While restrictions in some countries start to lift, some of us are still stuck with stay-at-home orders. Understandably, 2021 hasn’t been a great year to vacation so far.
If you’ve had to postpone any vacation plans due to cancelled flights, shuttered locations, or simply out of concern for your own health and safety, we have some ideas for you!
Continue reading below for some fun and safe “staycation” ideas and ways you can add some excitement to this year’s summer holiday.
What is a Staycation?
If you’ve never heard the term staycation before, all you need to know is it’s a combination of the word stay and vacation. Like the two words suggest, instead of traveling somewhere far and exotic during your leisure time off, you are staying close to home while still enjoying leisure activities!
Of course, when you’re on staycation, not only do you save on the costs and time spent traveling, you are also avoiding the stresses related to traveling, like jet lag, packing, adjusting to an unfamiliar place, and unexpected delays or circumstances. With travel restrictions still present, you’re also avoiding mandatory quarantine periods.
Staycations also benefit local economies, which are probably suffering during these times of numerous shutdowns. Believe it or not, during the 2008 economic downturn, the tourism bureaus of many U.S. cities started promoting staycations for local residents to replace the tourism dollars lost from outside visitors.
Staycation Idea 1 – Visit Your Local Tourist Attractions
When was the last time you played tourist in your own city? When we’re working and living in a city, oftentimes we don’t make time to visit our local attractions because we can always put it off to ‘later’.
What better time to do it than now? With most exotic destinations out of the equation, it’s now or never for exploring your local attractions. You might even discover a hidden gem or two!
Staycation Idea 2 – Take Virtual Tours
Being stuck inside doesn’t mean you can’t explore exciting, exotic, and new places. Thanks to today’s technology, you can take a virtual vacation or exploration trip with basic apps like Google Maps in Streetview!
Some other virtual tour ideas include famous museums around the world , which have teamed up with Google to bring their art and experiences straight into your home. If you’re into UNESCO Heritage sites, you can now visit them virtually as well without setting foot out your door! For those preferring a literal out-of-this-world experience, you can tour the surface of Mars with data provided by NASA.
StartMeTip: Use a StartMeStick for all your online activities to give yourself a fast and private online experience! The StartMeStick can bring an old computer back from the dead so everyone in the house can explore at the same time.
Staycation Idea 3 – De-clutter and Clean Up
Take a break from your online video conference calls and emails to clean up your digital life in your downtime. You can use a StartMeStick to bring an old computer back from the dead so they run like new again.
Haven’t run a virus scan in a while? Run your FixMeStick so you can be confident your computer is clean and secure for all your upcoming online fun.
Think clutter is slowing your computers down? Try System Mechanic. System Mechanic®’s one-click software performs maintenance on your PC to keep it stable and clutter-free. It’s an easy way to stop frustrating errors, crashes, and freezes by clearing junk from your PC to make it work noticeably better.
Staycation Idea 4 – Host or Go to a Movie Night
Even though most theaters are closed down, this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy watching a few great movies this summer. If you have a large TV screen or a projector, you can try hosting your very own movie night with family and friends. All you need is some good food and drinks to have your very own movie-night experience.
Did you know the StartMeStick is compatible with all your favourite video streaming services, like Netflix? Simply start the StartMeStick and load Netflix to get your movie night started!
Want to get even more out of online streaming? Try using a Virtual Private Network. A VPN not only encrypts your online activity, it allows you to view blocked content in your region, so you can see what Netflix has to offer in multiple countries. As a FixMeStick customer, you have access to our awesome NordVPN offer! Redeem your discount HERE.
Staycation Idea 5 – Take a Long Walk
A long walk might seem boring to many, after all, being alone in your own thoughts, especially if you’ve been in quarantine by yourself, can be rather dull.
We have some suggestions to make taking a walk more interesting. First, try giving yourself a scavenger list of things to look for on your walk, for example, a black-and-white-dog or a pink rose bush, this will give you a goal or target in mind for your walk to occupy your thoughts!
Second, download a nice audiobook or podcast to take along with you on the walk to keep you entertained. Have a book that you’ve always wanted to read? Try getting it in audiobook format so you can take it along with you on your walks!
Third, try dog walking for your neighbours, friends and family if you don’t have a dog of your very own! Or if you prefer to earn some cash doing it, dog walking apps like Rover will match you up with local dog owners who will pay you to walk their dogs.
Staycation Idea 6 – Try something New
Now is the time to try out that new hobby you’ve always wanted to learn or a product you wanted to try. From gardening and landscaping projects to learning a new computer skill, the possibilities are endless.
StartMeTip: wanted to try the StartMeStick but didn’t have the time? Now is the perfect opportunity to get it home and give it a try! PLUS it comes with our “Satisfaction Guarantee”? Not impressed after you try it, our team can help you free of charge, or return it, no questions asked. GET YOUR STARTMESTICK TRIAL HERE.
Are you planning a staycation this summer? Share your summer plans or staycation tips with us in the comment section below!