Daycation: A day trip. A day long vacation.
You can’t travel this summer, but you can satisfy your wanderlust with a Daycation.
If you are anything like me, you’re sitting home drooling over your friend’s photos on Facebook and feeling like you’re living a mundane summer. I find myself fantasizing about a beach week in the Hamptons, a cruise in the presidential suite with personal butler service, a month in a private Tuscan villa, and a girl’s spa escape with my bestie. While obligations and commitments might make it impossible for you to entertain your flight of fancy this summer, you can create a series of daycations with these five tips, a band-aid to satisfy your wayfaring ways.
Unplug:
I can’t believe I’m even recommending this given my addiction to social, but unplugging for a day can restore your depleted fun tank. Not knowing (and comparing) what everyone else is doing can be very freeing. Read a book cover to cover in your favorite hammock, binge watch travel inspiring movies (Under the Tuscan Sun, Eat Pray Love, Before Sunrise), write your bucket list (dreaming BIG of course), turn your home into a spa for the day, go for a massage, or simply meditate.
Cooks Tour:
Recreate a meal inspired by a trip you’ve taken or want to take. The internet is flush with recipes, find one that speaks to your taste buds and adventurous palate. Set the mood with music, decor, and travel to faraway lands letting your culinary curiosity and ethnic ingredients transcend you.
One Tank Trip:
Take a look at a local map and plan a one tank trip. Throw a dart and make it an adventure. Yes, throw a dart and go no matter where (within one tank of gas) radius it lands you must go. Research the area, get the family involved and set out to explore and experience it.
Dine Around:
Have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert out. Eat at places you’ve always wanted to but never have. Try a breakfast burrito at a taco stand, Thai Curry for lunch, Saki at sundown, Riso con i porcini for dinner, Flan for dessert. You get the idea. Extra points if it’s authentic cuisine reminiscent of a place you have fond memories of or yearn to visit. 
Pack a Picnic:
and catch a sunrise or a sunset. A basket of croissants, meats, and cheeses will work for both, with a thermos of hot coffee at sunrise and a lovely bottle of your favorite wine at sunset. It is an effortless way to unwind and imagine you are where ever you want to be. In fact, you might just discover that where you are is just that place.
What “daycations” have you done in your home town?