I love a good quote (and bet you do, too). I get excited whenever I find a sentiment that’s perfectly expressed. There’s something universal about a good quote.

That’s what I sought when hunting for these staycation quotes. They’ll make you look forward to spending more time at home. The quotes will change your perspective on what is possible with a staycation. They’ll give you staycation ideas, too!

But first: If you’re not familiar with this term, here’s how I define staycation: A staycation is time you spend at home or near home with the intention of creating a restful, exceptional or memorable experience.

In other words, staycations get you the wonderful feelings of a vacation—without traveling far.

Take as many staycations as you want!

Now that we’re all on board with how awesome staycations can be, it’s time to get excited! You can plan staycations anytime. Take a few days off work or take advantage of a plan-free weekend. Without the expense of flights, gas or hotels, you can take as many staycations as you want every year.

Here I’m sharing my favorite staycation quotes. Below, you’ll find inspiration, ideas and even permission to let everything go and simply do nothing. Feel free to use these staycation quotes for Instagram captions, too!

And while you’re looking for inspiration, check out my latest book for staycation ideas!

Quotes for Staycation Inspiration

“Sometimes, home has a heartbeat.” -Beau Taplin

“Laughter is an instant vacation.” -Milton Berle

“Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.” -Hazrat Inayat Khan

“No matter where you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” -Anthony J. D’Angelo

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” ― Mason Cooley

“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.” -J.K. Rowling

Staycation Quotes about the Comfort of Home

“Home is where the heart is.” -Pliny the Elder

“He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” –Jane Austen

“There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireplace.” –Cicero

“Home is a shelter from storms.” -William J. Bennett

Staycation Quotes about Stillness

“Simply wait, be quiet, still. The world will freely offer itself to you.” -Franz Kafka

“Being still does not mean don’t move. It means move in peace.” -Eyen A. Gardner

“How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward.” -Spanish proverb

“Rest until you feel like playing, then play until you feel like resting, period. Never do anything else.” -Martha Beck

“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.” — Rumi

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it.” -Robert Orben

Returning Home Quotes

“Our homes should inspire us to go out into the world to do great things and then welcome us back for refreshment.” –Melissa Michaels

“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.” –Wendy Wunder

“Every traveller has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.” –Charles Dickens

“A man travels all over the world in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.” -George Moore

Couples Staycation Quotes

“So I’m going home/Back to the place where I belong/And where your love has always been enough for me.” -Daughtry

“We were together. All else has been long forgotten by me.” -Walt Whitman

“Home is wherever I’m with you.” -Edward Sharpe

“When we have each other, we have everything.”

“At night I dream that you and I are two plants that grew together, roots entwined, and that you know the earth and the rain like my mouth, since we are made of earth and rain.” -Pablo Neruda

“Together is a beautiful place to be.” -Nubya Garcia

Are you feeling inspired by these staycation quotes? Do you have some to share? Please let me know in the comments below.

PS – Don’t forget to buy your e-book or paperback of 50 Fun Staycation Adventures for Kids. If you’re looking for fun family activities, I’m betting you’ll agree with the many readers who made the book a #1 Amazon Bestseller: These staycation ideas are fun, inexpensive and unforgettable.

The post Staycation Quotes: 27 Inspiring Quotations for Your Next At-Home Vacation appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

Planning a staycation doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t have to spend hours researching or prepping. No need to spend a ton of money.

In fact, a family staycation is one of the most budget-friendly travel options you can find.

And since you don’t have to spend the time traveling (no TSA lines!) or the money on lodging, you can focus even more on what’s important: spending time together. These staycation ideas are perfect for making memories together!

So what are you waiting for? Read on for the ideas and tips you need to plan an unforgettable family staycation.

Staycation meaning??!

First, let’s define staycation.

A common staycation definition is this: A vacation taken without traveling far from home.

I use the staycation meaning in a similar but subtly different way. When I define staycation, I think of a mindset more than a list of specific things to do on staycation.

That means that you don’t actually have to stay at home. Consider day trips, excursions, outings, activities—basically anything that gives you the feel-good buzz of a vacation without having to spend the night away from home.

