Staycation vs Vacation

The first time I heard this term was when I was in college – and someone in my dorm asked me if I’d be doing a staycation this year around. As I came to the Netherlands as a student, and did not really know the country that well, I could understand why a staycation could be beneficial, instead of flying x miles back home as I was used doing every year.

So, the first time I went on a staycation was actually quite … different. There’s simply on other term for it really. 

In the Netherlands you have the NS (Nationale Spoorwegen) which offer trips for days away. (Dagje uit as it’s called in Dutch). So, I thought let’s DO THIS! Bought a dagje uit ticket and on to Maastricht I went. Now Maastricht is a city somewhere in the south and lo-and-behold: it did feel as if I was not really in Nijmegen no more!

Went on a tour, ate at a nice eatery somewhere and as it was a sunny day (I sure was blessed!) spent a pleasant afternoon in the Center of Maastricht and had a blast! Now logic would dictate that as this turned out to be such a great thing to do, I’d go on more of these, right?

Eh… Wrong. Somehow traveling outside of my country of residence has an allure that I can’t seem to shake. Now that I’m living on the island, this feeling has even intensified, while I could easily do a staycation here on the island as well! Going to Westpunt for example in one of the weekend houses there, or Lagun! Ahhh my kids adore the beach there [for the life of me I don’t see what they see but hey! Every one their own opinion of course!].

In short, in the staycation vs vacation battle, vacation always wins. What are your experiences with staycations? Do you do these often? Let us know in the comments below!