PLANNING A SOLO STAYCATION ON A BUDGET
Photo Credit: nappy
Are you a Black woman in need of quality me-time? Maybe you came across this article while searching for solo staycation ideas to try, or you're wondering what a solo staycation is and why it should concern you. What matters is, you're here now, and we're here to answer your questions.
What Is a Staycation?
You may be familiar with the word vacation, but not staycation.
A staycation, otherwise known as a holistay, is a vacation spent in your home or destination relatively close to home rather than traveling abroad.
Staycationing is an increasingly popular pastime. Before now, many people staycationed without actually knowing it.
When a person takes a staycation, they spend time by themselves or with friends and family, luxuriating in a reserved space at home, visiting local attractions, taking a day trip to a nearby town or city, and participating in planned leisure activities. They do all they can to have a fun, productive and relaxing time without needing a passport, visa, flight ticket, or an expensive budget.
A staycation can last a single day, several days or a long weekend, or only a few hours in the evening.
Why Should You Take a Solo Staycation?
Many Black women fall into the trap of letting their lives be shaped and defined by their commitments and relationships with family and friends more than the relationship they try — but fail to — form with themselves. And so, we find many women today having mental health concerns because they lack a sense of self or have been conditioned by cultural values to be unnecessarily resilient while leading stressful lives.
Embarking on a solo staycation can teach you a lot about yourself, and this is because it allows you to take responsibility for creating and protecting your happiness and inner peace. It will cause you to search deeper, find meaning, and build confidence that isn't determined by your perceived relevance to others.
A solo staycation is also a go-to when you need to detoxify your mind, body, and soul from negative or stagnant energy.
Conclusively, we all could use some alone time when things get crazy, where crazy equals a threat to mental health. Perhaps, you just left an abusive relationship or are suffering from frequent burnouts from working in a toxic environment or culture, then a solo staycation is what you need.
Photo Credit: Vladimir Yelizarov
How to Plan for a Staycation?
1. Set a budget
Spoiling yourself or treating yourself to luxurious, one-of-a-kind experiences is one of the highlights of taking a solo staycation. However, you need to draw up a budget to prevent yourself from overspending.
Overspending during your staycation may cause your financial stress and anxiety levels to rise. Instead of enjoying increased productivity, clarity, and improved mental health after staycationing, you may start struggling with guilt, self-loathing, stress, and depression.
All the solo staycation ideas suggested in this article are budget-friendly (we mean it, really!), so you won’t have to stress over budgeting plans.
2. Calm your mind
Remind yourself that the earth won't shapeshift if you use some alone time to reflect, restore, and recharge.
Also, try deep breathing exercises or meditation, limit your caffeine and alcohol intake, and increase your physical activity to manage your current stress and anxiety levels.
3. Free Up Your Schedule
Take care of any pending tasks and chores that may loom in your mind and discount your joy and inner peace while staycationing.
Do the dirty dishes, laundry, decluttering, grocery shopping and meal prep, and other routine household tasks. And don’t forget to tie any loose ends at your job or business.
If doing the household chores yourself would drain you of your energy and will to plan and embark on your solo staycation, feel free to delegate some tasks to family members or outsource them.
Freeing up your schedule would contribute to how mentally prepared you’ll be for your staycation, and it will cause you to enjoy your alone time without any worries or disruptions.
4. Declare Your Staycation Plans
Let your friends, family, and work colleagues know about your solo staycation plans, and tell them to regard it as a vacation. They should know that they can’t invade your solo time, call on you to return home quickly, or attend to urgent work.
If anyone thinks you are being insensitive or unreasonable, ask them if they would share the same thoughts if you were traveling 15-hours away from home for urgent, productive work.
Photo Credit: Reneé Thompson
How to Make A Solo Staycation Feel Like a Vacation
1. Disconnect (from technology)
Put away your work phone, lock your workroom or cover your work computer(s) and embrace the out-of-sight-out-of-mind concept.
2. Make a plan
You know what you don’t want to do on your solo staycation? Just wing it! Be intentional about your staycation plans; make a list of activities you wish to try.
If you are not used to spending time alone and have no idea what you should be doing, our list of solo staycation ideas will help you find the perfect activities for your personality and budget.
Plan like it is a vacation. Get excited about spending time alone, and put soulful energy into creating a soothing environment.
3. Create a theme
A theme-based staycation would be more exciting and intentional.
You can pick a theme based on a dream (e.g., writer, travel blogger, chef, etc.), an activity, feeling, or backdrop (e.g., adventure, history, culture, beach, wildlife, spiritual, wellness, etc.), or a travel destination.
A travel-themed staycation would involve learning to speak the language of your chosen destination; dressing for the weather; watching their movies; eating their cuisine; and exploring the tourist attractions virtually (thank you, YouTube!).
To enjoy a travel-themed solo staycation, you’ll need to exercise your ability to imagine.
4. Spend some time outdoors
Feel free to walk or cycle around the neighborhood, take a bus trip to a nearby town, or have a solo picnic at the park.
Doing this will help you get a much-needed vitamin D boost from sunlight exposure, increase your physical activity level, and clear your headspace.
5. Act like a tourist (photos and all)
An ideal solo vacation may involve lodging in a luxurious 5-star hotel or resort, exploring new foods, culture, and tourist hotspots, spending time on the beach, shopping at the local markets, and networking with natives. It could cost an average of $2500 for a 7-day trip, depending on your frugality and the travel destination.
On the other hand, a solo staycation could cost ten times less. You get to give yourself a well-deserved treat, explore things that interest you, and spare some cash while you're at it. Pretty neat, isn't it?
Check out our next blog post on Unique Solo Staycation Ideas!