I’ve been thinking about at-home vacations a ton lately—so much so that I wrote a book about it! 50 Fun Staycation Adventures for Kids is full of fresh ideas and experiences for family weekend ideas. (Of course you can use these staycation ideas any day of the week!) Download the e-book or order your paperback by clicking the image below:

Now that you’re all jazzed about the idea of getting the benefits of a vacation—without having to research or pay for lodging and plane tickets—read on for planning a staycation.

1. Get staycation supplies

No matter if you’re planning a staycation in your neighborhood or a town several hours away, you’ll need some basic supplies.

The good news is this core list of things to bring applies for just about any family staycation you plan! Make sure to bring:

• Hand sanitizer and wipes
• Extra masks
• Water
• Sunscreen
• First-aid kit
• Optional: 50 Fun Staycation Adventures for Kids

These are likely things you have handy anyway. If you want to be ready to go on a family staycation at the drop of a hat, keep these supplies together in a small bag or kit. That way you can grab it and go!

In addition, make sure you do these things before you leave the house:

1. Fully charge your phone
2. Fill your car’s gas tank
3. Let someone know where you’re going and what you plan to do
4. Check the weather

2. Adopt an adventurous attitude

Like so much in life, the right attitude can make or break a fun staycation.

If you go into it thinking it’s going to be lame, your expectations will come true!

If, however, you start a staycation by thinking of it as an adventure—well, then you’ll get yourself an adventure. (Don’t just take it from me, though; check out this Amazon review of my staycation book.)

So how do you adopt the right attitude for the staycation?

So don’t think of a staycation as a runner up. It’s not something you settle for because you’re not traveling at the moment. Rather, it’s an opportunity to experience and explore the area near you in a whole new way!

3. Approach a family staycation like a vacation

I have a question for you. What makes a vacation a vacation?

On vacation, you see new places and try new things. You treat yourself. You spend quality time with your loved ones.

The same can all be said for an at-home experience, as long as you approach planning a staycation with the right mindset!

As you decide on what to do in a staycation, keep in mind the feelings you get while traveling and the experiences you plan. Aim to recreate those at home.

For example, let’s say one of your recent family trips involved horseback riding on the beach. You don’t have to duplicate that—in fact, you may not live anywhere near the ocean!

Instead, hunt for the feeling and experience underneath that activity.

You and your kids might have felt exhilaration while horseback riding. If that’s the case, look for an activity that would make you feel the same way.

If horseback riding on the beach was memorable because it was a new experience, look for something new to try as a family.

4. Plan fun things to do in a staycation

When you’re planning a staycation, you might feel overwhelmed by all the options. On the other hand, you might draw a blank of what to do in a staycation.

You can brainstorm fun family staycation ideas in these ways:

• By passions. Do your kids love one thing in particular? Whether it’s farm animals, emergency responders or dinosaurs (my kids’ favorite!), you can build a whole family staycation around a few activities.
• “I’ve always wanted to…” Are there things to do and places to go near you that you haven’t yet explored? Whether it’s visiting a local history museum or going antiquing in a nearby town, turn it into a staycation.
• Do a crawl. Pick a food or drink your whole crew loves. Then hit up the places that serve this goodness. Try it with donuts, french fries, smoothies or another favorite food. Visit several in a day (exploring the neighborhoods you visit, of course) and vote for your favorite.

If you’re having trouble coming up with fun staycation ideas, don’t worry! My book 50 Fun Staycation Adventures for Kids is all the inspiration you need. In the book, I share staycation adventures and instructions to make them fun for everyone.

The book is for busy parents of elementary aged kids, helping you plan out of the box and unforgettable outings for the family. It’s stuffed full of ideas of things to do near home, no matter where you live. Click here or the image below to get your e-book or paperback copy!

5. Document your adventures

Are you as into documenting your travels as I am? I absolutely adore taking photos, making photo books and doing other projects to remember our trips together.

This doesn’t have to turn into a massive scrapbooking endeavor! Just make a point to take some photos (including ones with you in the frame). Collect items from your staycation adventure, from menus to fallen leaves. Draw or write a few sentences of something memorable from the activity.

Do these things with your kids’ involvement. They may get really into it!

I love this step of a staycation because it keeps the feel-good travel buzz going even after you return home. Plus, you can look back on whatever you create to remember your fun staycation!

What do you think? Are you ready to plan a family staycation? Remember, if you want all the fun without having to come up with ideas on your own, grab a copy of 50 Fun Staycation Adventures for Kids. Click to get yours today!

