OK, first let me say, I hate the word “staycation”. This word was thought up by someone who wanted to put a happy face on the fact that families can’t afford to travel this year (although you wouldn’t know about the lack of traveling from walking down any street in midtown Manhattan.)
It’s still called a vacation if you’re not doing what you usually do. Some of my better vacations were spent not doing much at home. I did go away to see my friend in Atlanta over the long July 4th weekend this year, but everything was done on the very cheap: I stayed in her house, the plane ride cost me $5 after I used frequent flier miles (using a credit card does have its benefits) and I didn’t do any shopping. And I was planning this trip since at least March. What I need now is time where I’m not going to work, not going to school, not doing anything I usually do but watch TV and play computer games for a week. That’s not a staycation, it’s a vacation from the everyday. If your home life is so boring that you can’t escape while staying there, you need to liven it up a bit, and pronto.
I also can’t afford most of the “staycation” NYC options anyway - go see a show, go out to dinner, go to a club, go to museums with $20 admissions (like MoMA). Yeah, I’d be “saving” money by not flying or spending time in a hotel, but $4000 off a $5000 trip is still $1000 I can better apply to my student loans. New York wants New Yorkers to spend money here to bolster the local economy. Nice idea if you can do it, and if you do it, won’t you tell me how?
No, I’m not trying to solicit sympathy, since it’s my own damn fault I have no money, and I know it. What I’m saying is that many of us don’t go anywhere in the first place, we don’t spend that much money when we do travel somewhere (via ZipCar and only over the weekend) and our idea of having fun is inviting friends over to drink cheap wine and beer and play board games or watch marathons of British TV shows (yeah, that’s really just my idea of fun.) It just makes me feel crappy for wanting to stay home when it’s the consolation prize of people who regularly travel.
And “staycation” is still a stupid word.