Staycation or Vacation? Yes, Please!

Posted on September 6, 2022 by

32 Comments

This week’s Sunday Stills Challenge explores the topic, so I thought I’d jump in with some vacation and staycation pictures taken during the Covid era.

I’ll start with Oahu where we vacationed in February of 2020.

Little did we know a month later the world would shut down – remember that?

We’re going again next month, and the pictures remind me why. Nothing says vacation like Hawaii!

In between these Oahu bookends we’ve done many staycations out of necessity.

It was March of 2020, and we weren’t even sure we were ‘allowed’ to go out.

Those days were strange, we were in lockdown and our city parks were closed. But Kanaskat-Palmer State Park was off the beaten path, so we took our chances and headed out for a walk in the woods on the Green River.

Can you say refreshing? It was so soothing to the soul! We continued traipsing in the woods close to home throughout 2020 and beyond.

Until the world began to open up again – slowly at first – and vacations resumed of the road trip variety. Vaccinated and safe in our car, we headed down the coast to San Francisco in the spring of 2021, then to Los Angeles the spring of 2022.

We like to revisit our favorite places and that includes the national parks. There was a road trip to Yellowstone last fall for the 7th time and I hope there’s an 8th.

There were trips to Olympic National Park closer to home

and Mt. Rainier even closer.

I could go on and on but I better stop here.

So which is better? Staycations or vacations?

You decide.

But I like both.

~ Susanne

Category: Hawaii, Photography, TravelTags: , , , , , , , , ,

32 Comments on “Staycation or Vacation? Yes, Please!”

  1. Pingback: Sunday Stills: Why I Chose a #Staycation Over a #Vacation – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

  2. Lovely photos of your vacation spots, especially Oahu! I want to go back, waah! Early 2020 was indeed weird. The American River Bike Trail was open (Sacramento) because it’s a commuter trail for cyclists. Thank goodness we had something back then. I’m in your “I like both” camp. They both have their places in our lives! BTW, I’ve been sharing posts on twitter when possible because my Facebook has been wonky, as you saw. I may have to delete my blog page…

    • Thanks so much, Terri. I do love Hawaii and am thrilled to be returning next month. But I also feel fortunate to have so many beautiful places nearby. I’ll never forget that visit to the Green River in March of 2020, wondering if it was even okay to be out and about. Strange times!

      I understand about your FB woes. I sometimes wonder if it’s worth it. Thanks for your challenge that inspired me to look back at covid era staycations and vacations! 🙂

  5. I understand the concept of a “staycation” but as you show, a getaway of a mile or a thousand still has the same possible impact of your spirit!

  6. Susanne, you are certainly correct that nothing says vacation like Hawaii. Years ago, my aunt got to go there and talked about it practically every day after she returned. These gorgeous photos make a serious case for both vacations and staycations! 🙂

    • Thanks so much! I totally get it. Both California and Hawaii say vacation to me; must be all that sunshine! 🙂 And I’m fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the country so staycations work well for me too!

  7. What beautiful photos! It was just terrible when the world shut down. I’m glad you had a beautiful vacation beforehand! You were right, it was scary back then even going outside!!

  8. You have been to some beautiful places. I always choose staycation because I don’t like leaving my cats.

  10. The photos are wonderful! I want to go to Hawaii on our next vacation. As for staycation vs vacation, I’d have to say that a proper vacation is superior but when that isn’t possible a staycation is the next best thing!

    • Thanks so much. There’s no better place for a proper vacation than Hawaii! I hope you make it there. 😊 And I tend to agree, a vacation is the best, but a staycation can be great too!

  11. I like both too but given the choice I’ll go further afield 🙂 As I mentioned to Terri, here in the UK we use ‘staycation’ to include holidays taken in our own country so your various road trips would fall into that definition too, but with a country as large as your it’s harder to think of them as staycations as you can travel so far without ever going abroad!

    • Interesting. I guess that makes sense for the UK. I wasn’t sure of the exact definition, but I considered it a staycation if it was a day trip and I got to sleep in my own bed. We do a lot of short overnight trips too, like 2 – 3 days at Olympic National Park. I almost considered that a staycation., so maybe for me it’s whether I leave Washington state. Either way, it’s all good! 🙂 🙂

      • Yes, I reckon your states, or at least the larger ones like WA, are like a small country, so that would make sense 🙂

  13. I like both too. I’ve yet to go to Hawaii but I’d sure love to go. Your photos were all beautiful. I need to get up to the Olympic rain forest. It’s not far from me.

    • Hawaii is always special. But a trip to Olympic National Park is always wonderful and you can go any time of year. We had a great time staying at Lake Quinault in January when I took these pictures.

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