What is a staycation?

A staycation is when you choose to bring that vacation state of mind into your own home. Maybe you want to save money, or you can’t travel to your ideal destination quite yet, a staycation let’s you get a taste of what that future trip is going to be like. Staycation is different from a vacation in that it allows you to plan for all that fun in your own living room.

What are some good things to do on a staycation?

There are as many things to do during a staycation as you can think of. Being creative leads to amazingly fun results. Whether planning for fun as a couple or pulling together a vision of a staycation for the whole family you have endless opportunities to design a relaxing get-away at home. By first creating a theme, you focus your staycation ideas on a future destination of your dreams. Themed staycations zero in on the country or city of your choice. You can learn about that place to inform your future travels.

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Set the Stage – Decorate for the Ultimate Italian Themed Staycation

When you think about an Italian-themed staycation you’ll want to think about what you will actually see in that country. Avoid the stereotypes. You’re all for a little red, white and green. Who doesn’t love the red checkered table cloth and a skewer of tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil? But also think of where you can bring in the rich colorful Italian tile, laurel leaf, citrus, and bowls of fresh fruit and vegetables. You can even add LED lights to old wine bottles to set a romantic table. A table runner or wreath of laurel leaf, glass jars of fresh citrus, and baskets of in-season grapes or artichokes won’t break the bank, will smell amazing, and add some authenticity to your meal.

Set the Table – Food and Drink for Your Italian Theme

Your Italy staycation itinerary has to include at least one amazing meal. Part of the fun of any vacation is eating food from the culture you’re visiting. You can eat out, shop local markets, or do one of my favorite things – take a cooking class with a local.

Italy is diverse in its dining experiences and a cooking class will be different in each region. Feeling like a fun staycation with Lombardy or Tuscany in mind? Let Norman help you make risotto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-2cpo4PoZU

Want a taste of the quintessential meal in Rome? Click the video below where Norman shows you an easy pasta carbonara the whole family can help make.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a08hB8ojYPY&t=7s

Add an Italian-themed cocktail to your table. Have kids or need something alcohol-free? Try this fun Blackberry Italian soda recipe. You’ll love this kid-friendly site because it allows you to customize your recipe recommendations based on food allergies.

Making drinks for the adults in your tribe? The northern region is famous for the Italian Spritz. Taking your family to Venice for this staycation? Make a Puccini.

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Prefer to have your drink taste more like dessert? Make a Sgroppino al Limone ahead of time. Plan for the kids to have scoops of fresh and zingy lemon sorbet for dessert. For the adults mix two cups of lemon sorbet with 1 cup of Prosecco, 2 oz of vodka, and freeze for two hours. After dinner scoop the yumminess into highball glasses and garnish with mint.

Foreign Language Lessons

Make your staycation all the more real by learning a bit of Italian. Practice these few key phrases and then you’ll be ready to use them when it comes time to actually travel to your destination of choice. Practicing another language with your tweens and teens actually helps boost their listening skills and concentration. So my parenting friend this is a win-win!

Ciao ….. hello/goodbye

Buon giorno ….. good morning/day

Buona sera ….. good evening

Arrive derci ….. good bye

Grazie ….. thanks

Prego ….. you’re welcome

Setting the Mood with Music

Set the mood for your destination with a playlist that reflects the region. Spotify has an Italian Dinner playlist. Apple Music has Italian Dinner Music or Romantic Rome playlists. Just set up your device to help you immerse your home in the theme.

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Have a Movie Night

There are endless viewing opportunities that can extend your Italian theme out of the kitchen and onto the couch. Interested in a virtual tour of Rome? Catch old Rick Steves’ Europe Rome episodes. Looking for Italy in the movies and need something the whole family will like? 007 Casino Royal or Spectre both have scenes set in Italy. Angels & Demons or Inferno can satisfy the Tom Hanks lovers in your tribe (and seriously, does anyone NOT like him?). Under the Tuscan Sun touches the romantic in us all. Need something for the littles in your tribe? Spies in Disguise shows up in an animated Venice. Want to connect Italy to home? Try the classic Big Night.