The post Fun Family Staycation: 5 Ways to Plan the Ultimate Vacation at Home appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

I’m pretty sure you already know the many benefits of raising global citizens: Kids who are globally minded have the communication skills, flexibility and appreciation of diversity they’ll require when they grow up.

Practicing these skills through fun activities will also lead to smoother trips once you can travel internationally again. The activities are also an excellent add-on for distance learning or homeschooling. You can incorporate them into other lessons or create a unit on global travel!

Finally, these virtual travel activities are just plain fun. If quarantine has used up all your ideas to entertain the kids, this post will give you some fresh activities to try!

And if you haven’t already, go ahead and download the free sample chapters of my book, Virtual Travel Activities for Kids. These chapters will give you a taste of what to expect in the book as well as fun activities you can use to virtually explore any country in the world.

This post contains affiliate links. Clicking through and buying nets me a small income at no extra cost to you. This helps me continue to bring you free family travel content here on the blog.

Go global at dinner

If your family is like mine, then dino nuggets and mac n cheese probably make a frequent appearance on your table. No matter how picky your kids are, introduce global flavors.

If your littles are used to the typical kid fare, they’re unlikely to dive into a delicious curry dish right off the bat. Instead, start with tastes of side dishes or different takes on foods they already like.

To be transparent, my kids still don’t eat much of what I do. But the simple exposure to the Moroccan lentil soup and huevos rancheros that I eat makes them more likely to try those tastes later on.

As you eat your delicious meal, talk a bit about the culture and geography where the dish originates. Does it include ingredients unique to that country or region? Is it a typical food or a special occasion dish? These conversations will help your kids learn about other cultures and also practice eating unfamiliar foods—which they’ll need to do when traveling internationally.

(Do you have picky eaters in your family, too? If you do, then I know you’ll get a lot out of my post on traveling with picky kiddos.)

Print a passport

I love using passports as a conversation starter with kids because they help make international travel feel more concrete. Young children don’t have an easy way to understand abstract concepts like borders or global politics. But give them something to hold—especially something with awesome stamps—and they get it.

You can even download my passport printable in the To & Fro Fam freebies section. That way, each of your kids can have their very own pretend passport.

Every time you virtually visit a country (e.g. with the hundreds of activities in my book, Virtual Travel Activities for Kids), draw a picture of something that represents the place. You can also print a picture of the country’s flag or design your own “stamp” using colors, symbols and destinations related to the country.

Your kids will have fun “collecting” countries!

Travel via your library

Especially during times when you’re not able to travel—whether that’s from budget limitations or a worldwide pandemic—books can open the world to kids.

If your family is interested in a particular place, search for books set in or about that country. We also love books about the nuts and bolts of travel (e.g. The Airport Book) and about many places and cultures (like Walk This World).

“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey.” -Anna Quindlen

Many libraries will collect books you request for pickup, even if they’re not open for browsing. And read aloud videos on YouTube share books your family will love.

If you’re not sure where to start—or you want fresh ideas on what to read—find inspiration in my post on our favorite children’s books about travel.

Be a tourist in your hometown

I’m pretty sure you’ll agree that it’s easy to overlook the place where you live. But traveling around your town like a tourist can be a wonderful travel experience—and teach your kids some of the skills they need to become world travelers!

Start by researching, just as you would before an international trip. What kinds of things do visitors most enjoy about your town? What are the must-do activities? What have you always meant to do but never gotten around to?

Next, plan a day’s itinerary. This helps your kids practice planning and also understand that they can’t do absolutely everything. That helps them prioritize—an important skill when there are more things to do than time allows!

Then set out for your staycation trip. Really try to soak it in like a tourist who might not get another chance to visit.

For extra fun, buy post cards and send them to friends about your “vacation.” You can also take pictures and make a trip photo book, or do some of the other no-pressure vacation memory projects I recently wrote about.

A trip throughout your hometown may not feel nearly as exciting as an overseas vacation, but it will help teach your kids to be world travelers.

Bring out the atlas, globe and Google Earth

I have vivid memories of playing with my family’s globe when I was a little kid. We’d spin the globe, close our eyes, and stop the turn with a finger. Wherever the finger pointed, we’d pretend to go there.

Exploring the world from home—via an atlas or globe—is a terrific way for your family to do virtual travel.

