The staycation: “Wish you were here – Oh! You are!”
—The Independent
The phenomenon of the staycation originated during the past several years, when gas prices soared, the economy soured, and people started searching for alternative ways to take a much-needed break from routine. Rather than shoulder the expense of travelling around the globe, or even across the state, people began planning to spend their vacations at home. This became such a widespread practice that the term “staycation” was coined, eventually making its way into Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as part of the 2009 revision.
Staycation is one of more than 100 words—including locavore (one who eats only locally-grown food), green-collar (one who works to improve the environment), and webisode (a TV show that can be seen on a website)—that were included in the revision. Dictionary officials have explained that while these words may not be new, they have become so rooted in common language they warrant official inclusion.
Staycations are not limited to the United States; they are a phenomenon abroad as well, prompting this clever headline in Britain’s The Independent newspaper: “Staycation UK: Wish you were here – Oh! You are!”
What people do on their staycations ranges from visiting local attractions, to hosting cookouts and family gatherings, to doing, well, nothing. On the down side, one contributor to the online urbandictionary.com irreverently defined it as “a chance to sit around and look at all the reasons you wanted to get away for a week in the first place.”
But most people are doing more than just nothing, and many are finding it a rewarding and certainly more relaxing way to spend their free time. They’re catching up on hobbies, whiling away the hours with friends and family, enjoying a more relaxed pace, getting extra sleep, and catching up on the latest bestselling books and movies they’ve been too busy to enjoy.
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