How To Vacation This Summer Without Ever Leaving Home
Quick show of hands: who needs a vacation right now? *scans the room* Everyone? That’s what I thought.
This pandemic is bringing up a lot of issues for all of us, including the need to get out of the house. Of course, the desire for a break might not be the biggest of our problems, but we can’t discount the hardships of feeling, and physically being, stuck. Back in the years BC (Before Covid), if we felt the need to get away, that’s just what we did. We took a vacation. Obviously, you can’t physically go anywhere right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a vacation.
“Umm, Taylor?”, you say, “How can I go on a vacation without going anywhere?” An excellent question that I will answer with another question: what does a vacation really mean?
When we go on a vacation, we’re looking for something. A new experience, a break from normal life, inspiration, a good time, or an escape. So, we try eating a live scallop in a tiny sushi bar in Japan or learn how to salsa dance in a crowded club in Cuba. We mediate with Buddhist monks in a silent, misty monastery in Tibet. Stand in awe before the bewitching Mona Lisa in the Louvre or gawk at the ancient enormity of the Great Wall of China. Jet off to Vegas for lip-puckering shots, pulse-racing poker and glitter-covered, laser-lit raves. We lounge in the warm sunshine on a deserted beach in blue-watered Barbados.
It’s easier to find whatever we’re looking for while traveling, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible to find it at home.
Try Something New
Instead of trying something new in a new place, just do it at home. Learn how to cook a new recipe from a place you’ve been dying to visit, or teach yourself that skill you’ve been thinking about for years. You can also take a romantic risk — message that person you’ve been eyeing on iris, reach out to the old flame to see if there’s still a spark. Who knows what might happen?
Take a Break
Build breaks into your new at-home routine. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier (or just set an alarm in general) so you have time in the morning to meditate or complete a coffee ritual. Not a morning person? Carve out breaks during the day for walks or stretching, or schedule regular Zoom, Facetime or Skype happy hours with friends in the evenings.
Experience Art
While you can’t travel to see the Mona Lisa in person, you can visit her virtually. Tons of museums, parks, and galleries all over the world, including the Louvre, are posting tours of their facilities online, often in great detail. You can see the greatest works of art in your pajamas. That’s a win in my book.
Have Fun
The world may be crumbling around us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun! Turn on some hot new bops or a favorite classic and have a dance party in your living room, create a trivia night on Kahoot!, or get a little toasty on homemade craft cocktails.
Escape
You can’t physically escape, but you can mentally do so. Turn off your cell phone for a whole day, or, better yet, switch off all social media to give your brain a break. Do whatever you need to in order to recharge and reset.
Sure, these substitutes will never replace an actual vacation. But they’ll do the job until we can jump in cars, hop on planes and sail away on ships again.