Check out another country’s terrain, roads and cities in an atlas. Compare distances by measuring with a string between various countries on a globe. Zoom in and out of a location with Google Earth.

To develop their critical thinking skills, compare how each of these represents one country. Why are they visualized differently? What information does each convey? When would you use each?

Let your kids navigate

When we hike, we often pause at a fork in the trail. “Which way should we go?” I’ll ask my kids. Letting them pick signals we don’t always have a defined itinerary and helps them look at travel as an adventure.

You can do the same when exploring a city. Let your kids take point and see where they lead you!

After all, when your kids are world travelers, they’ll be in situations where you’re lost or don’t know which way to turn. They’ll need to be ok with uncertainty and with just taking a leap—or at least a step—into the unknown.

Find friends abroad

When I was little, I loved writing letters to pen pals. By the time I reached middle school, I corresponded with friends in Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand and Costa Rica.

Your kids can make friends across the world, too. They can go old-school and send letters or post cards. But technology makes finding global friends even easier! They can chat over WhatsApp or Marco Polo, email, or chat on a messenger app (with an adult’s supervision).

(I really like the book Same, Same but Different. It tells a story of two kids getting to know each other via letters. This children’s book is a terrific way to introduce the concept of pen pals to your littles.)

If your kids are interested, you can ask your friends or social media followers to connect you with another child. Or you can sign up with Interpals, where people go to connect and practice their language skills.

Learn about friends’ backgrounds

Most people have family roots from another place in the world. Some have long histories in the country where you live; others are recent immigrants.

Either way, encourage your kiddos to ask adult friends about their cultural heritage. Your kids will learn about other countries and how interconnected our world is.

Practice the language

The neuroplasticity of kids’ brains means that it’s way easier for them to learn a language than it is for you and me. That means now is the best time to practice another language!

For example, Max and Edie learn Mandarin in school, and Hubs and I have tried to learn alongside them. So when I ask Maxine how many pancakes she wants, I encourage her to answer in Mandarin. The everyday use helps us all practice—which will come in handy once we’re able to reschedule our trip to China and Taiwan.

Even if you don’t have any upcoming trips—or the budget to fly halfway across the world—learning a bit of another language helps your kids grow into global citizens.

And if you do travel abroad, the practice will pay off: It’ll help them orient a little better when they’re immersed in another culture.

Embrace different

I have a real sensitivity around my kids saying “yuck” about food; I have very strong feelings that belittling someone’s food can equal belittling their cultural heritage. So serve your kids food they might not like, and practice alternatives to “yuck.” In our house, I remind them to say, “I don’t care for that.”

That might seem like an insignificant switch, but it’s one step to teaching kids that different doesn’t equal bad.

Children need to learn cultural intelligence to thrive in the 21st century. Cultural intelligence allows us to interact, learn from and appreciate people with different cultural backgrounds.

So any time you hear them (or yourself!) saying that something is “weird” about another place, check yourselves. Come up with a different way to talk about it. Try:

• “I had never thought of doing it that way before.”
• “I wonder why we do this differently.”
• “That’s neat! I wonder if people in other places have even more ways of doing this.”

This one is my favorite:

• “Isn’t it cool that there are so many ways to do things! The world would be a pretty boring place if we were all the same.”

Teach them about their roots

No need to go in-depth with your 23 And Me results (unless your kids are a little older), but you can talk to your kids about where your family comes from. It’ll all be abstract to littles, but understanding that just about everyone comes from somewhere else will expand their idea of the world.

Once you’ve IDed where your ancestors come from, explore those places virtually. You might know the city, town or region where your ancestors came from—if so, check it out through Google maps, videos on YouTube or the websites of cultural attractions there.

Even if you know only the country, learn about what it’s like there today and what it was like during the time when your ancestors left.

The post Family virtual travel: Help your kids become world travelers from home appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

You might be looking for Oregon family travel ideas or inspiration for day trips near Portland. Or maybe you were stuck at home with a bunch of kids who had influenza and you want to live vicariously. (If that’s the case, I’m so so so sorry. Where can I send the hand sanitizer—and bottle of wine?)

Either way, I’m happy to share the Spring Break plans of a family travel blogger. What’s more, I’ll share tips alongside our family adventures so you can adapt our adventures to your family. That way, you can add more fun to your family outings no matter if you live nearby in Portland or farther afield.

