37 Thrilling Staycation Ideas for a Dream Vacation at Home

You’ve settled on a staycation this year, but what should you do with all your free time?

Discover 37 fun-filled ways to enjoy your time off with these thrilling staycation ideas. 

Why Staycation?

Although a getaway to a luxury resort or a beach getaway sounds amazing, staycations can offer so much more. 

But when we stay home, we sometimes get stuck in our ruts and don’t know how to fill our time. 

These staycation ideas will inspire you to stay home. 

37 Exciting Staycation Ideas

When you plan a staycation, the possibilities are endless! 

You can jam your schedule full of engaging activities or do absolutely nothing at all. 

These staycation ideas help you relax, get inspired, have some fun, knock out your to-do list, or enjoy life’s little pleasures. 

Explore the vast potential of a few days off at home. 

Build Your Empire

Are you as obsessed with Passion FIRE as I am?

Spend your staycation building your empire! 

Start a website, design printables for your Etsy store, or catch up on your YouTube video recordings. 

If you haven’t started anything yet, now’s your opportunity. Decide what you want from life and take that first step toward achieving it. 

Engage in Self-Care

Some people don’t want to work during their time off, and that’s valid. Work is stressful, and time off should allow us to relax and recharge. 

Making self-care a priority during your staycation may be just what you need. Uncover ways to enjoy self-care for a blissful, relaxing staycation. 

Get Your Gaming On

I once planned an entire staycation around gaming. I stumbled upon one of my old favorite PlayStation 2 games, Champions of Norrath, at a garage sale, so I took five days off work to stay home and play it from start to finish. 

Video games may have a bad reputation, but they provide a much-needed escape from reality. You get to be the hero who goes off on epic adventures and saves the princess. Gaming lets you slay dragons, defeat villains, and explore new, uncharted worlds. 

When you emerge victorious from your marathon, you’ll be ready to slay anything work throws your way. 

Explore Your Local Area

A staycation allows you to discover all the hidden gems in your own backyard. Spend some time exploring your local town. Check out the newly opened breweries, stroll through the little parks, and shop the local bookstores. 

If you’re lucky enough to live near a large city, you can discover loads of cool new areas while staying close to home. Visit museums, explore booming suburbs, or catch a show at the local theater. You can check out the nightlife since you don’t have to get up early.  

People living in rural areas don’t have to miss out. Visit some of the charming small towns nearby. You might discover a cute new coffee shop or an underrated art town just miles from home. 

Take a Day Trip

Whether you live near a city or not, a day trip perfectly combines a staycation and a regular vacation. You can explore areas up to four or five hours away without worrying about getting home late. 

When I lived in Pennsylvania, I was only four hours away from some of the coolest cities in the US: New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., which were accessible via a day trip. Now that I’m in Texas, I can reach Dallas, San Antonio, or Houston in a day. 

You don’t have to stick to the cities. No matter where you live, there’s likely something interesting within a four-hour drive.  

DIY House Projects

A less fun but often necessary staycation idea is working on projects around the house. This time off allows you to paint that wall, refinish that cabinet, or clean the gutters. 

I know you don’t want to spend all your vacation time toiling around the house, but sometimes stuff needs to get done, and this time off will give you the chance to buckle up and do it. 

If you’re the type of person who enjoys tackling projects and working with your hands, it won’t even feel like work!

Either way, you’ll feel happier after knocking these items off your to-do list, as they won’t be lingering over your head anymore. 

Visit a State Park or National Park

There are 63 gorgeous National Parks scattered throughout the United States, but if you aren’t lucky enough to live within a day’s drive of one, you can explore a bountiful state park instead. 

State and National Parks protect nature’s best and allow visitors to enjoy fun outdoor activities. Spend a day kayaking, fishing, hiking, or taking in gorgeous scenery. 

Although national parks are more popular, state parks often feature hidden gems and are less crowded. Both make fantastic staycation ideas!

