According to the Macmillan dictionary, a daycation (n) is “a day trip or short holiday that does not involve staying away from home overnight.” Daycations are short, are very inexpensive or even free to take, and can fit in whatever time frame you have available.
I recently decided to take a daycation on a particularly beautiful Saturday. It was sunny, in the upper 50s, and nearly clear skies with very little wind. A nearly perfect Minnesota spring day. I didn’t know that is what I was doing at the time. I really just wanted a day out and about. The combination of cabin fever and pandemic lockdown has been rough this winter and I wanted to refresh. I loaded up my bike (the pedal kind) with a few things and set off to explore Austin, enjoy the sun, and just be outside. I even thought I had come up with a clever term for my day out – daycation – until I Googled it and discovered someone had already developed this term. I couldn’t come up with anything catchier, so I decided to stick with calling my outing a daycation.
One of the bike trails in Austin, MN. Austin has a well-developed system of paved trails for walking, running, and cycling.
Below is my recipe for a daycation, or at least the one I took that day. Your ingredients and steps for assembly may vary; however, as long as you are enjoying yourself, your finished product should turn out just fine.
Ingredients
My bicycle, helmet, and saddlebags
A small tarp
Snacks and water
Wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and a mask (standard pandemic gear)
My journal, common notebook, and a book to read
Pens and a few markers
Fully-charge cell phone and headphones
A sense of adventure and curiosity
Leave Behind
Worries
Shoulds
To Do List
Timeline
Steps to Assemble Daycation
Step 1: Load all of your supplies on your bike and head out. Realized a block away that you went out the front door when you meant to go out the back because it was already unlocked. Turn around and go home to make sure the back door is locked.
Step 2: Now that you are sure you house is locked, head to your favorite coffee place for an orange dreamsicle Italian soda. You will need fuel and something refreshing to start this journey.
Step 3: Stop in at your favorite book store and look around while enjoying your beverage. Book stores are in general holy places to a book worm (aka me). Additionally, Italian sodas don’t carry well on bikes, so the book store will provide an activity while consuming the delicious treat. Buy 3 books, one for you and two for a little boy you know. His name is in the title of the books, so that means he should have them, right? Decide the books are too big to take with you all day on your bike. Ride home and leave them on the kitchen counter.
Step 4: Leave your house, again…this time with all the doors locked. Head to a nearby church and play some Pokémon Go (team Mystic Rules!). Takedown two pokégyms and catch some Pokémon. Continue this off and on for the rest of the afternoon as you bike. Install your Pokémon in gyms all over the town.
Step 5: Check out a nearby memorial that you have been curious about but never took the time to see. Try not to giggle when you think about the shape of the memorial.
Memorial to Civil War soldiers located in the Mapleview Cemetery.
Step 6: Bike to a nearby park and explore. Bike around the park 3 or 4 times, looking at every corner of it. How have you lived in this town for so many years and not taken the time to REALLY explore this park? Take some photos. Find a place to sit with just the right amount of shade, sun, and privacy. Spread your small tarp out and have a seat with your journal and book. Enjoy a snack. Read. People watch. Breathe in the fresh air. Soak up the sun.
Stairs to nowhere located in Todd Park.
Step 7: After some time, lay back and just stare at the sky. Watch the clouds go by. Notice how the sun lights up the west side of the trees as if they are covered with ice. Let your body relax and realize you don’t remember the last time you just laid back and watched the sky. Vow to do this more often.
Some of my views of the sky from the ground are provided to the right.
Step 8: Pack up and leave when the bugs (that really shouldn’t be out this early in April) start swarming you.
Step 9: Head towards home. Stop at your favorite little Mexican restaurant and get two fish tacos for dinner. Since your daycation started with a treat, why not end it with one?
Step 10: Go home. Unpack your bike. Enjoy your fish tacos. Spend some time with your cat. Write a blog post about your day. Get ready for your online date with your hot boyfriend.
Total daycation time: 5 hours
Miles traveled: 13.2
Total pokégyms occupied: 14
A day with no agenda: Priceless
© Catherine Haslag
© Catherine Haslag