Happy Spring Break, friends!

Answered: So what does a family travel blogger do on Spring Break?

We started our own Spring Break early, since Hubs’s cousin got married in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We also spent a few days in Chicago visiting my relatives and exploring family-friendly Chicago activities. (More on that in a later post!)

For the purposes of this post on what does a family travel do on Spring Break, though, I’ll limit myself to the actual week-long break in Oregon.

We had planned to spend a few days in Seattle, but after a week in the Midwest with kids, I wasn’t up for schlepping them on vacation again. Also, I had to actually work. (Yep, I have a full-time gig in addition to this family travel blog!)

So we scrapped our Seattle plans and opted to stay home. Instead, Hubs and I switched back and forth with the kids. We took a bunch of day trips from Portland and adventures close to home.

Here’s a sneak peek into a family travel blogger’s Spring Break!

Hiking in West Linn

We are so fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful places in the country. And I can’t express how lucky we were to get perfect weather on Spring Break in Oregon!

We wouldn’t be true Oregonians if we didn’t take advantage of the sunny weather. So one day, we went hiking in West Linn down to the Willamette River. A short trail called Maddax Woods in West Linn runs from a small trailhead in a residential neighborhood to a sandy beach on the Willamette River.

We love this little river beach because no one is ever there, and the girls can play for hours in the sand. It’s also right across from an island that great blue herons use as a nesting site, so you can see the enormous birds land in their nests at the tippy top of the trees.

On another day, we hiked at Camassia Nature Preserve in West Linn. This mile-long hike winds through wildflower fields and oak forest, all filled with native plants and birds. There’s a nesting osprey living at Camassia, which we saw bring sticks back to its nest.

In April, wild camas flowers bloom at Camassia Nature Preserve, making this West Linn hike turn purple!

Level 10 travel tip: Don’t discount family activities just because they’re close. Camassia is mere minutes from our house, but my girls still approach this hike like an adventure!

Sledding on Mt. Hood

The girls have been asking to play in the snow on Mt. Hood, so on a sunny day we made it happen. Mt. Hood is only an hour’s drive from Portland, making snowboarding, skiing and sledding easy for families in Portland and nearby.

The girls haven’t yet learned to ski, but they’re expert sledders. These two adventurers climbed steep hills of snow all by themselves and zoomed down like daredevils!

Hubs took the girls to White River Snow Park near Government Camp. For just a $6 parking pass, they spent half a day sledding on Mt. Hood. They were sure tuckered out after that!

Farm tour in West Linn

On another day in the life of a family travel blogger on Spring Break, I took the kids on a farm tour in West Linn. We met up with several other families we used to do homeschool preschool with when Maxine was 2. (I wrote about our homeschool preschool for 2-year-olds on my other blog—take a peek if you’d like ideas for outdoor activities, sensory play and preschool lessons!)

We spent just over an hour on a farm tour in West Linn at Triskelee Farm. The highlight: feeding alpacas! A whole bunch of adorable alpacas ate carrots and apple slices from our hands.

We also pet pigs, met a day-old goat, admired horses and even spotted two peacocks! We went home with lots of stories—and a dozen eggs laid by chickens right on this farm in West Linn.

Level 10 travel tip: Search “farm tour” plus your town to explore farm life near you! If you live in a city, search “urban farm” or “community garden.” Kids love meeting animals up-close and learning how food gets to their plate.

Swimming in the wave pool

For my older daughter’s birthday last year, we took the family to the Waves and Wings Water Park—a wave pool with epic slides in McMinnville, Oregon. The girls asked to go back pretty much every day for months, but the drive and expense kept us saying “Maybe later…”—until we realized there’s a wave pool near Portland!

The North Clackamas Aquatic Park’s wave pool near Portland is waaaaay cheaper than Waves and Wings. It’s also in Milwaukie, Oregon, just a few minutes’ drive from downtown Portland. Hubs took the kids to swim at the wave pool one day on our Spring Break, which pretty much made their year.

Level 10 travel tip: Do your kids love a family attraction that is too far or too expensive to do regularly? Search for what it is (e.g. “wave pool” or “paint your own pottery” plus “budget” or your town) to find one that’s more doable.

Cannon Beach day trip

We kept an eye on the weather at the Oregon Coast and when we got a great forecast, we zipped off for a Cannon Beach day trip.

