After our recent phlegm debacle in Cancun, I’ve been giving more thought to the idea of staycations. From all accounts, they tend to be cheaper, safer and involve less risky endeavours like airline travel. Or air conditioning. Since we never did nail down the root cause of my husband’s acute (and hideously noisy) bronchitis, we can only speculate that the guy who was coughing up a lung on our flight down to Cancun, may have shared his germs. Friends have conjectured that the resort’s air conditioning is to blame. Since when does air conditioning harbour germs? Who knows. Maybe it does.
All I know is that Harvey and I are very disappointed that we only got five good days out of a 14-day vacation, due to illness. I know it’s not the end of the world, but Harvey really did need some rest and relaxation. One look at him would tell you that he spent most of the vacation in bed. Sick. And since his nights were nothing but coughing and sweating, neither of us got any sleep.
When my nephew heard the news, he suggested that we may want to stay close to home and have shorter, but more pampering vacations instead. Enter the staycation. He suggested a local spa for a weekend of massages, facials and good food. Or going to the Gulf Islands to commune with nature, iPhone-free. Both of which sound extremely appealing. While we’d have to take a ferry to the Islands, at least we wouldn’t be in an enclosed space, 33,000 feet up in the air, with people coughing and sneezing all over us. In fact, picnicking on the ferry is one of my favourite and least expensive things to do. All it takes is a couple of lox, brie and potato chip sandwiches on Kaiser rolls, a couple bottles of Gatorade and some sunscreen. Sitting on the ferry deck, enjoying the view – you can’t beat it!
B.C. is practically overflowing with staycation possibilities. Even though you may have to drive a bit, it still trumps waiting in airports, risking exotic ailments and jetlag. And we have the world at our doorstep – wineries, hiking and camping spots, fishing, kayaking, natural hot springs and all the nature you can handle. If your idea of camping is the Holiday Inn, then skip that. Any of the other options are still cheaper than a two-week all-inclusive in the Caribbean, including travel, medical and cancellation insurance.
Staycations do involve a certain amount of letting go. By that, I mean letting go of rigidity and ingrained patterns of travel. Just because you haven’t tried kayaking, doesn’t mean you won’t like it. Open your mind, take a few chances and see what happens. Maybe some adjustments to your “bucket list” are in order.
For us, the idea of long distance travel is becoming less and less appealing. When our first concern is if a foreign city has a good hospital and reputable doctors, it may be time to rethink our travel destinations. Let’s face it, getting older and having a laundry list of chronic illnesses doesn’t always mesh with faraway travel. So, check out local options for R&R and you might very well be pleasantly surprised. Happy travels!
