From the article: Playcation Strategies for Stress Relief
You may have heard of a "staycation", but what about taking a "play-cation"? Where a staycation involves relaxing at home and doing relaxing activities in your hometown in lieu of going on a traditional vacation, a play-cation involves staying in your hometown and doing fun and exciting activities with family and friends--creating new experiences or getting active with loved ones more often. What would be your ideal play-cation? Share your play-cation ideas and see others' ideas. Share Your Play-cation!
Mock-cation
- If you can't join em, beat em. Here in San Diego where tourists come year round, it pays to be a tourist and to get out and feel like you are on vacation. Better than that, if you have the money is to plan a staycation at a local spa for the day and use the facilities without the hotel stay. My favorite though is to live each day like a playcation and drag my loved ones out to do things out of the ordinary. I hope somebdody I know gets off her thread and reads this.
- —bigdogk
Arts and crafts, and hikes!
- I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Louden, and she has a book called the Women's Retreat Book. It has TONS of ideas for making a mini-vacation at home. Mostly they are alone activities, but I love them. I also loved going on hikes in our local parks. Close to home, and free!
- —Guest Anne
Going to the Beach
- My husband and I love going to the beaches on Long Island, NY.... especially Long Beach. The air is fresh, the sun is shining and the salty smell of the ocean is refreshing and relaxing at the same time.
- —Guest Linda
Wining and Dining
- I live in Oregon, land of pinot noir. My husband and I love spending a weekend visiting 3 wineries a day for tasting. You get to enjoy the wine country views and a pleasant drive. I've also started attending local wine maker dinners for fantastic gourmet food paired with the wine. Rather than travel, we enjoy the luxuries around us. Nothing is better than having a bottle of wine with local artisan cheese on the patio. Both would cost us big bucks at a restaurant, but we can enjoy it for 1/3 the cost at home. You just can't find some of these local boutique wines anywhere else, and you are more directly supporting the wine maker (which is usually a small family operation).
- —Guest WB
Badminton
- I haven't played badminton in years but lately I've been contemplating going out and getting a set. I'm hoping that my DH would play with me. We used to play tennis together but that takes too much energy and concentration, not to mention time driving to the court and then waiting for our turn to play. We aren't really equally matched either. If we had a badminton net set up in the backyard we could bat the birdie around for awhile, sit on the glider sipping on smoothies between matches... and the beauty of it would be that we'd never have to leave our own backyard!
- —Guest lila
One Day at a Time
- My husband and I care for an elderly relative, so it is rare for us to get a day off. When we do, we enjoy the challenge of finding somewhere to visit within a few hours drive. Even if we just spend half a day in a used bookstore and go out to lunch, if we are together, the time is special.
- —Guest Connie G.
Games at the Capitol
- We live in the state capital and the Capitol grounds are a great hangout. We'll get a group of friends and our family and go out there after 9 or 10 at night or later and play some kind of big semi-organized tag/Capture the Flag or hide-n-seek type of game (we vary it each time). The Capitol grounds are like a big park with hills, trees (history triees - no climbing alllowed), lots of winding sidewalks, statues, mostly well-lit, and it's safe at night (State Troopers patrol the grounds). And there's the added "fun" of being caught in the middle of the grounds when the sprinklers come on! We've seen other groups there playing games as well and my daughters joined in on one of their games once. It's one of our go-to spots for summer-time night games. Fun and exercise.
- —Guest jacci
Bodies of Water!
- My ideal activity would have something to do with bodies of water... either going to the beach, or tubing on a river (the Delaware River is great for this), or floating on a lake... any of these would be totally relaxing for me.
- —NancyL.
Playcation Campout
- My husband and I decided to throw a cookout/campout this weekend. Friends are coming over and will pitch a tent in our property. We're going to have a traditional cookout ad well as a good old fashion wiener roast. Layer we'll cook marshmellows for smores and play campfire tunes on the guitar.
- —Guest Rachel K
Botanical Gardens
- I love spending the day at a big botanical garden by my house with my kids. We can walk and walk, exploring the beautiful plants around us, pretending to be in another part of the world, and taking pictures of what we see. When we all get tired and hungry, we have lunch at their cafe. By the time we get home, we're happy to be couch potatoes again!
- —Guest Isabelle
A Day At The Museum
- I have a very bright son, and I love taking him to museums. We both enjoy seeing the sights and learning new things, and I really get a kick out of seeing him grow and become more knowledgeable right before my eyes! It's relaxing, we get exercise doing it, and it's fun.
- —Guest Jim
Take Me Out To The Ballgame!
- I love going to baseball games with my husband. He really analyzes gets into the game, and I enjoy cheering with the fans. We also go to basketball games with some good friends of ours--we have season tickets, so we get to enjoy the games regularly--and that provides a really nice break for us.
- —Guest Jeanne
