30. I StayCayed

I mocked it all summer, that word the media came up with to make staying home while burning vacation time sound fun.

Staycation. Stay-cation. Stacation.

However you spell it, the (new vocabulary word alert!) portmanteau means one thing: not going anywhere…not even to work.

And that’s pretty much what I did. Except for a 500-mile detour to the folks’ house – clearly I wasn’t staycationing to save gas – I stuck around. I never looked at work email, and didn’t check voicemail. (But I might’ve rearranged my workout schedule to make sure I saw the Hot Trainer…) 

Two friends from far away came to visit. After great internal debate (which consisted mainly of wondering if I could swing two weeks off out of their two-day stopover), I gave up attempting to appear at all responsible and joined them on their vacation to Seattle. We did everything one does while visiting a new city: Started adult beveraging around noon. Took in a baseball game in the middle of the afternoon. Wandered local tourist attractions. Ate at great restaurants. We shopped and we walked and we chatted with proprietors. I napped nearly every day of the week and used my “traveling purse” to carry the extra stuff a vacation requires.

Then suddenly my guests were gone; I still had three days of leisure. So I slept in. Hit up Bumbershoot. Stayed out late. Slept in again. Went for the second-longest run of my life. Napped. Consumed a few more adult beverages before sleeping in for the very last day. 

And at the end of it all, I’m dreading going back to work just as much as I ever do. Which makes me think maybe it was a pretty good vacation after all.

So. I will leave you with a few observations from my staycating experiment:

• Seattleites (and those just visiting) dress very very poorly. We could all do a LOT better than the drab, ill-fitting outfits I saw on every sidewalk.
• Lots of people stay out drinking till late (even on weeknights!). 
• The weather really does change about six times per day. Who knew what goes on while we’re locked in our cubicles?!?
• My face unpinches when I don’t have to gear up for work every morning. 
• Knowing I can go straight to bed after my workout makes it easier to power through a slight (or even significant) hangover.
• My mom’s teriayaki tri-tips are just as good on weeknights as they are on weekends.
• Gas prices are making quite an impact! I didn’t have to dodge nearly as many retirees as usual during my drive to/from Idaho.
• Staycationing was interesting and all, but my travel bug hasn’t been squashed. Ireland is very definitely still on the agenda.

Every day another story - 
Sofie