Focus on the Staycation {15 Staycation Ideas}

Focus on the Staycation describes our desire to focus on the area that we are currently in as much as possible. Day trips and exploring more of the world around us in our local area with 15 staycation ideas.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Toyota through DriveShop. Thoughts and opinions are 100% our own. Affiliate links may be contained in this post.

Andrew lived in multiple states and countries growing up. I, on the other hand, had never been on a plane or past the Mississippi River until I was 17 years old. We traveled every summer though. My mom had a stipulation that we could travel, but couldn’t fly and it had to be drivable in 8 hours or less. Living in West Virginia growing up, we went to places like North Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania. I always felt so happy and blessed that I was able to travel every summer on vacation. However, as I grew older I realized that there was so much of the world I hadn’t explored. Even just the world around me. We had a tendency to go to the same places over and over again instead of trying new places.

Focus on the Staycation

Andrew and I barely traveled before having kids, but every time we did, we loved it. We made a vow when our second kid was born that we would start traveling more. We decided on Our Quest to 50 to visit all 50 states before our youngest turns 18. But beyond getting to all the states, we needed to get out and see more of the world directly around us and that comes from staycations. One – two – three hour trips on the road to see places in our direct vicinity that we’ve never seen before.

We both agree that we are being called away from New Jersey and we don’t know if that’s going to happen this year or five years from now, but we do know that we aren’t going to be here forever. So while we have the chance, we want to explore the world in our area more. To not take for granted the vast amount of history and sites within driving distance to us. We know our girls are little, but they enjoy traveling just as much as we do and we are determined to explore more.

Things to Do on a Staycation

Take a hike at a local trail
Drive to the closest source of water (whether it’s the beach, river, a creek) and play. Teach your kids to skip rocks, take a kayak out, learn to paddleboard, etc.
Pull up a map on your phone and type in a type of restaurant and go to the first spot that stand out.
Visit a local museum or landmark
Take a bike ride around a walkable town.
Visit an open market
Find a local drive thru movie theatre
Go see a play/show at a local theatre
Play football/soccer at your local park
Go thrifting
Find a sporting event. Whether it’s minor or major league or even a high school team, find a game to watch! Make it even more fun and try to find something you’ve never watched before
Ask a friend (or even the gas station attendant) for a recommendation for something fun and just go do it.
Find a splash pad or ice skating rink depending on the season.
Go bowling
Look up the closest festival happening in the week (checking out Facebook events is an easy way to do this.

We are so excited to see where we go this summer with our new found love of staycations.

We recently traveled to the Pocono Mountains in a 2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid LE. We fell in love with this vehicle pretty easily! It was insanely comfortable for all four of us and it had great room for our family outing. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid got almost 30 MPG and has all wheel drive which is perfect for road trips! Get more information at Toyota.com