How Can a Staycation Save the Planet?
Today I wanted to chat with you about Staycations. It all came about when I was listening to a podcast about the Environment from BBC radio 4 called You’re Doing it Wrong. One of the podcast guests was an environmental writer called George Monbiot who made a point that in order to really be more environmental we need to be travelling less.
While we are happy enough to reduce our plastic, recycle and reuse it made me wonder just how many people would actually be willing to reduce their travel and thus their carbon footprint?
This got me thinking about staycations. So, what is a staycation exactly? A staycation is a holiday but at home, visiting the local attractions, or travelling within your own country.
I started thinking that if once a year we could substitute one holiday abroad for a staycation we would be doing a great positive thing for the environment-lowering our carbon footprints hugely.
So if this post inspires just one person to do that then what a wonderful thing that would be!
Why I love Staycations
Personally I adore staycations. I think because I’m a home-bird at heart as many of you will already know. I adore being Hygge at home during the winter, take pride in my little farm cottage and am happiest with smell of coffee and home baking drifting through my house on a sunny day. That’s my idea of heaven.
In all honesty, travelling, especially the flights, kind of exhausts me and doesn’t always fill my cup. Staycations are a way of keeping those home comforts close by but also celebrate the beauty that’s just on our doorsteps
It’s surprising how easy it is to overlook what our own local towns and landscape has to offer. Our relationship with our surroundings tend to veer towards the practical things-going to the dentist, picking up a prescription, shopping for food, dropping kids off to various events and so on. And when I began to think about staycations I was horrified to find how little I knew about the local sites and history or that I had visited the beautiful Carrig a Rede rope bridge (a local site for me) only once!
On top of that I knew barely anything about Ireland itself, had visited only a handful of the counties and had still to see most of the main tourist attractions it has to offer.
In fact the more I began to research the idea of a staycation in Northern Ireland or Ireland the more excited I got! How much easier would it be to travel with our one year old within our own country. How much cheaper! What a sense of connection it would bring!
How to Plan a Staycation-Ideas and Tips.
I think the key to a good staycation is to research and plan it just like you would a typical holiday. First up decide on when you’re going to take your staycation and how long for. This will determine whether you go a bit further afield or stay closer to home.
Think about what you want to get out of the staycation-is your idea of a great break eating out lots, or beach walks, city breaks, culture, room service or being surrounded by wilderness? Pick your staycation aims.
Chose your accommodation. Just because you’re having a staycation doesn’t meant you necessarily have to stay put in your own house? Why not check out that 5 star hotel just down the road? Or rent out the dream beach cottage you always lust after? By saving some money on the flights you can splash out and have some fun with where you’re staying instead! Bonus points for supporting your local economy!
Most holidays benefit from a bit of an itinerary. When we visited Copenhagen last November we planned each day out from morning to night and it ensured we had a great time, saw everything we wanted and knew just where we wanted to stop off for lunch. Why not do the same for your staycation? Do some research of the locality’s best restaurants, cafes, food tours, museums, galleries… Dig deep and see what you can find! You could also time your staycation to coincide with a festival such as a food festival or similar. In Dublin Culture night is always worth heading out for-all the galleries have open doors, wine and food until late.
Sometimes we can forget that our local areas or country even are high up on tourists wish lists and that there are many stunning sites to see. Why not make a list of all the beautiful attractions, walks, houses that are around and begin to tick them off! Enjoy basking in the local attractions and stepping in the shoes of a tourist for a few days.
So, I would love to hear your thoughts on staycations, reducing flights and what you’d love to do on your staycation!
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