37. Take a Vacation at Home

Some of the most fun and relaxing vacations Gibbs and I ever had we’ve taken at home. If you’re just getting started on your simplification program, a vacation at home is a perfect way to begin.

You could start your vacation by getting rid of all the clutter in your life (#1). Making a family project out of this step is not only fun but a good way to set up a check system so that no one cheats.

Taking a vacation at home is also a good time to start a new hobby (#53), or to get your house in shape for speed cleaning (#3), or to plant a garden (#6), or to do any number of the things you’ve been wanting to do, but haven’t had the time because you’ve been too busy and you’re never home.

We spent one vacation getting to know our local community. We realized at one point that there were many visitors to our area who knew our town in some respects better than we did. So we took a day and went to all the art galleries and museums. We took another day and walked every street in the downtown area. We saw new stores and changes to old ones that we hadn’t known about. We took another day and walked through several residential areas; we saw new houses and additions to old ones, and got a firsthand look at the local flora and fauna of our neighborhoods. We also had picnics on the beach and in a couple of our local parks. All of these things contributed to a new feeling of pride and familiarity with our town.

You could take a vacation at home to get caught up on your reading list. If you wanted to take a break from reading, you could watch new videos of favorite movies you’ve been wanting to see. A home vacation is an excellent time to organize a simple eating program (#57), to begin your daily exercise plan (#63), or set up the model ship building project you’ve been promising to do with the kids. Or, you could take a vacation at home and learn to do absolutely nothing (#82).

Hint: It’s often easier if you tell your co-workers, friends, and especially your family that you’ll be “away” on vacation. Otherwise, your vacation time may well be taken up by other people’s crises.