My husband and I had our first “stay-cation” this past weekend. It was a lot of fun but more than anything, as parents of two young children, I think it really makes sense. After we had a successful break away from the kids I thought I could talk about a few reasons the stay-cation was a winner for us.

1) You can get away without really being away – You can stay at a hotel or bed and breakfast that is near your home without traveling a long distance. This is so helpful because it cuts down on the amount of time you spend in the car and allows you to have more leisure time to take a stroll or have a long dinner. With no travel time to factor in, you can even have a full 0r half day at home and then skip away for an overnight stay-cation right across town.

2) You can check out local places/events that interest you as a couple – We live in an area with lots of things to do and see and many evening events, but the problem is not all of these things are kid-friendly or places we’d even want to take the kids, like a nice restaurant or an art gallery. Having a stay-cation allowed us to shop leisurely, enjoy coffee at a trendy spot in peace and quiet and walk through downtown together. We also went to a beautiful restaurant and had a long dinner that we normally wouldn’t attempt.

3) It is completely budget-friendly – No huge gas bill to worry about when traveling long distance, you can stay in as nice or as basic of a hotel as you want, try more expensive places around town or just go to pizza and a movie. I loved that we could tailor our getaway to our budget and also our energy level. We packed in coffee downtown, a few shops, a long dinner, drinks at the hotel and then went bowling.

4) Gives you some peace and quiet – Our lives with a 2.5yo and 5yo are pretty nonstop from sun up to sun down. Most of our time and energy is completely focused on our kids and their well being. We love our daughters dearly, but our house is often really rambunctious and loud. One of our top needs with this mini-vacay was just to sit at a quiet dinner (one I didn’t cook), watch TV in peace and quiet and just catch up without being interrupted and having to finish our conversation at a later time.

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5) Take stock of where we are and where we’re going – My husband and I both like to talk about our future goals and hopes. The stay-cation gave us a good perspective on our accomplishments and allowed us to discuss where we want to go in the next few years. Sometimes I think it takes a little change in routine in order to look at your life with a different lens. The stay-cation did that for us and we were able to really see our family and what we’d accomplished in the past year, what we’d learned and how each one of us had grown and changed.

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In all, I highly recommend trying the stay-cation. It was really fun and less pressure than a traditional vacation which involved travel. The kids enjoyed special time with their grandparents and the comfort of their own beds and home. We were able to decompress the busy year in a very low key, simple way. In writing this post I’m also realizing this may be the perfect gift for a significant other this holiday season!

Have you tried the stay-cation?