Spend Time on Your Hobbies

With a staycation, you have abundant free time for everything you love. Why not spend some of that time on the things you love most?

Our hobbies boost our creativity, increase our mental health, and bring us joy. Dedicate your free time to whatever weird, creative, or niche activity you can’t get enough of—whether it’s painting Warhammer figures, knitting a sweater, or flying a kite. Enjoying your hobbies is the perfect way to spend your staycation. 

Try a New Hobby

Life often prevents us from trying things we might enjoy. Between work, family obligations, self-care, and chores, there’s little time left for our “someday” activities. 

With a staycation, you no longer have that excuse. You’ve bought yourself hours of free time, so why not turn “someday” into “today” and try something you’ve always wanted?

Throw paint on canvas, try rollerblading, or experiment in the kitchen. You might realize it’s not your thing or shock yourself by discovering a hidden passion. Either way, you’ll be glad you gave it a chance. 

Let Your Inner Artist Out

Staycations offer the perfect opportunity to connect with your creative side. Grab a sketchbook and try your hand at drawing, set up a canvas and paint from your heart, or start working on that novel you always thought you’d get to someday. 

Creative expression is good for the soul, and staycations offer ample time to get dirty with it. 

Get Crafty

If the fine arts aren’t your thing, consider crafting instead. Crafts let us explore our creativity by making useful things, such as decorations, clothing, and journals. 

Make a paper mâché paste and see what cool stuff you can create with paper and glue. Upcycle old bottles, make your own greeting cards or try origami. 

Crafting is one of the best staycation ideas for families with young kids. It allows you to embrace creativity on a budget without leaving the house. 

Create a Time Capsule

What about your current life will you remember in thirty years? What do you desperately want to hold onto, and what fads are you into that you think will fade?

It doesn’t have to be a thought experiment. You can create your own time capsule at home. Fill a memory box with mementos of the past year. It could include movie ticket stubs, photos, those trendy pens you love, notes, or anything else that represents your life at this snapshot in time. 

Hide the box away. When you open it in 10, 20, or 30 years, celebrate how far you’ve come. 

Browse Thrift Stores and Garage Sales

If you love shopping for souvenirs and knickknacks while on vacation, why not recreate the feeling with a trip to the flea market or thrift store?

You never know what treasures you will find at neighborhood garage sales, Goodwills, and second-hand shops. Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s fun to look and see what treasures people throw out. 

Conduct Science Experiments

Science is so cool. You can do so many cool things with household items and learn about how the world works in the process. 

Mix baking soda and vinegar to watch a mini explosion, put celery in dyed water to watch how the water travels up the stem, or transform a potato into a battery. 

While many will say science experiments are ideal staycation ideas for families with children, I think kids of all ages will be thrilled by the cool things you can do with household items. Adults should spend more time engaging with science. 

Cultivate a Garden

If you’ve always wanted to grow a garden, a staycation offers plenty of time to get it off the ground (or in the ground, so to speak.)

Spend your vacation days planting flowers and vegetables, tilling topsoil, or finally putting those garden beds together. 

You can grow plants even if you don’t have a yard. Grab some pots and glow lights to cultivate beautiful indoor plants that freshen up your living space. 

Reconnect with Friends

We often get so caught up with the mundane necessities of life that we forget to stay in touch with the people who mean the most to us. A few stress-free days off work can clear our calendars and give us that time.

Schedule coffee dates or potlucks with your local friends. Invite them over for board games and drinks. Explore the hundreds of ways to connect with your dearest friends. 

If your friends live far away, give them a call. Even if they can’t talk for long, they will appreciate your effort to reach out.

Have a Spa Day

Why not spend an entire staycation day pampering yourself? You deserve it. 

Head to your local spa for a massage, wrap, or facial. Dip into a mud bath or soak in a hot tub. Relax and decompress in a sauna. 

