By Michael French
Photo: The Salvador Dali museum in lovely St. Petersburg, FL
Every cloud has a silver lining. This recession’s silver lining might be the development of the “Staycation.” (The neologism was added in the 2009 Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.)
There are benefits to a staycation. A staycation gives you more hands-on control and offers less opportunity for things to go terribly wrong; lost luggage and inexplicable delays are avoided. A staycation gives you the chance to try out fun local activities during off-peak hours when everyone else is at work.
Skip the long lines and spend more time having fun. The money you spend during your staycation will go to support the local economy, which is nothing to sneeze at during a recession. (Isn’t that where it’s needed most anyway?) Make an extra effort to try local, privately-owned restaurants, shops and attractions you’ve overlooked. Ever felt “I need a vacation from my vacation?” If the point of a vacation is to relax, why does it often seem many of us spend more of our vacation zooming from place to place exhausting ourselves? A staycation cuts down on travel time and lets us spend the bulk of our holiday relaxing. On a staycation, you can take a day off from adventure and just stay home. You avoid travel-related stress and can be more flexible. A lot of the stress of travel comes from feeling you’re overspending. While you’ll still spend money on your staycation, you’ll feel more relaxed with a smaller budget and unexpected expenses are less likely.
Make a sincere effort not to fill your staycation with getting things done around the house, etc.; you’ll end up feeling you wasted your vacation and return to work as if you never took the time off.
Floridians are lucky. We have the privilege of living where millions around the world are only able to dream of visiting. Hordes of tourists from the four corners of the globe vacation here to enjoy what too many of us forget or take for granted. From Pensacola to Naples on the west coast, Jacksonville to Key West on the east coast, and scores of interesting cities in between, Florida has something for everyone. Of course, we can’t forget Orlando with its mega-theme parks.
Mother Nature has been extremely generous to Florida – Florida has more miles of fantastic beaches than any state. South Beach, Pensacola, Siesta Key and Bahia Honda State Park in the Keys place among the best beaches in the country – even the world – every year. She’s been blessed with the Everglades, spectacular coral reefs in the Keys and stunn
ing sunsets.
Besides gorgeous beaches, there are unique nature centers, historical monuments, the Kennedy Space Center and world class museums like the Dali
in St Petersburg, with the largest collection of Salvador Dali’s creations outside of Spain. There are endless adventures to explore right here in our own backyard. Seventy five million visitors a year part with billions of their hard earned cash to spend their cherished vacations here. Do they know something we, as Floridians, don’t know, even though this is our home?
Imagine Florida through the eyes of a visitor. Hopefully you’ll gratefully rediscover her and all the wonders she offers you not just when you’re on vacation, but all year long. Most importantly, have fun! Make a “bucket list” of things you’ve wanted to do close to home but have never done and DO them!
Calling Florida “Home” is our beautiful reality and just a faraway fantasy to those millions that would love to walk in our shoes.
Michael French, is Agenda’s Home from Home columnist. Contact Michael at mf7954fla@gmail.com