Less than 2 hours from Portland, Cannon Beach is one of my favorite spots on the Oregon Coast. Iconic Haystack Rock, a huge rock right off the beach, is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Oregon.

My kids don’t really care about Haystack Rock; they’re too busy playing in the water!

In addition to splashing in the cold waves of the Pacific Ocean, we dug an enormous pit in the sand and made a gigantic castle. All four of us worked on it together for an hour… though my older daughter spent most of the time “supervising.” Mm-hmm…

Level 10 travel tip: Take on a project together as a family—and make it an ambitious one! The girls drew the outline of a gigantic pit, which seemed unattainably big. But together, we worked hard and did something that seemed almost impossible. Tackle a big project as a family on a staycation—see what you can do together!

Oregon Zoo adventure… the good and bad

We babysat my friends’ son for a bit over spring break while they took a much-needed night away. I wanted to do something special with the kids so we headed to the Oregon Zoo. Each of the kids got to see their favorite animals—elephants, cheetahs, flamingos!

I also got a taste of what life might have been like had we had a third child. Aaaaaaaand I lost Edie. Temporarily. I found her watching the painted dogs. From the safe side of the glass.

Anywayyyyyyyy…

If you want to check out the Oregon Zoo, click on over to read my post on members’ tips to visit the zoo in Portland! I promise there are no tips on how to lose your kids.

Family fun in Lake Oswego

A dear friend from grad school whom I hadn’t seen in years was also in town during Spring Break, so the girls and I met up with her in Lake Oswego, just outside Portland. I got to plan our meet-up spot so of course I chose Kyra’s Bake Shop, my all-time-favorite gluten-free bakery in Portland!

The girls were overjoyed because I let them choose whatever treat they wanted and they didn’t even have to share. I predictably got what I always get: a gluten-free and dairy-free cinnamon roll.

To let the kids run off the sugar from their chocolate chip cupcakes, we headed to George Rogers Park in Lake Oswego. We love this park because it has a long stretch of beach on the Willamette River. In the summer, you can rent kayaks and stand up paddleboards here. It’s a popular spot for families in Lake Oswego for good reason!

Oregon Spring Break ideas from a family travel blogger

I hope this post gave you a glimpse into what does a family travel blogger do on Spring Break. I also hope it broke the myth that travel bloggers do nothing but jet from here to there on a never-ending vacation! Sometimes we stick close to home on a sort of staycation to make the most of the family friendly activities nearby.

As a family travel blogger, I have to juggle family adventures with work, travel time with home time. Sometimes a good staycation is just what we need. And sometimes unusual family activities are just what you need on spring break!

And with so many wonderful day trips near Portland, we definitely didn’t feel deprived on Spring Break.

What did you do on Spring Break this year? Did you take a big trip with the family? Or did you do more of a staycation?

The post What does a family travel blogger do on Spring Break? appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

A writer’s retreat staycation to level up your blog

Being a travel blogger as a side hustle isn’t always easy. I love nothing more than exploring a family-friendly destination with my kids (or a kid-free getaway!), but then I have to actually find the time to write about my adventures. I love writing blog posts, too, but while juggling my full-time job and motherhood, my to-write list is always long—and daunting. That’s why I recently reserved an entire day for a writer’s retreat staycation—and here’s why you should, too.

Setting aside a whole day to do nothing but work on my blog made me more productive. It helped me bank a reserve of travel blog posts to draw from during busy weeks. It allowed me to focus on creating great content my fans love to read. And it cut out distractions—even the cutest distractions in the world, aka my kids.

What allowed me to spend a whole day focused on travel writing instead of laundry and fixing snacks and pretending not to see the stack of unopened mail on the counter? Building the writer’s retreat staycation around a brilliant concept I just learned about: Hotels By Day. The startup, which you may remember from its appearance on Shark Tank, partners with hotels around the world to open up rooms during the day. So if you have a day-long layover en route to a far-flung destination, or you want a place to clean up for a wedding and use the pool after a day of hiking, you can reserve a room with Hotels By Day. Or, of course, you can do a “daycation” writer’s retreat like my blogging bestie Jenni from A Well Crafted Party and I did.

