A regular vacation could make a real dent in your budget, especially if you have a bigger family. Between the hotel reservations, traveling costs, restaurants, shops, etc., the costs add up really quick. But even if money is not an issue (lucky you), there might be some other setbacks that could derail your chances of escaping your daily responsibilities for a week of much needed relaxation and fun.

Thinking about all the places we dream of visiting, we often don’t see the real beauty of the place we actually live in. Not a lot of us realize it, but being stuck in the same routine day after day, we have little, even no time to enjoy Sydney. So this year instead of planning a trip far, far away, stay at home for a “staycation” and look at Sydney through the eyes of a tourist. To begin with, you have to decide whether you’re going to stay at home or go to a hotel somewhere in the city. Both of these have their pros and cons, but me personally, I’d go with option number two.

That’s simply because in order to make your improvised vacation feel as close to a real getaway as possible, you have to do some extra work. Start with deciding on when the staycation starts and ends. Then put some ground rules into play. Say, no work, no emails, no TV, etc. That here would require a lot of will power on your family’s part because resisting to the temptations is not an easy task. Make sure no one disturbs you during your time off. And while you’re on your stay-at-home-vacation, don’t plan for any independent activities – family fun only.

The alternative is to stay at a nice hotel somewhere around the city. That way you’ll surely be away from the distractions of your everyday life. I and my family went to Bondi 38 for our staycation and we had an amazing time. Bondi 38 is a small, snug complex of serviced apartments next to the infamous Bondi beach. If you’re yearning for some privacy and relaxing atmosphere, this is your place. There’s no reception desk, it’s quiet, the view is fantastic, and all apartments are equipped with everything you’d need for your stay. And if you’re planning to extend your staycation, even a visit from a cleaning company could be easily arranged.

In any case, planning for fun activities is essential to your staycation. There’s a good chance you haven’t seen or done some pretty basic touristy stuff in Sydney either because you haven’t had the time to, or because you simply haven’t thought of doing/seeing them. But that’s only natural because we tend to light-handedly dismiss local sites. After all, they are not going anywhere any time soon, so we’ll have time to visit someday, right? And that “someday” is now. So start planning. The easiest way to do it is by opening up some tourism websites and browse for something fun to do or see in Sydney.

Pamper yourself to a nice staycation and open yourself up to the amazing experience. You’ll find it to be quite relaxing and fun.