Turn Your Home Into a Relaxing Getaway for Your Next Staycation 

Scrolling through social media this summer you’ll probably see lots of pictures of your friends and family members enjoying a vacation. It is easy to grow envious and want to immediately begin planning your own vacation.  

Vacations are a great way to take a break from your responsibilities, unwind with a delicious meal and fill your days with whatever you want to do whether it’s sleeping all day or exploring new things. But vacations aren’t always a feasible option. 

If you can’t get out of Southwest Missouri this summer, staycations offer an alternative that is just as good, if not better than any vacation you’ll see on your social feed.  

Consider adding some fun new features to your home here in the Ozarks to make it feel more like your dream resort. While this might seem like a bit of an investment, these new additional features will be there for you to enjoy long after the staycation ends. 

At the end of the week, you won’t be leaving behind all your new favorite amenities at the resort, because you’ll have invested to have them in the comfort of your own home where you can enjoy them for years to come.  

• Outdoor speakers: Set the mood for your vacation with the perfect feel-good-vacation-vibes playlist. Consider adding speakers to your landscaping that blend in beautifully with your yard because they are designed to look like rocks.  
• Home theater: An in-home theater is just what you need to have your own film festival at home to watch all your favorites. You can have themed movie festivals to watch patriotic movies on the Fourth of July and movies with great summer vibes like Mamma Mia, Jaws, Dirty Dancing, Caddyshack, Weekend at Bernie’s and many other great options!  
• Outdoor TV: Designed to endure the great outdoors, these are a great addition to any patio. Combined with twinkle lights and landscaping, this can make any backyard feel like you’re relaxing on the patio at a resort. 
• Smart Shades: These keep the sun from shining in your eyes, making sleeping in and pressing the snooze button so much easier.  
• Furniture and game tables: Most resorts have arcades for the kids to escape to when the parents need a break. So why not install your own ping pong, billiard and shuffleboard table? The kids will be endlessly entertained and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy your staycation how you want to. Or invite some friends over for some friendly competition. 

What Is a Staycation?  

To put it simply, a staycation is a vacation at home. Staying in your own house might sound boring but done right it can carry just as many new adventures and joyful memories with your loved ones.  

Staycations are customizable in every way! You decide how long you want it to be, how much you want to spend and what activities to do. Get creative with how you want to spend your time and choose what is right for you.  

The best part about a staycation is that you are still close to the friends and family in your hometown. This means that you can invite others over to enjoy parts of your staycation while still taking time alone for yourself.  

No matter what stage of life you are in, staycations are a great option. For families, they provide a fun week of bonding, especially with the kid’s home for the summer. For singles, they provide time for self-care, relaxation and entertaining friends. For empty nesters, they provide an opportunity to rekindle romance and invite extended family members to catch up.  

Why Do You Need a Staycation?  

After all of the stress of planning and executing a vacation, you’ll often hear people say, “I need a vacation from my vacation!” A staycation keeps you from feeling this way by giving you all of the relaxed feelings of rejuvenation without any of the budgeting and preparation.  

A staycation keeps you from having to deal with the stress of booking the right hotel room, trying to make sure you pack everything you’ll need, travel expenses and worrying over who’s going to water your plants back home.  

Instead, you can place all your energy on deciding how you want to spend every moment of your time. You may do some research, meal plan and book a few fun activities, but you won’t have to spend hours searching for the best deals in an area you’re not familiar with because it will be right in your hometown, allowing you to support local businesses.  

Another benefit of a staycation is that you don’t have to worry about the weather ruining your plans by canceling your flights and keeping you cooped up in a hotel room when all you packed was bathing suits and sunscreen. You can plan for all types of weather with game nights and movies during the rain and picnics and long walks when the sun is shining.  

On staycation, you still have the comfort of home with your own food, your favorite spot on the couch and your pets.  

This means your furry companions will be able to keep you company and you don’t have to worry about trying to find a trusted kennel or pay a friend to take care of your pets. 

You also have your own kitchen stocked with all of your favorite foods, allowing you to indulge without feeling guilty. On vacation, it is easy to get caught up in all of the temptations. You eat a week’s worth of sodium in one meal because you’re on vacation, so why not? A staycation offers you the best of both worlds. You can still have all of the indulgences while focusing on your health and wellbeing.   

Steps For Planning Your Staycation  

Cut out work and cleaning:  

While planning the best rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t do it on vacation, you don’t do it on a staycation. It can be easy to get caught up doing household chores and catching up on work, but your kids will grow bored quite quickly and it won’t feel much like a vacation.   

Leave work at the office by setting your work email to send an automatic out of office message. Hire a cleaning service to clean your house top to bottom so your mind can focus on things other than dusting and vacuuming. Have dinner delivered from local restaurants you haven’t tried before.  

Shut out the world by keeping your phones put away and the news off. It may sound drastic, but the best vacations make you lose track of time, so take your focus off what is going on in the outside world and simply relax.  

Have fun choosing vacation activities:   

Whether you are someone who follows a strict itinerary or if you prefer to spend your vacations spontaneously deciding what to do in each moment, for a staycation it is important to have a few things scheduled and built into the routine.  

Building in activities will help grow the excitement for your upcoming staycation. While it can be a great time to catch up on all your favorite shows and movies, especially because most streaming services offer a free week trial, you’ll still want to ensure that you don’t look back on the week and realize all you did was binge-watch Netflix.  

Allow each member of your family or participant of your staycation to select things they want to do so that everyone can make the most of their staycation. Some fun examples can include camping in your backyard, hosting a cooking night with friends, playing water games in the backyard, relaxing with a good book, trying an art or dance class, exploring your city/town or booking a new exercise or yoga session.  

If you want to make some of these activities even more special than your average movie nights, consider investing in a home theatre or new game table. These provide endless fun that makes it a year-long vacation.  

Set up a spa at home:  

Create your own aromatherapy spa by investing your favorite scrubs, nail polish, face masks and whatever else you need to make it your personalized perfect spa day. While you may have to put the face mask on yourself, you will be able to keep and reuse all of your products instead of leaving them at the spa at the end of the day.  

If you would rather have someone there to help pamper you, you can also go to your local spa for a day or relaxing indulgence or even hire a massage therapist who makes house calls. 

Smart shades add to the relaxation and set the tone by allowing you to carefully control how much light comes into your home. Smart shades help meet all of your relaxation needs.  They’re open wide for your morning coffee at sunrise and can give you a quiet, relaxing afternoon indoors, away from powerful UV rays. 

Take little steps to achieve the hotel-feeling: 

It’s the little things that make the hotel and vacation experience, so be sure to focus on details like buying a fluffy white robe, little soaps and sheets with a high thread count. It may seem silly, but if it adds to your staycation experience then it’s a win.  

Add welcoming music with an automated sound system. Having a great playlist can really help set the mood; whether that be relaxing spa music, your favorite songs to sing and dance around the house to or Frank Sinatra in the background for a romantic dinner. For each change in scenery, simply change the music and dim the lights.  

To get the full experience, have family members trade off on doing the turndown service each night by tucking in the sheets, folding back the covers and placing a chocolate treat on the pillow.  

Following these steps and upgrading your home to make it the vacation resort of your dreams makes for endless fun, bonding and new memories. You’ll have all summer to enjoy your new amenities and be able to create a personalized space for a vacation that never ends. Call us for a consultation on how you can turn your home into the perfect resort for your staycation!