Ideas on how to have a great staycation at home given the current situation?

[user1482949820]

Like many other people, I have had my summer holiday abroad (Spain - pool holiday in the sun) cancelled. Given we are in a very lucky position where we have a heated swimming pool at home, and have a second home a couple of hours' drive from our main home, we are planning to spend a week in each (at different times of the summer) and 'pretend' we are on a proper holiday.

For the staycation at our main place I was thinking of doing breakfast in France (croissants, home made jams, fresh bread, etc.), lunch in Spain (tapas) and dinner in a different country every night. With sundowner drinks every evening, and games after dinner. This is likely to be just my OH and I although, if allowed, some local friends could join us for the day or for a meal. I'm also thinking of decorating the garden with silly things, like inflatable palms, to equip our outdoor wooden bar with drinks and sweets, to get lots of inflatables for our pool, etc.

For our second home staycation (this is a very old cottage in Somerset) I thought we could try out the local tourist stuff like visiting a cider house, going horse back riding, taking tennis lessons in a local sports centre, etc.

Is anyone planning anything similar? Could anyone suggest any other ideas to make our staycations really good? Thank you!

In don't think many people could afford the kind of things you like (tennis lessons), nor do most of us have a second home.

Our second home is actually a holiday rental that we use when it's not occupied. It's our business. And the money we save on flight and accommodation is what would be spent on activities at home.

Oooh, like your idea of food from around the globe. Will do that with my teenagers and their mates. I always go on holiday with my expanded family so might do one night where we all Zoom together and have a group (virtual) dinner and catch up.

...might also put holiday clothes/swimmers/sunglasses on.

Buy local delicacies from local farmers' markets and small shops.
New clothes and books for the vacation.
On holiday we usually do one day exploring and sightseeing then next day lounging, reading, playing games etc. In the long summer holidays when we're at home we do that too - every other day out and about, so the gaming sloth doesn't set in. in I'd do that on alternate days.

It will of course depend on the weather. Given we won't be travelling anywhere we can pretty much decide the week before. Although given this is the UK, we will need to have back up plans if one morning we wake up and the heavens have opened!

lol this is sooo upper class.

You have a strange idea of "upper class" @Gtugccbjb.

We're going to have lots of bike rides along the river and picnics.

You could have a siesta every day in "Spain".

Love the idea of picnics - thank you MinnieMountain. The siesta goes without saying - although as someone who can't sleep during the day for me it's usually reading a book in the shade. Bike rides are also good - in fact we've started already.

For your second home, you could do some virtual sightseeing - planning local places you will actually visit once you're allowed

You have a strange idea of "upper class" @Gtugccbjb.

Upper middle, definitely.

We already did all the virtual sightseeing when we first bought the place. So now we have a long list of places to visit. And some can actually be visited already as they are outdoors ;-)

Bring the beach home with a ton of sand its about £40 + delivery hours of fun then offer it for free if collected via Face book etc to get rid

This is the most unrelatable thread ever. Clicked on it hoping for inspiration of how to spend summer trapped in my London flat with nothing good open. Mmmm I'll get my coat

@breadwidow me too . I was thinking maybe I'd sit on a different side of the living room. Mix it up a bit

Here's a first world problem if ever l heard one😂but good for you OP - love the idea of different foods. Quiz nights for each meal? Do you have children?

I’ll be happy if I could find some good books set in places I’d rather be.
Might do a virtual tour. Some museums and national parks have online tours.
Maybe I’ll wistfully look at some old photos of holidays past too.

Well i am a available to come and give you the restaurant experience at home in Somerset. (that's my job)..

You can choose from rustic style platters to a 9 course tasting menu.

Wow, I want a holiday in the OPs life! Sounds amazing!

(Yes I am extremely envious, but I still hope you have fun).

Our second home is actually a holiday rental that we use when it's not occupied. It's our business.

Oh I can totally identify with that (I can't)!

We'll be doing much the same groundhog day stuff as usual, only we won't have to try to coax the kids to do their schoolwork. Enjoying a walk without them moaning is a pipe dream.

@Fishfingersandwichplease - great idea the online quiz! I shall start looking for suitable ones (we are both into music albeit different genres so together we might be able to score at least a few points!). As for children we don't have any human ones but four gorgeous rescue dogs

@DartmoorChef given i can't cook to save my life that sounds like fun. Do you have a website?

@NotAnotherUserNumber please don't say that. It might sound like my life might be a holiday-worthy destination but it isn't. We all have rubbish to deal with. I have my share - and probably someone else's too. I just choose to try and face it with a smile. Sometimes it works ;-)

PS: if anyone can tell me how to actively tag people that'd be great. Thank you!

We like to do stuff on holiday. Maybe you could pretend that you are at an activity class and try something different.
Hiking (I'd be up that Tor in a shot if I could get to Somerset).
Fishing,
Whisky tasting,
Cookery class (Cornish pasties,Welsh cakes, scones).
Water colour painting/Art.
Yoga retreat.
Mindfulness? If you are stressed.
Birdwatching/wildlife (there are otters in Somerset!!)
Lots of Art galleries and zoos are open for online visits.
I would also ban any housework or domestic admin of any kind and I'd buy new underwear and lovely toiletries, as that's a given for any holiday.

I hate the word "staycation" - please have a holiday in the UK instead.

I think we are all guilty of overlooking things on our own doorsteps, its good to explore what's local

Thank you @Serin - I just booked the cleaner for a mid-stay visit! I certainly don't want to be mopping every day while I'm on holiday :-)