Stay, enjoy

Gurnaaz Kaur

We all love vacations, but let’s be realistic — a vacation entails planning, preparing, packing, airfare and what not. It’s not always that one is ready to spend hours at the airport, rather with the Coronavirus threat all around one would like to avoid airports all together!

So, what can you do if you just have a day or two at hand? Well, it’s time for a staycation — the perfect way to cut back on your daily routine without feeling exhausted at the end of it. Growing numbers are choosing to ditch lengthy flights and expensive locations in exchange for a vacation a little closer to their homes.

An avid staycationer, Mrinaal Datt says, “Along with my friends, we do it often. We drive around, pick up some good food and then play board games or watch movies. I have often checked into a room at a hotel and indulged in some self care. So, taking spa treatments, eating lavish meals, treating myself to bubble baths become the norm for such days. And, honestly, that feels much better than going to a place for a few days and dealing with the stress of visiting all touristy places.”

Unplug, unwind

Come to think of it, vacations don’t have to involve hitting up exotic locales that require 10-hour long drives. It’s a matter of being at a place where you can unplug, unwind and indulge. Robin and Amrita Nakai is a couple that loves nature and misses no chance to be in its lap. “We love to be in the open and probably every two weeks, we just get in our Scorpio and drive. Sometimes we take the food with us, go to some quiet farm; stop, relax and come back. On days when we decide to go towards the hills, we drive for an hour or two and stop wherever it feels nice. Thankfully, Chandigarh has many such getaways at a distance of a few hours. Kasauli is our favourite. It’s more like a second home,” shares Robin. He adds that their first preference is a home-stay in the mountains.

As an IT professional, Aamiya Mahajan feels the need for a break every month. “My job is quite stressful, so a short trip nearby works as an instant stress-buster.” As a newly married couple, staycationing provides Anmol Rajdev and herself the perfect self-care binge. “Being newly married in a joint family gives you no time for self-love. Our ultimate theory of relaxation began when we started staycations at numerous hotels of tricity, including Bella Vista, Ramada, Golden Tulip et al. We’ve stayed at most five stars and enjoyed spas and massages. Our favourite time is watching the sunrise and sunset by the pool. It’s so serene, yet we don’t enjoy it in our daily lives.”

These two have stayed at most of the hotels in the city and its vicinity and last week they moved towards Kasauli. “We found our paramount staycation at Aamod. We took work-from-home break.”

Go for it

Anjali and Vikram Khurana recently discovered the grandeur of the Nalagarh Fort. “We start it as a casual drive and not return home; instead we just reach a hotel or a motel nearby and spend some hours in rejuvenating our souls. So, one time, we decided to go for lunch just to plan a trip for the next day. While I was still surfing on the internet and finding out which place to go, Vikram had already driven till Baddi. It struck me that it wasn’t a plan anymore. We were already staycationing!” exclaims Anjali.

So, one need not spend a lot of money on travel to create these experiences; just go for a staycation!