On Friday I’m heading home to visit my family in Milan. For most people this wouldn’t count as staycation, but I actually grew up in Milan, so visiting my family there is like going home for me.
I don’t know about you but I almost like staycations better than actual vacations. Sometimes you really need to either do nothing, or catch up on all the little things you wish you had time for but never do.
During a typical two-week vacation in Milan, I wander around the city (in the sweltering August heat) in a way I rarely have the chance to do in LA. Of course, I also spend a hefty amount of time reading, catching up with family, and reconnecting with some habits I may have neglected.
If you’re taking some time off for a staycation this summer or fall, practice slow living and let yourself indulge in some of the suggestions below:
- Bake a treat for someone you love
- Have a gelato (or some frozen yogurt)
- Try a new restaurant (order in for extra lazy points)
- Do an extra long meditation (try Buddhify)
- Hit the mini golf course
- Go hiking
- Watch your favorite childhood cartoon
- Read your heart out (bonus points if outdoors, on a blanket in a park)
- Download some new podcasts (like The Paper Year)
- Journal every day
- Stroll slowly through your local Farmers market
- Buy yourself some flowers and take time arranging them
- Explore your neighborhood and try a new bakery or coffee place
- Volunteer (The LA Regional Food Bank is my favorite option)
- Visit a museum
- Have an extra long conversation with a family member you miss
- Get your bowling shoes on
- Find an outdoor movie to watch
- Try that yoga video you never got around to (I follow Yoga With Adriene)
- Give yourself a Mani-Pedi
- Drive out to an amusement park for the day
- Board game night (if there’s Rummikub or Apples To Apples I’m there)
- Go to an aquarium
- Clean out your wardrobe (ahhh, doesn’t that feel better?)
- Do a crossword or four
- Color like you’re five again (The Secret Garden coloring book)
- Walk through every aisle at Target
- Start a bullet journal
- Tackle a home project you’ve been avoiding (filing anyone?)
- Learn the constellations and look for shooting stars
And as a bonus, here are a few of the books I’m planning to read during my staycation (links below).
The Amazing Journey Of American Women From 1960 To The Present by Gail Collins
The Quiet Room: A Journey Out Of The Torment Of Madness by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennet
On Gold Mountain by Lisa See
Margaret Thatcher: The Authobiography by Margaret Thatcher
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalnithi
I Forgot To Remember by Su Meck and Daniel De Visé
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