Some of our recommendations may not be appropriate for everyone. Consider the ratings and content before you set up the night for the whole family. You have to find a show that’s right for your tribe.

Travel Planning – Positive Thinking

As I’ve mentioned before, the planning process is one of my favorite things about travel. All of the possibilities unfold with each page of a travel book, guide, or episode. So make sure a part of your staycation includes time for you to think about your future trip. Travel guides such as Rick Steves’ Italy or Rough Guide to Italy are our go-to picks. A new show Norman and I are getting inspiration from is CNN’s Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy. If you didn’t get enough of Tucci from the movie Big Night then you’ll have to check out this series.

You can also dive into our meaty posts on how to enjoy a full day in Florence. Or enjoy Rome with our detailed 3-Days in Rome Itinerary. 

Photography/Videography Lessons

Teaching kids how to catch those great vacation moments is half the benefit of having tweens and teens. Now, mom or dad can finally be in the picture. Joaquin does all the video for Norman’s cooking clips and it can be a bonding opportunity for sure. His confidence is building with each video and our youngest has begun helping dad with production ideas! Think about the potential of introducing these skills to your kiddos so they can document your great staycation (as well as your future Italy vacation) right along with you.

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Check Out Other Posts

Looking for other themed staycation ideas? Our post on 7 Steps to the Ultimate Mexico Themed Staycation is a fun take on this staycation theme.

Ready for help with your planning for an International Trip? Our post on what you need to know for your first international trip is just for you.

While budget or travel restrictions may have you stuck at home, there is no reason that should stop you from enjoying some of the best aspects of a vacation. We’re going to show you how to create a blissful trip to Mexico without ever leaving home. Check out how to plan a staycation with these seven easy steps.

Setting the Stage – Decorating

Making the most of your Mexico theme all begins with setting the stage in your own home. Your living room, dining room and/or kitchen can become a Mexican mecca with just a few inexpensive decorations you already have around the house or can be easily bought and shipped quickly right to your door.

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You can buy the papel picado, colorful squares of paper with lace cut outs, to string along any area of your house. Pick them up from Amazon or your local party store.

For a fun staycation, set the table with Mexico inspired dishes, place settings and napkins. Buy a small bouquet of colorful flowers to set on the table that evoke thoughts of Mexico with their bright petals and tropical leaves, or pick up some succulents to place in a colorful ceramic planter.

Set the Table – Food and Drink

Everyone has a favorite Mexican food dish and cooking a fine Mexican meal for your staycation does not have to be intimidating! Map out your menu to include appetizers, drinks and family friendly main course choices along with adult beverages for the grownups.

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How about a shrimp cocktail appetizer? This is a different version than the red, thick cocktail sauce you may be used to from dinner parties (remember those?) This light and refreshing cocktail is made like a gaspacho and has tons of fresh shrimp (camaron), octopus (pulpo), clams (almejas), and more. You can see Norman’s video of how to make it below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hEPREP1UT8

For your themed adult drinking pleasure it has to be a classic Margarita or a Paloma, right? But if you want to carry the mood on to another adventure you may need to pick up Tequila Made Me Do It and try a different recipe each time you staycation (purely for research purposes, of course).

For a staycation with kids, grab Jarritos at your local grocery store. If you can’t find it there, Amazon has a selection that they will ship right to your door.

Save room for enchiladas. These are true to Michoacan, Mexico style and are not just filled with chicken, beef or runny melted cheese. These are an authentic rendition of something you are much more likely to find beyond our borders. These enchiladas sit on a bed of large leafy romaine, with chopped potato and carrot in a rich red sauce draped across the top. Watch Norman’s cooking video to get the easy how-to recipe for a not to be missed addition to your themed staycation ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlfUlMEuf00

If you’re interested, we picked up the large wok style cooking appliance Norman uses in the video when he went with his uncle to Mercado de Independencia in Morelia, Michoacan. But this post is all about what you can do to have a staycation at home. So we wanted to help you out! You can grab one here from Amazon (seriously, is there anything they don’t have??).

