat during a normal time because…you know…I like my clothes. And sanity.
Chuy’s Nacho Cart and Frozen Margaritas - Yo. Y’all know about Chuy’s Happy Hour right? They have a Nacho Cart and you just hang out in the bar room and you can help yourself to some make-your-own-Nachos. Well, sharing food with “Friends, you don’t know yet” is kind of over but the Nacho Cart? For twenty American dollars, it’s all yours to take home, baby! It was delicious. I have no regrets.>
Hat Creek Chicken Flingers and Loaded Tator Tots - Umm. I’ve been sleeping on Hat Creek Burgers apparently. My fav treat at Disney World, well, lbh, one of the 27 treat things I have at WDW, is chicken fingers. I do not eat them anywhere else. However, Hat Creek apparently has GF Chicken tenders. And loaded Tator Tots. Which are also Selfie-friendly. So Hellllllll yeah. And there was ranch. And Buffalo sauce.
BLT - Man, I haven’t had a BLT in a billion years. I don’t really eat mayonnaise at a normal time but this is a mother-flipping summer classic and it was amazing. Plus, Mr. Selfie lightened up with thick-cut turkey bacon and light mayo. Amazing summer vacation food.
Grilled Pizza - Okay, this one’s not really vacation food. This is a pretty standard weekend staple but especially if you like a super crispy crust or you like a crispy crust but you eat weird crusts like cauliflower pizza, y’all, grilled your pizza is the WAY. To. GO. 10/10 recommend.
Chilaquiles - This is like special weekend food or visiting the fam in Mexico food. Either way, it tends to be a special day when we have chilaquiles and Mr. Selfie made them from scratch. Amazing, delicious Sunday meal to end our staycation.
6) Karaoke
Or whatever late night activity you love on vacation. We love karaoke which you can do just yelling at youtube. We own a karaoke machine because that’s how we live our lives. Unfortunately, for Mr. Selfs, it was a combo of whatever he was singing + the Hamilton soundtrack because I am a monster.
7) Board Games
Okay, board games with just two people doesn’t have quite the appeal of destroying your entire family at Charades or whatever*** but it was still one of the things we would have been doing that weekend. And so we did a champion round of Uno. And I have zero thoughts and feelings about who won. Right, Maury?^^
8) Virtual Museum Tour
And finally, we did do ONE virtual thing and toured the Van Gogh museum on YouTube. I mean it certainly wasn’t like…being at a museum but it was a cool way of seeing the exhibits. Last year when we were in Amsterdam, the tickets sold out when we were the next in line so it was fun looking at the art from that vantage point.
I hate spending PTO on staying at home but at this point, I’m excessive grateful for having PTO/a job and also, throwing the phone in the drawer and respecting the time as a true vacation made such a huge difference. Actively working to put even a little bit of fun back in our lives makes such a difference when thinking about - Hey! I’m excited to wake up in the morning - and that’s…kind of what it’s all about, right?
So, how about you? Have you gotten out to safely take a break away from home? Staycationing? Some combo of the two?