Some locals take living in California for granted while I'm out here on a staycation

 

What really shocks me about living here in California is that we don't take more staycations. Sometimes I post these exotic looking beaches or photos on my socials and I get messaged in my DM asking where was the location. I'm like, here, right here in California!  I've heard at least a dozen times someone says "I take it for granted I've lived here all my life" or they tell me how lucky I am to travel around so much. 

My response is "What are you talkin' about, you live here too!!". Because heavy amount of traffic we have, it discourages some from traveling to far. 

 I suspect part of reason is the "how to" make free time and the why for random staycations usually is the challenge which I'll discuss later in the post. 

. Some of the reasons to take one include:

• not having the budget to travel where you really want to go 
• not feeling like traveling out of the Country for an extended period of time
• need a quick getaway for a couple retreat 
• need a couple of days for self-care rejuvenation
• want to prepare to surf at a prime time an hour a way
• staying in a neighboring city for a surfing event, business convention or concert you don't want to drive home late after attending.
• do something different and expand your experience of local flavor

My favorite Staycation destination is Laguna Beach

I'm not surprised that Laguna Beach is #1 for "The Best Beaches in California"  because the coastline is absolutely breathtaking. Also, it was the alternative hub for Hippie Culture in the late 60's thru the 70's with it's artistic, laid back vibe.  

History of Laguna Beach 

After some research about Laguna because I like to find out why I'm extremely attracted to a place. It's usually some historical context.  I was reading on the Laguna Beach History Organization site that  it's the oldest city in California where they found an Indigenous "Laguna Woman" they call her dating back 5, 000 years. Paleoindians, the Tongva People who settled there dated back 8000 BC to 1846 where they found Orange County's first inhabitants. 

After the Mexican-American War in 1887, Aliso Creek was the territorial bounder between the Gabrielino and Achaemenes Indigenous Tribes. Settlers who came after the war were given land grants when they planted 40 acres of Eucalyptus Trees. Most of the land grants were given to prominent families in the area.

An alternative Hippie Culture of Artist

By the 1930's the area was established as a Creative Community of Artist because of their large population of photographers, filmmakers, writers and painters. The artistic theme of Laguna and the natural environment to do photoshoots is what I really love about hanging out there. I'm still trying to figure out where the good plant-based food is, if you have any recommendations let me know but overall the People are real chill, the vibe is nice and the ocean is clear. 

In conclusion, if you want to know how to take more staycations but you're used to spending your days off days are running around doing;

• Household chores (pick a early day in the week or mid week)
• Running errands (if you can't do it online then do it before or after work)
• Grocery shopping for the week (go right after work or order groceries) 
• Do all the boring chores on your regular work days (you're probably already maxed out mentally so doing those chores after working out will make you sleep better)
• Meal Prepping is underrated if you have children. This was the best thing I did when I became an Entrepreneur when they were young. I cooked up one to two weeks of meals to refrigerate or freeze (some I didn't cook through completely but was enough to marinate the flavors). 
• Now that they're all adults and I'm an empty nester, it's still the best thing to do to which saves me time through the week to stay on track of my calories but also to free up space to do other things. Of course you can use a meal service too.

Getting all that out of the way means you'll have to get used to changing up your regular routine and really get use to those off days as they were meant to be. Reclaim your time! If I missed some ways to staycation, I'd love to hear yours. Share this post.