In the age of COVID-19, many of us are taking precautions and staying at home to reduce the risks of contracting COVID-19. Many of us are doing our part to prevent the spread and at the same time, we are missing the vacations we planned. I’ve seen countless posts saying “I should be in Cancun today” or “Today, I’m supposed to be in Ouray.”
As a fellow traveler, I’m heartbroken for everyone who doesn’t get to have their adventures this year. It literally sucks. However, we have to adapt and bring adventure to our front door.
Below are some ways to get away when you’re safer at home during COVID-19. I encourage you to use your imagination for these situations and be grateful for your chance to have these moments with your friends and family members.
Movie Marathon Night
Possibly one of the easiest things you can do in times of quarantine is to have a movie marathon. With a variety of streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, Starz, HBO, Disney+, and Amazon, you can keep everyone entertained for days. Of course, this may get old after a while, but if you choose the right combinations of movies, you should be strapped in for a fun night of theatrical adventures!
Grab some of your favorite popcorn, your favorite movie theater candy, your favorite blanket, and sit back relax and enjoy! Or better yet, make a blanket fort too!
Board Game or Video Game Night
If you have access to board games or video games, make them a weekly event! Get the family together and have a night of board games, snacks, and drinks. Like a movie marathon, you get to stay in all night with the people you love and just enjoy quality time playing board games or video games!
Points if you have a retro gaming console and can throwback to some of the classics!
Camp in Your Backyard
This is your chance to use your imagination and encourage everyone else in the family to use their imaginations too while creating this staycation. Set up a real campsite in your back yard, complete with campfire, smores, kumbaya, the whole enchilada. You can make it a digital free night by turning off your devices and just spending time together too!
Bring a few books and share some stories, or sit in comfortable silence and stare at the stars.
Make A Room Your Favorite Destination
Take a room in your house, whether it’s the spare room or your own bedroom, and turn it into your ideal destination! It could be the Rocky Mountains, the glittering Eiffel Tower, Greece outside your window, or towering pagodas in China. Find a BUNCH of different destinations to attached to your window here!
To amp up the staycation, add music to match your destination, whether it’s ocean waves, the chatter of people outside your window, or rainforest sounds. Whatever it is, bring yourself into the whole experience.
Also EXTRA points for adding breakfast in bed.
Create A Luxurious Spa Experience
For this, you don’t need much! Some good massage oils, a hot foot bath, nail polish, and face masks. Make a spa day complete with massage, manicure, pedicure, and facial. If you have a willing spouse or significant other down for a spa day, this makes it easier. Give each other massages, do foot soaks, paint nails, and have a grand spa day all in the comfort of your own home! It’s super easy and cost-effective!
Cook Cuisines From Around the World
If you had an epic adventure planned for a country outside the US, by golly find some recipes for the local cuisine you would have experienced there and make it at home! There are plenty of markets and import stores that can provide you with the ingredients you may not be able to get at your local grocery store, assuming they’re open.
Take a chance with the recipes and bring cuisines from other countries to your dinner table! For ideas on some recipes, here is a great cookbook with 450 recipes from around the globe!
Have a Picnic
I’ve recently come to love charcuterie and of course, being in Colorado, I love being able to go outside and sit in the grass in my parents’ back yard. Why not make something so simple a fleeting staycation?
Pack up a basket with some sandwich fixings or charcuterie items and take those few steps you’re walking, and march out to your back yard and set up a picnic! You can enjoy the lovely day outside and the company of your loved ones and all without leaving your home.
Make Your Own Water World
When I was a young whippersnapper, we had things like slip-n-slides slides, kiddie pools, and fancy sprinklers to beat the summer heat. If you can’t make it to Waterworld, bring Waterworld to your own back yard. You can find countless watery fun contraptions to turn a super boring and hot summer into a splish splashy getaway.
Check out some of these cool backyard waterpark items you can get on Amazon.
Host a Solo Yoga Retreat
Tap into your zen by creating a mindful week of yoga and meditation. Craft healthy meals, take a break from social media, meditate, and do yoga every day. It will help restore balance to your mental, spiritual, and physical health!
If you can’t organize friends to come over anymore, host a yoga retreat via Zoom.
This could be the most important staycation you have yet! If you have yet to purchase any yoga items, try some of these or try Yoga with Adriene.
Stay Positive. Everyone is Going Through it Right Now
Times are hard and there is no doubt about it. No one thought we would be where we are right now. What we can do is hold each other close and make the best of it until things improve in drastic ways. Having a staycation and using your imagination may seem like a silly idea, but we must do what we must in times of hardship.
Thank you for reading this post! To see more adventures from Travel Branyik, go here!
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