5 Family Staycation Ideas

Taking a vacation during the summer is nice, but it’s also a costly proposition- both financially and for the environment.

When that isn’t in your budget, have some fun at home with a “staycation”. The idea is to play local tourist and do some fun activities in the area or city you live in. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how much fun it can be and how much your area has to offer. Best of all you get to come home and sleep in your own bed at the end of the day.

Find The Water

When it’s hot outside, there’s nothing better than dipping into a cool pool or lake, or going for a swim in the ocean. Take a look at what options you have in your area. Go explore local lakes, rivers, and creeks that you can swim or wade in. If you’re living close enough to the beach, take a daytrip to go swimming.

Finding local pools is another great option. Many cities have public pools that are surprisingly fun and underused. Of course neighborhood pools are another fun option. If you don’t have one yourself, meet up with a friend who’s lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with a pool.

And don’t forget about having fun with water at home. Get a kiddie pool, water toys, or turn on the sprinklers and cool off.

Dive Into History

How much do you know about the local history in your area? Make it a point to read up on it this summer and explore local historic places and museums. It’s fun for adults, but also a great educational experience for the kids. Encourage them to read up, explore, and maybe even create a project around your town’s history.

Many cities and areas with a rich history offer various different tours that you may not be aware of. It’s worth contacting your local tourist office to find out what you’ve been missing. If you can’t find anything in your town, expand your search and go on a few day trips.

Peek At The Calendar Of Events

Take a look at your local calendars of events. You’ll be surprised how much communities do during the summer months. There are often classes, concerts, movie showings, and even festivals you may not be aware of.

Between events your city or county puts on and various other events hosted by cultural centers, museums, and churches for example, you’ll be sure to find quite a few things you may want to attend this summer.

Fun In The Back Yard

We already talked about water fun in the back yard. Don’t stop there. There’s all sorts of fun stuff you can do right at home from dining al fresco to roasting marshmallows over the fire pit and even sleeping under the stars. Treat your home like a vacation spot, get everyone outside and have some fun.

Explore A New Culture

Just because you’re staying home this summer doesn’t mean you can’t dive into a new culture. It’s one of the biggest benefits of traveling abroad, but with a little effort and imagination you can experience some of it right at home.

Pick a country or culture and dive in. Taste the food, listen to the music, watch the movies, and read the books. Maybe even learn a little of the language and do it all as a family so you can interact and explore together.

By simply putting as much planning and effort into a staycation as you would any regular family vacation, you can have an amazing experience this summer that will cost a fraction of a regular trip.

This blog originated from my absolute love of old, neglected buildings. I have always been obsessed- the more run down the more I loved them and wanted to save them. Brick especially- they just have such a grandiose appeal to them.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I finally found one that made financial and emotional sense to save (my great-grandparents MET in the building!) It was beautiful- two floors and a basement full of beauty and neglect. All the important things were intact- rubber roof, newish windows- but the inside was filthy. The perfect combo for saving and making mine.

Upon purchasing the building I also inherited its three floors of stuff and junk- everything from dirty (filthy, disgusting) clothing to restaurant and bar equipment to neon light signs.

My contractors thought I was crazy and told me I should hire some kids and a dumpster to just “throw it all away” which made me realize how truly bad our “throw- away” society has become. Of course there was pure trash in there, but I knew there were plenty of things with value too. With no set time frame I decided I needed to spend the time to “save” what I could from the landfills.

I started small- by donating the canned food supplies that were still sealed and not expired. Then I donated the take out food containers to a local bar. Then I called the Pepsi/Coke company and the pool table company to see if they still owned specific things and then had them remove said things (two large pool tables gone within a few days of ownership makes a HUGE difference!) I took car loads of paperwork and cardboard to the local recycling facility. I also filled a weekly dumpster with actual trash items.

I sorted and sorted and sorted. I had a garage sale and sold off the neon lights and random things. I tried Facebook Marketplace (not really a fan) and then I realized my items needed a larger reach- so I bit the bullet and started selling on eBay. As I slowly learned the ropes on eBay by selling things like a Cutco vegetable peeler I also learned that I did not want to deal with selling the larger items, so I hired an online auction firm to help me clear out.

Online Auction Company

After all my fees I made $4000 through the auction, but more importantly I got rid of stuff that I did not want and other people did! The best stories were a stainless steel 3-basin sink that someone bought for maybe $12 to put in his fishing cabin for cleaning fish or the guy who bought the stainless steel trough urinal for $0.10 to use at his hunting lodge! Sure I probably could have gotten more for both items by just taking them in for scrap- but I prefer seeing things reimagined- getting new life.

MAKE MONEY

Making money is an important part of raising a family, but sacrificing time with my family is not. I love passive income and I love side hustles that are enjoyable- of which I have both.

With two young boys at home with all the energy in the world I want to do as much as I can WITH them. My rental properties and online income streams have allowed me to work from home and spend my days exploring the world with my family.

When I bought an old neglected building that was full of stuff as a future income producing property my side hustle of online reseller was born. So many people urged me to empty said building by tossing it all – i.e. sending it to a landfill!

Instead of polluting I learned the ropes of online selling on eBay, POSHMARK, and Mercari and haven’t looked back since! While I’m not making millions, I’m at exactly the level at which I want to be. I’m selling preloved items with so much life left in them and saving them from the landfill every.single.day which is a win in my book.

SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT

Keeping things out of the landfills, doing my part to “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” is my way of Saving Trees. It is one of my fundamental core values.

I believe that family and our environment are the most important things in the world. You can’t flourish with one without the other. I will help show you how to save our environment, ways to help the environment, how to protect the environment. Yes, you can reduce your footprint on the world even with a family!

Simple tricks like getting as close as possible to a Zero Waste Home, creating a personal compost pile, shopping small and local, and reusing everything can help save our planet.

Let’s help Save Environment! Save Earth!