If money is tight, plan an at-home spa day. Run a luxurious bubble bath. Dim the lights, setting the mood with scented candles. Experiment with skin treatments and lotions you’ve always wanted to try. 

Learn Something New

You don’t have to turn your brain off to enjoy a staycation. Spend the time learning. 

Take an online class on a fascinating subject, indulge in a book on your favorite topics, or browse YouTube for fresh perspectives on critical issues. 

Go to seminars or events you wouldn’t usually attend to gain insight into other people’s viewpoints. 

Dedicating time to lifelong learning will make you a better person. 

Cook a Complicated Meal

When we’re working, we don’t have time to cook the complex meals we love or try new, challenging recipes. We stick to tried-and-true easy meal ideas because we have thirty minutes at most for cooking and prepping, then need to feed the kids, clean up, do bedtime, and start all over again the next day. 

During your staycation, you have extra time to play in the kitchen. If you love cooking, why not use the opportunity to try new recipes or make something you love from scratch?

Have a Picnic

Spend a lovely afternoon in the park with a basket full of goodies. Make sandwiches, cut veggies, and bring snacks to your favorite park. Then, lay out your cozy blanket for lazy afternoon people-watching and enjoying the outdoors. 

While there, take your shoes off and walk barefoot in the grass. Smell the flowers. Ground yourself in the moment. 

Go Stargazing

Take a short drive from the city lights to stare at the stars for an evening. Bring a blanket and lay on the ground, watching the cosmos dance millions of miles away. Watch for satellites and shooting stars, or see how many constellations you remember. 

While out there, contemplate the secrets of the universe. 

Host a Garage Sale

A staycation offers the perfect opportunity to get rid of unwanted junk. Why not sell it?

Spend some of your free time sorting and pricing someone else’s treasures, and wake up early on a Saturday to clear it all out. You’ll free up space while earning a little pocket money – what could be better?

Geocache

Try geocaching if you want an affordable outdoor adventure. Download the Geocaching app and start your quest for buried treasure. 

When you find something, be sure to replace it with a new prize so those coming behind you can join the fun. 

Try the Fun, Local Activities

What’s happening in your town? Do you have a mini golf course, theme park, trampoline park, or other fun center nearby?

Now’s the time to check them out. Go bowling, check out the arcade, or play cornhole at the local brewery. 

Backyard Camping

For a vacation feel without leaving the house, try backyard camping. Set up your tents in the backyard, make smores on the grill, and tell scary stories with a flashlight. 

Backyard camping combines all the perks of camping with the creature comforts of home. And if it starts raining, you can just go inside. 

Make a Pillow Fort

Remember when you were a kid and stole all the couch cushions to make a fort in the living room? Recreate that childhood magic now that you know how to do it right!

Use random items around the house to build blanket ceilings and cushion walls. If you get into it, put up Christmas lights to give your fort an ethereal feel. Then, put on some scary movies and cuddle up together in the safety of your fort for a magical evening. 

Give Yourself a Makeover

With all this free time, why not try a new look on for size? Head to the salon for a haircut and blowout. Experiment with your makeup. Head to the store for some new threads. Try new styles and see what makes you feel confident. 

Makeovers don’t have to be serious or costly. Have fun with it. Play dress up with what you have in the closet, and go wild with the wildest makeup looks you can create. 

Clean Up

Staycation ideas should be fun, but sometimes you must get stuff done. Dedicate a few hours to cleaning the places you don’t usually have time to clean. 

Deep clean the bathroom, run wipes over the baseboards and clean out the pantry. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary, and you’ll feel better about enjoying the rest of your free time. 

Change Your Routine

Change is good. It helps us reset and gets us out of a rut. On a typical vacation, we constantly change our routine, as we must wake up early for sightseeing or stay out too late enjoying the nightlife. 

Recreate that change by mixing up your routine.  Go to the coffee shop instead of making coffee at home. Work out at noon instead of at four. Do a puzzle in the evening instead of turning on the television. 

