The Summer you stay

It is mid August, and everyone, it seems, is somewhere else.

And there you are, still in town, watching your feed fill up with other people's departures. Someone is in the Bahamas. Someone's feet are in an infinity pool. And you are here, in your own kitchen, watching the kettle, with a feeling of being slightly inadequate that you are not, in fact, off somewhere fancy yourself.

Can I just say, it is completely normal, and it does not mean you are missing out on life.

Can you remember back in the day when people would show you their holiday photos and it was an extremely dull experience? I can. So what is it that changed? Social media and extreme highlights of the holiday and maybe someone posting a pic of when they pass through business class on their way to the cheap seats at the back…. Maybe…….

So what is a holiday? A holiday is not really the aeroplane and the changing of location. It is the few days where you do things differently, move a bit slower, and stop treating your own time as something to be spent usefully. But permission to slow down does not require a passport.

So this is my version of how to staycation. Not the sad version, where you stay home and quietly resent it. The good version, where you actually take the week, right where you are and have a blooming good time.

A staycation only works if you treat it like one. That means it needs a little structure, the same way a real trip does. You would not fly somewhere and then answer work emails from the hotel bed. So give yourself the same courtesy at home.

Here is what I do, I hope my guide inspires you to feel lovely about your choices.

Make one room feel really special. You do not need to travel to feel like you have arrived somewhere. Buy some flowers and put them where you can see them. Make the bed like a hotel would, with the good sheets, the ones you save for guests. You are the guest now.

Do the things you always mean to do and never have time for, like taking a long bath in the middle of the afternoon with all your best soaps and face masks.

Read the book that has been sat on your shelf for a year. This week I read Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton, and it transported me straight into the lush English countryside without the twenty-four hours it takes to get there from Tokyo. It is the true story of a woman who raised a wild hare without ever making it tame. I thoroughly recommend it if you want to be filled with wonder and delight. A truly magical read. Link to book

Make the recipe with too many steps. Holiday time is for the slow, unnecessary things, so do a slow, unnecessary thing on purpose. My husband and I made birria tacos yesterday, and as the meat cooked for four hours we sat and chatted and read, then made a carpet picnic and watched reruns of Clarkson's Farm and cuddled Louis the cat. We might have even had a little cuddle ourselves. That's what holidays are about, right? (birrria tacos recipe link) be warned the link is in Tiktok, an amazing place for recipes but other than that not super relaxing.

Be a tourist where you live. There is somewhere near you that you have never been because it is too close to bother. The garden, the gallery, the little place three streets over you always mean to try. Go with the eyes of someone who flew in to see it. I have been exploring the local temples and shrines on my bicycle this week, and going to a new coffee shop in my neighbourhood every day. (Link to coffee shop I went to today) (link to local temple ) I’m going for dinner at a new local little bistro tonight.

Rest without earning it. It might feel like a bit of a challenge but give it a go. Lie down in the middle of the day, no alarm, and let yourself properly rest, because you are on holiday and that is what holidays are for. A short Yoga Nidra is perfect for this, twenty minutes that leaves you feeling like you slept for two hours. No beach required. Your own bed will do beautifully. Here is a FREE practice that I made to download, and if you like it and want more here is my Yoga Nidra for sleep collection, which one of the ladies who bought it described as "really lovely, but I can't get to the end of them because I always fall asleep." I think my job was well done, don't you?

Put your phone somewhere else, not in the same room as you. Really, I mean it! Go on, put your phone in another room. The feed that made you feel left out is not going to help you feel included. Give it a few hours off. The infinity pools will still be there when you get back.

Here is what I have come to think, after enough summers of watching everyone else leave. The people on the aeroplanes are chasing the feeling of being off duty and it can be so rejuvenating. But you can be off duty in your own home if you decide to be, and you can do it this week, without the packing, the airport, or the cost.

The summer you stay at home can be the summer you rest. And a rested you, at home, is not the consolation prize. It might quietly be the better holiday.

Wherever you are this week, at home or in the Bahamas I hope you find a lovely breather and some real rest and relaxation. Happy summer to all!