Here come staycations it is a holiday while at home. It is a vacation where either you make your home a vacation friendly place or you become a tourist in your city. Some people put a tent in their garden and stay for a night. Do a day trip to your city and explore the heart of your city. If you are a foodie why not host a cooking night and showcase you and your friend’s recipes. The most common one though go for a movie marathon. But my favorite is checking into a hotel. After no business for four months, the hotel industry is geared to rise and the first idea was Staycation. The second push by the government was to encourage local tourism which is set to open in October. I will talk about this in my next blog. Let’s now explore staycations.
A holiday spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions – Staycation.
In this COVID times, people are getting restless to get out of the house. The governments have relaxed the deadline and have relaxed the curfews. However, interstate travel is still under clouds. The process to get out of one state to another comes with a lot of formalities. The bigger problem is that even when you have all the documentation the state border police creates problems or have more forms to fill. This dampens the spirit to travel and you get more frustrated. Another big issue is a No Covid-19 certificate is a must. This test costs you anywhere between INR 2500-5000, so if you are a family of four you have already spent INR 10,000-20,000. But not any more city hotels are also doing their part and becoming part of the new wave.
For a trip to happen we start making plans 3-6 months earlier. We look for hotel properties, flights, visas, and whatnot. But for a staycation to happen you just get up and go. You can simply have a holiday in your hometown. Get checked-in into a hotel and relax as you do on a vacation abroad. This also is interesting since there is no packing, no rushing to the airport, traffic, and no long queue. Just pick a hotel and go with the flow no timelines whatsoever. If you are living in a metro city just drive to the hotel and maybe choose a resort just outside the city. It becomes very cost-effective since there are no airline tickets involved. Chandigarh has Kasauli, Solan, and Shimla to go for a weekend staycation.
No airline ticket, no visas, or any other travel expenses. You can even take your car and a save lot of money which you would have spent on taxies. The best staycation is at the weekend. Check-in Saturday afternoon and the hotel are now giving late check-outs at 4:00 PM. Some hotels are offering discounts on Spa some offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The hotel is also offering a discount on Sunday Brunches which is the reason for late checkouts. Not only that even the rooms get upgraded. If you are going with the family the hotel let you use the pool. They also let you use the gym and almost all the activities at the hotel which becomes part of the hotel booking.
Staycations are also good for a little bit of me-time. You can be lazy as much as you like, watch TV all day long and do all activities which you were missing. Staycations work as detox too. Read a book, just go for a walk, or even explore your city. I’m sure living in the same place for years you always miss some places which are part of the city but you just could not go, go there now. The staycations can be therapeutic too just get out of the house and be stress-free from the daily mundane routine. I would recommend all entrepreneurs to utilize the staycation for building up of ideas. If you are working on a new venture staycation can give you that peace of mind and you can make better plans.
I who love to have drinks would go with my buddies and enjoy. It is safe too since you are not going to drink and drive. Do share your staycation ideas in the comment section.
Eccentric Blogger, Traveler and Consultant.
