How I Spent My Summer Staycation

With the high cost of gasoline and thus the high cost of every other thing in the universe, there is apparently a new trend in vacationing. Instead of taking a costly traditional vacation. we are now being urged to take a "staycation", which means you pretend to be on vacation without actually leaving your home. So I thought I'd try it.

I'm still waiting for room service and the maid hasn't shown up yet either. This is a sucky vacation.

But seriously, I guess people are actually doing this. I recently read two different articles about this new concept, the stay-home vacation, actually dubbed the "staycation". I wasn't kidding about that. Some people are taking advantage of their local attractions and seeing the sights in their own hometown, being pretend tourists. Others (and I actually read this) are setting up tents in their livingrooms and having camp-ins with their kids. Why not at least use the yard, you ask. Apparently this one family didn't have a yard. So they pitched a tent right in the livingroom, placed a floor lamp outside the tent to look like moonlight, and roasted marshmallows over a candle. Could I make this up?

I guess the staycation idea is okay. A lot of people have never taken full advantage of all the good things their hometown has to offer. I come from a town that's about an hour away from Niagara Falls and I bet half the population has never been there. However, for people in certain geographic locations, which shall remain nameless, it's probably a lot harder to pull off the staycation concept. "Hey Beufort, you been in the sun long enough. Better git yourself back under the car port."

I, on the other hand, live on the west coast of Florida and this staycation idea should work pretty well for me. The beach is less than five miles away, there are concerts and plays galore, enough festivals to clutter the entire landscape of the moon with arts and crafts, and marvelous fine dining restaurants all within the distance of a gallon of gas, which by the time I post this should be about $12.95.

But I have a confession to make. I don't like the beach. (Eeww, all that sand) I don't do well sitting through concerts and plays; arts and crafts festivals make me barf, and my idea of fine dining is any restaurant that doesn't use a roll of paper towels for napkins.

The truth is, I don't need to pack a pretend suitcase, and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door of my condo to feel like I'm on vacation. Trust me, I know how lucky I am. Every morning when we put on the coffee, put on our morning music, and take our stack of inspirational books out onto the lanai for our morning reading time, I thank God for the life we have. It already is the perfect staycation.