7 steps to write a library of blog posts in one day

Pretty sure it’s safe to say all of us bloggers want to create better content more quickly—right? Batching blog post writing—in the right environment and with the right productivity hacks—helps you write more (and more engaging!) posts. Here’s how to plan the ultimate blogging writer’s retreat staycation.

1. Post up in a place without distractions

Jenni and I got into our room at Portland’s The Jupiter and it was clean, uncluttered and definitely free of My Little Ponies all over the floor. In other words, it was the serene opposite of my house.

Booking a daycation with Hotels By Day for our local writer’s retreat gave me the space to concentrate on writing great blog posts. Because my attention wasn’t being constantly pulled this way and that, I was able to get more done in these hours than I could ever dream of at home.

2. Pack your writer’s essentials

When we went on our writer’s retreat staycation, I packed the notebook I use for brainstorming posts, my bullet journal with my hashtag lists, post-it notes—and a pack of La Croix. You see, we all have quirky routines that put us in the writing mindset, and mine just happens to be sparkling pamplemousse. #dontjudge

3. Articulate your writing goals

To have a successful writer’s retreat staycation, you first need to figure out what you aim to accomplish—and be specific. For me, I wanted to write a bank of travel blog posts that I could have ready to publish during the busy weeks when I don’t have the time to write a post from scratch. You may want to spend your time researching long-tail keywords and brainstorming post ideas, or rebranding your web site, or go my route and just write. But regardless of what you do, pick—and stick with—one theme, at least for a chunk of time.

This productivity hack is called batching, and research shows it’s much more effective than our usual way of working. When we multitask—e.g. begin to write a blog post but then remember that you need to create a pin for it so you go through your images and then remember another point you want to add to your post—your productivity dips 40%.

So be clear about your goal for your writer’s retreat staycation. You can write it on a post-it note to steer you back to your task when you’re tempted to peek at reddit, or you can share it with your writing partner like I did with Jenni. Just make sure you know what you’re doing—and what you’re not doing.

4. Fuel your creativity

If you’ve rented a room for the day, you may be tempted to hole up and not leave—but don’t forget to eat! Jenni and I ate breakfast at Moberi and lunch at Prasad East, where we indulged in 100% healthy and delicious food that wouldn’t make us feel sluggish afterward. Make sure to take food breaks! A hungry brain is not creative.

5. Channel encouragement and inspiration

Sometimes it’s hard to get in the blog writing zone—whatever you type doesn’t seem right. In these moments, I like to draw inspiration from other writers.

That’s why I made a set of cards with quotes on writing. (I even made them pretty, because glitter washi tape makes everything better!) When I’m feeling stuck, I pull out a card at random and use the advice from the quote on writing to push me out of my rut.

And hey, you can too! Download my free quotes on writing printable for a little inspiration. And if you’re like me and want to go just a tad bit extra, gussy them up with washi tape. #teamglitter

6. Get a change of scenery

Just because we booked a Hotels By Day room didn’t mean we had to stay behind that closed door (although have you seen the doors at The Jupiter? They’re chalkboards! Yes, we took advantage).

So no matter where you’re doing your writer’s retreat staycation, move every so often. Getting out of your chair wakes you up and increases blood flow (and therefore nutrient-rich, creativity-boosting blood to your brain). A change of scenery may help spark new ideas, too.

At The Jupiter, we hung out for a bit in the hotel lobby, which was filled with the attention-grabbing photo composites of Portland icons created by Beth Kerschen. Oh, and the lobby had coffee and tea, too. #caffeine!

Plan your next writer’s retreat staycation

Jenni and I vowed to do another writer’s retreat staycation—or daycation, or destination—soon. I was blown away by how much more productive I was writing blog posts when I wasn’t doing anything else. (I know, shocking!)

We don’t have another writer’s retreat on the books yet (because life), but this one won’t be our last. Whether we book our writer’s retreat spot again through Hotels By Day, or rent a house together on the beach, or simply take over a local cafe, we’ll be rocking the writer’s retreat staycation before long. If you want your choice made easy, though, book through Hotels By Day because a day-long hotel stay is a savvy way to plan a writer’s retreat.

Want to join me? Reach out via my contact page. Whenever you’re in Portland I’d love to connect with fellow travel bloggers or travel-loving parents!

The post 7 steps to write a library of posts in a day—with a writer’s retreat staycation appeared first on To & Fro Fam.