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4 tips for planning a short-haul relaxing weekend away
If you haven’t heard the news, staycations are big right now. More and more people are looking to stay on home soil, rather than jumping on a plane and taking advantage of one of the many budget airlines we have become used to over the years.
However, especially if you live in a country which might not offer the same weather advantages as classic holiday destinations (we’re looking over to the UK here!), a degree of planning is required. Unless you are visiting in the peak of a heatwave, beaches are probably off the menu – and this tends to be the go-to piece of advice for most relaxing breaks abroad.
Bearing this in mind, let’s now take a look at some top tips that you should be armed with before you set sail on your relaxing weekend break.
You don’t have to head to the tourist cities
Few would disagree that tourist cities are great to visit. There’s an attraction for everyone, food for the masses – and they generally keep us all happy.
However, whether or not they are suited for a relaxing break is questionable. Let’s not forget that they attract people from all over the world, and such crowds hardly lead to a relaxing state.
It means that rather than considering somewhere like London, look slightly further afield to an alternative like Portsmouth. There are still plenty of things to do, the hotels are much better value, and you’ll be much more relaxed.
The same rules apply to specific attractions
We’ve just touched on how you should be doing your upmost to avoid the tourist cities, but this advice can be spread to specific attractions as well.
Even if you have opted to visit a city like Portsmouth, perhaps consider if the popular attractions in this city are really suited to your relaxing escape. If you are looking to unwind, it might be more advisable to explore your surroundings, rather than get bogged down in all the visitors that will be flocking to these sites.
Leave your phone at home
OK, the above probably isn’t practical advice, but if you can at least try and leave your phone on silent, on airplane mode or anything else that takes you away from it, you’ll be amazed at the effect it has on your weekend.
As some studies have started to tell us, a lot of people are becoming addicted to their smartphone. It means that we are constantly checking it, both for work and personal reasons, and our brain never really switches off. It means that your relaxing weekend isn’t that relaxing – and obviously, this is a problem.
Don’t cram your itinerary
The rise of the internet is probably to blame for this next point, but more and more of us are guilty of planning jam-packed itineraries each and every time we venture away.
Sure, for some of us it works, but for the relaxing break it doesn’t. The last thing you want to be doing is constantly having one eye on the clock – and this will happen if you start to plan “too much” during this break.
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