Your staycation guide for this summer

What are your holiday plans for this summer? Will you go abroad, visit your home country or will you stay at home?

If you are thinking about having a “staycation” (a stay in your local area type of vacation) - you are not alone. According to a survey done by LuggageHero, over 75 percent of respondents have said that they are planning to take a vacation in their own area, inside their country of residence. Over 26 percent of Europeans decided to wait until next year to go abroad. A smaller portion, representing 3 percent of respondents, will not go on holiday outside of their city until a vaccine is found.

How do you plan a staycation? How do you make it fun for everyone?

Just like when you take a vacation abroad, a staycation starts with some planning. During family time, you can brainstorm together, handing out three to five sticky notes per person, and making a list of everyone’s staycation ideas. Vote for your family’s top three ideas and make them happen. This brainstorming session can be such a fun bonding experience!

So, here are five ideas for you and your family to get your creative juices flowing and start off your brainstorming session:

Plan a spa day at home

You can convert your living room into a home spa salon and treat each other to massages with oils and face masks. For example, a chocolate face mask might become everyone’s favourite - great nourishment for your skin and so much fun to apply!

Become a tourist in your hometown

When was the last time you visited a museum? Do you know about the hidden gems in your local area? I recently discovered that the Amsterdam Amstel area, with its skyscrapers and famous Philips tower, is called the Manhattan of Amsterdam. I wish I knew that before - I would not have had to visit New York - Manhattan is in my neighbourhood.

On a serious note, you can pick a place you’ve never visited before, for example, a park, and have a lovely afternoon picnic there. Plan a half-day trip by bike to the seaside like Zandvoort aan Zee, cycling through the amazing Zuid Kennemerland National Park, enjoying its endless dune valleys and green brushwoods. You might even spot wild bison, horses, and deer. What a weekend getaway it can become!

Treat yourself to a night in a local hotel

Many hotels are offering fun staycation packages that allow couples to enjoy a date night, including a special three-course dinner in their restaurant, a night’s stay and a late breakfast. Or even better – Have a camping adventure with your kids, sleeping in a fun tent with toys right in your hotel room. An obvious advantage is that you do not need to spend the next day cleaning your house or worry about the weather, you can simply enjoy the comfort of a cosy hotel.

Organise a dinner with friends

Invite your friends for a cooking party (or barbecue). Where do you come from? Do you have any local recipes that you would like to share with your friends or kids? You can make your kitchen a real Jamie Oliver show and cook away all evening with good company and a nice glass of wine.

Volunteering in your local community

It has been proven that helping others increases our sense of emotional well-being, self-esteem, empathy, and reinforces positive brain connections that are responsible for making us feel happy and fulfilled. So, you are helping yourself by helping others.

There are so many options available: cooking and serving dinner for the homeless, joining summer weekend camps to get active, play and spend time with kids, join environmental initiatives and collect plastic (or face masks) from the beaches and canals. What are you passionate about? How can you support your community? It can be a good experience to see life from a different perspective.

Have fun with it

It is time to put your plan into action and have fun with it. What we love so much about going abroad is a feeling of having enough time to really enjoy things. And nothing stops us from making and taking the time to do the same at home.

So, give these staycation tips a try and share what worked well for you and your family. We would love to hear from you!