Staycation, all we ever wanted

stay-home tips from Bea

We’re lucky to have been on a couple of trips this summer—we all went to Emerald Isle with Mamie and Grampa in June, and Bea, Richard and Harriet went to see Nana and Grandpa in Virginia last week. But now that it’s close to the start of school, and with Covid-19 rates on the rise again, we’re probably not going anywhere for a while. Instead, we’re thinking about calling this week a staycation.

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s recent novel Whereabouts, the protagonist remembers how, as a child, she never took trips with her parents. This was her father’s preference, who “believed that it was better to relax at home, without packing a suitcase, without the effort of getting used to one place just for a few days.” Instead he’d stay home, “wear pajamas until late, then go down to the piazza to buy a newspaper and say hi to the neighbors who were already retired and sat talking all day on benches. Then he’d lie back on the sofa, in front of a fan, and read the papers, listening to some music.”

This mode of staycation would probably be a tough sell for most kids. So I asked Bea, how can you create a staycation that kids will enjoy? She thought about it and here are her tips:

1. First, think about what you actually like to do on vacation. Do you like to hike? Find a park with trails near your house and go there. Like to swim in pools? Find a community pool and go at hours when it won’t be so crowded (like late in the afternoon, or right when it opens).

2. Second, think about what special foods you like to eat on vacation. Do you go out for donuts or pizza or seafood? There’s probably somewhere in your town where you can get those things too.

3. Eat outside as much as possible! Be outside as much as possible!

4. Think about what you don’t do on vacation—like work or check your email or do math—and don’t do it!

5. Try new things, like a skill you don’t usually focus on. Maybe hula hooping, juggling, watercoloring, cartwheels, or clapping games. My aunt Joy did some some clapping games with me at Nana and Grandpa’s and I’ve been doing more at home with my mom. You can find a lot of fun ones on Youtube:

6. Stay up late, sleep in, and eat pancakes, crepes, or waffles for breakfast.

7. Climb trees and read books. Go to the library!

8. Visit somewhere close to your house where you don’t usually go, like a new museum or a farm. My mom’s favorite thing is to take a lawn chair and sit it in the middle of the river, near what we call fairy island, and read a book.

9. Also, if you like dressing up, do that! Or, wear a bathing suit or your pajamas—whatever you like.

10. You definitely need popsicles.

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This morning, it was raining, but not very hard, so we went to a U-pick flower and fruit farm called Haw River Fruit Company. It was beautiful, and now our kitchen is filled with zinnias and sunflowers. I suggested that Bea could figure out how much we owed (you add up your own flowers), and she said it’s vacation—no math! So I did the addition. Less than ten dollars! Later we went to the library, and later still we’ll take a walk.

Bea’s planning a staycation scary story post for Friday, because scary stories are the best! If you can’t wait that long, read the true story of a “fish with human teeth” caught recently in Nags Head!

What about you? Do you like to take staycations? What are your favorite things to do when you have a few days to relax at home?

(Did you know that the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro is the world’s largest natural habitat zoo?)