Anything you can do that’s different from the norm will help you reset. 

Enroll in a Workshop or Class

The coffee shop in my small town hosts bookbinding workshops. Thirty minutes away, the Japanese restaurant in the big city offers sushi-rolling classes.  

I bet many places near you offer eclectic classes or workshops, letting you learn a niche skill. Explore the ones in your area and sign up for something that sounds interesting. You may never bind your own book, but you can say you know how to do it!

Enjoy Nature

There’s nothing like spending a quiet day in nature to help you recharge. You don’t even have to go far to do it. 

Sit on your porch and watch the squirrels frolic, listen to the birds sing, and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature in your own backyard. 

Walk to a local park and stroll around the pond. Feed the ducks, smell the flowers, and feel the soft breeze tickle your skin. While there, put your phone away. Be present in the moment as you enjoy nature’s bounty. 

Make a Scavenger Hunt

I love scavenger hunts. One year, for our anniversary, my husband made me a scavenger hunt. He set up little clues in various parts of our small town and set me off to discover them! He had just as much fun making it as I had solving it. 

Make a hunt in your local neighborhood. You can use meaningful places if you’re making it for your friends and family or local icons if you’re making a general hunt. 

You can even sell your hunt on sites like Etsy if you live in a touristy area. 

Rock Hounding

Discover the fascinating world beneath your feet with rockhounding. Head to a park or nature reserve and search for interesting rocks. There may be jaspers, geodes, or even fossils just waiting to be discovered!

Follow your local laws when considering whether to bring your treasures home. Some areas allow people to take small rocks from public lands, while others don’t. 

Discover Your Local Art Scene

Small towns across the nation are rekindling America’s love of art. Murals, painted utility boxes, and art crawls are popping up everywhere, allowing local artists to showcase their talents in their neighborhoods. 

See if your city does anything to support the arts, and get involved. Go to the art crawls, visit a gallery, and support local people bringing culture to your city. 

Redecorate

Refresh your living space for a staycation idea that keeps on giving. Rearrange your furniture, put up posters, hang new curtains, and switch out your seasonal displays. 

During my last staycation, I put up new shelves, added glow lights for my plants, and rearranged everything in my office to make it a space I enjoy spending time in. 

Redecorating also allows you to declutter, clean up a little, and create a space that brings you joy. It will enhance your overall well-being long after you return to work. 

Volunteer

I know you’re taking a staycation to avoid work for a while, and volunteering sounds like a lot of work. 

But it also gives you a greater sense of meaning and accomplishment, allowing you to help someone, give back to your community, or assist with a cause you’re passionate about. 

Many of us would want to give back more, but we don’t have the time between work, home, and everything else. But that is what makes it an excellent staycation activity. 

Rest

No list of staycation ideas would be complete without much-needed R&R!

Sometimes, we’re so exhausted from our daily lives that we don’t want to do anything at all – literally. 

And that’s okay! 

Spend your staycation catching up on sleep and enjoying your downtown. Take mid-day naps. Go to bed at 8 PM and wake up at 7 AM. 

Listen to your body, and give it the time off it needs. 

How To Make Your Staycation Epic

The staycation ideas offered here will give you many ways to enjoy your time off, but a perfect staycation isn’t just about what you’re doing. 

To ensure your staycation is as unforgettable as it can be, follow these tips:

• Unplug from your work phone and computer
• Be a little selfish
• Savor what you are doing
• Be present in the moment
• Say no to things you don’t want to do
• Avoid hated chores
• Relax

Incorporate these rules into your staycation, and it’s guaranteed to leave you relaxed and rejuvenated.

What’s Your Favorite Way To Spend a Staycation?

What did you do on your last staycation? If you have any staycation ideas we didn’t consider -share them in the comments! Let’s keep adding to the list so everyone can have the relaxing time off they deserve!