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Top 10 Tips for a Summer Staycation

By Will Willingham 10 Comments

blackberries summer staycation

Summer Staycation Time!

Admit it. You’re tired of seeing beach photos on Instagram that you didn’t take. If you see one more family posed on the scenic overlook in front of a mountain range in your Facebook feed, you might not be able to stifle a scream. You’re home for the summer, in a place that feels a lot like South Dakota (and not the Badlands and Mount Rushmore side of it), and even that one poet you know took a whole month for a cross-country trip with her family.

You deserve a vacation. And we say you should grant it to yourself. Only don’t leave home. Take the tried and true (so much so that the English language allowed us to make up a word for it) summer staycation.

We have ten great tips to make the most of your summer staycation. Post that on your Instagram, baby.

1. Let Them Eat Berries

Treat yourself to berries. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries. Whatever berry you might love to have but tend to pass by in the grocery store.

2. Summer Up a Book

Spend time with a creativity book like Spin or The Artist’s Way. Remember to bring along crayons, colored pencils, or markers, to summer up the pages.

3. Go to the Bahamas in a Haiku

What travel destination are you pining for? Try reading up on it and putting the details in some “dream haiku.”

4. Let the Little Trees Make You Happy

Buy an exotic dwarf fruit tree for your porch or deck. Lemon, lime, pomegranate, fig. It’s less than the cost of a nice dinner out for two.

5. Plant Wishes

Plant a small wish garden in a color that represents your wish.

6. Read Like You’re 12 Years Old

Get offline early in the evenings and spend the time reading the best ever children’s books and young adult books. 

7. Get Into Something

Choose an intriguing topic to get into for a few weeks. Order a stack of library books or movies on the subject and maybe make a playlist. Summer themes are obvious choices: roses, kayaking, wild edibles, fishing. Or try a historical theme: Romantics, Medieval times, Victorian Age.

8. Get Wet

Play with water. Take a large basin filled with water out to your porch or deck. Bring various spoons, bowls, bottles—as well as things to make boats with, like paper, plastic, foil, and popsicle sticks.

9. Eat Breakfast

Make yourself a special breakfast of french toast or pancakes and serve it on the fine china. Remember the silver and a linen napkin if you have those lurking about the house.

10. Take a Walk on the Wild(flower) Side

Go on a wildflower walk and cut some blooms to bring home. Or just make it a point to actually cut some of the flowers growing on your property, and put them in a place where they’ll unexpectedly make you smile.

Got other ideas for a great summer staycation? We’d love to hear them in the comment box. And we sincerely hope you’ll be eating berries while you type.

Photo by Nana B Agyei. Creative Commons license via Flickr.

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Will Willingham
Will Willingham
Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.
Will Willingham
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Filed Under: Creativity, Top 10 Poetic Picks

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About Will Willingham

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.

Comments

  1. Donna says

    July 10, 2014 at 10:58 am

    Loving the wish garden idea. Hmmm.

    Reply
  2. SimplyDarlene says

    July 10, 2014 at 11:16 am

    i’m already partaking in 6 out of 10…

    might i add to #8? start a water fight. more than once.

    we laugh and yell and drench one another like a flock of wild things. here’s a hint: let the fellers have their plastic water guns and when they’re least expecting it, break all the pre-set rules and use a bucket and the garden hose.

    Reply
  3. Janet says

    July 10, 2014 at 7:56 pm

    I just heard the word staycation yesterday for the first time! I love it.Great ideas so far. I like the pile of books from the library!! How about spreading a quilt under a tree in your yard, lying on it and staring up through the branches like you did as a child. Nearby is a tray with your favorite beverage while the breeze and bird song lulls you to doze a little before picking up your favorite poetry book. you read, then write! Imagine having a week just to write!?

    Reply
  4. SimplyDarlene says

    July 15, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    now, this sounds like an ideal vacation spot 🙂

    Reply
  5. Megan Willome says

    July 15, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    As someone staycationing again this summer, thank you. No. 7 intrigues me. I may keep my eyes opened for something new to get into.

    Reply
  6. Patricia @ Pollywog Creek says

    August 21, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    What a great list. I’d add play in the sprinklers and create your own “beach” with a $20 kiddie pool like this one: http://www.target.com/p/intex-120in-pool/-/A-13800360#prodSlot=medium_1_13

    Reply
  7. Jody Lee Collins says

    July 26, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    All great ideas, but I like the ‘read like you’re 12 years old’ idea. Some of my best memories are from reading books late into the night during the summer. Did just that the other day with my 10 year old grandson reading “The Enormous Egg” by Oliver Butterworth. I remember reading that as a kid…. Reading “Anne of Avonlea” myself. Thanks!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Beekeeper Inn, Helvetia, West Virginia | Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    September 22, 2021 at 5:00 am

    […] tea with you to The Beekeeper Inn (if you’re the type who likes to bring your own along). Or staycation and treat yourself to Plum Deluxe tea at a […]

    Reply
  2. The Preston County Inn, Kingwood, West Virginia | Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    September 29, 2021 at 5:01 am

    […] tea with you to The Preston County Inn (if you’re the type who likes to bring your own along). Or staycation and treat yourself to Plum Deluxe tea at a […]

    Reply
  3. The Old Victorian Inn, Alderson, West Virginia | Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    October 7, 2021 at 5:02 am

    […] Victorian Inn Bed and Breakfast (if you’re the type who likes to bring your own along). Or staycation and treat yourself to Plum Deluxe tea at a […]

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