Foreign Language Lesson – A Few Key Phrases

You can make this staycation all the more real by taking a moment to learn about the language. Pick up a few key phrases and you’ll use these when you do get to travel again. Learn the basics now so you gain confidence in using the language in the future.

Mucho gusto ….. nice to meet you

Voy a pedir ….. I’m going to order

Buenos dias ….. Good morning

Buenas tardes ….. Good afternoon

Buenas noches ….. Good night

Gracias/de nada ….. thank you/your welcome

Buen provecho ….. enjoy your meal

Learn your numbers (uno, dos, tres…)

Disculpe ….. excuse me

Puedo tomar una foto …… Can I take a photo

Setting the Mood with Music

Set up your evening with a music selection that reflects the area you are visiting. You can listen to Mexican acoustic guitar or some Luis Miguel Boleros. Go more traditional with a mariachi soundtrack. You can catch all of these selections and more with Spotify or Amazon Prime Music. Just tell Alexa what you want to hear and your house will fill with music to set the mood.

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Have a Movie Night

Movie theaters in the big cities of Mexico know how to set you up for fun with their snack selection. So before you even pick a show to watch consider what snacks are joining you and your tribe on the couch. If you want to keep with the Mexico theme then you need to slip some Takis, spicy Doritos, or hot Cheetos in with that popcorn. Paletas Michoacanas are a cool treat in flavors like cucumber and spice (pepina y chile), mango and chamoy, or fresa. Pick up a selection of Mexican candies from your local grocery store or Amazon if your store does not stock this.

If quarantine has brought back anything it’s been movie night (who else is on their second run of a Marvel marathon in chronological order?). And we all know there are a multitude of shows to watch on Netflix. A few of our favorites include Monarca, Gentefied, Taco Chronicles, La Casa De Las Flores, Made in Mexico, Club de Cuervos, Coco, Untoppable, Luis Miguel the Series, On My Block, The Club, One Day at a Time, Rompan Todo. On that list you’ve got stand alone films, series, documentaries, dramas, comedies, and even an indulgent reality TV series.

Our favorite documentary is Taco Chronicles. Animated movie is definitely Coco. For just Norman and I, Monarca was a true addiction. Norman loved the comedy La Casa De Las Flores. Rompan Todo was an interesting look into the history of Latin American rock that our little drummer enjoyed but it has strong language. Consider the ratings and content before you set up the night for the whole family. You have to find a show that’s right for your tribe.

Travel Planning – Positive Thinking

I love the planning process. It’s all the possibility, all the hope and all the best of the unknown wrapped up in each piece of research I dive into. I’m a travel guide kind of girl. Then I branch out to search the web for local activities and places that didn’t make the books.

I’m still a geek that likes to hold a book in her hands so all of my recommendations are paperbacks. I enjoy Rough Guides, as they strike me as being the more worldly version of what Rick Steves does in Europe. There is also Lonely Planet and Moon guides which can go broad with books on Mexico as a whole or break out into spotlighting specific regions of the country. If you want the immediate gratification of Kindle I can’t say I blame you. The fun diversion of planning doesn’t need to wait a whole two days for shipping if you don’t want it to. Who says teens are the only ones who get to be impatient?

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Photography/Videography Lessons

Teaching kids how to catch those great vacation moments is half the benefit of having tweens and teens. Now Mom or Dad can finally be in the picture. Joaquin does all the videos for Norman’s cooking clips and it can be a bonding opportunity for sure. Think about the potential of introducing these skills to your kiddos so they can document your great staycation (as well as the next vacation) right along with you.

Check Out Other Posts

Your future travels in Michoacan will take you and your travel tribe to some amazing places. When you get a chance to plan for travel again, get inspired with our posts on horseback riding to the Paricutin Volcano or join us to explore the Don Vasco Route.