In these times, justifying a full blown vacation didn’t seem right. My husband and I talked about where we could go and what we could do and both decided that right now it makes sense to stay put and enjoy what our city of Toronto has to offer.

Image: sxc.hu

The concept of a staycation is still relatively new – but more and more I’m hearing people say the word and think of this as a viable alterative to costly vacations.

Four days later, here’s why I think you should consider taking a staycation too:

1. Instead of spending money on a flight, pick up a book and yourself up at a local spa for the day – you’ll have the funds to get a whole whack of treatments and potentially find an esthetician or massage therapist you can go back to semi-regularly.
2. We often forget how many great attractions are right around us – museums, galleries and local landmarks can be excellent for daytrips…and now you will be more knowledgeable about the area when family comes to stay.
3. And it’s not just tourist attractions we overlook – what about all the great restaurants that are out there? Have a couple glasses of wine and enjoy yourself.
4. All those forgotten hobbies that you don’t have time for are right there stuffed in the back of your closet. No need to cart everything to a far off location…rediscover that fun at home and try to make time for them when you’re back to work too.
5. Don’t worry about jetlag or losing a couple days just on travel – every single day you are off is yours to do what you want.
6. In the process of staycationing, you might also find the time to take care of those nagging little tasks that you forget about when you’re busy with work. Relaxation and a sense of accomplishment? Now that’s a wellrounded week.
7. Sleep. Yep, you got it. Sleep.
8. With all that money you saved and time you have, spend the day prepping a great dinner for you and your friends.
9. If you choose, you can still keep an eye on email so you don’t have a mountain to go through when you get back (set up an autoresponder though, which should do the trick for 90% of the messages you receive.
10. Since you didn’t splurge on one expensive vacation, you can use a some more of those vacation days in a few months to take another mini-break from it all.

Post from: The List Maven