Staycation plans, again!

It’s been over a year and a half since I wrote about taking a staycation, and err…haven’t yet got down to it!

It’s surprising sometimes, how time passes you by, as you keep making plans and do little to action them.

And from the past few days, I’ve realized that it has become essential to look at my strategy for 2023, plan things and budgets and stuff. A minor detail – Q1 already flew by!

I need some time with a clear mind – away from operational duties, and I haven’t yet got it. The upcoming Eid break may be an option – but where can I go? Every resort in and around UAE will be packed to the gills. And ridiculously expensive.

Staying at home means no change, so no clear mind, and back to square 1.

Help! Ideas please.

In the meanwhile, here is what I was planning 18-odd months back. And I sure hope that I don’t write another entry in 18 months, complaining about the same thing!


What do bromance, shopaholic, brunch and romcom have in common?

They are all portmanteaus!

At the risk of sounding like a certain Tharoor, portmanteaus are obtained by combining two words to make a new one that describes the combination. You may have heard quite a few portmanteaus, but the latest I heard is staycation.

No, not that I was not aware of this – of course, with all the advertising around it, how can one remain ignorant – but this word popped up last week when a certain family friend said she needed a break, and hence was planning a staycation.

This dreaded word had been spoken, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. And so, in a few hours time, my family too was added to the staycation plans…and as a consequence, I will be finally (or maybe) off this weekend, chilling (or burning) on a beach someplace close enough to home but far enough so that it isn’t home.

Wonder what I will do if someone calls me for business – I haven’t had this disconnected feeling in a long time. The last time around was before the pandemic, when I was in Rishikesh (ah the food, the mountains, the calm!). That was two years ago. Wow.

From then, it has been one long week, with a sprinkling of a few hours of me time thrown in.

By the way, the word owes it’s origins to a comedian Brent Butt from Canada, and a hotel impresario Paul Ruffino (same guy who gave us the word infomercial). It really took off in 2008 when, due to the financial crisis, most families did not have enough money to go on a full-scale vacation (or vacay, as the youngsters cringingly call it), and so opted for a ‘getaway’ closer home, mostly in the same city.

So much for history.

At first, I didn’t quite dig the idea, given it is peak business season (when is it not) and one can’t just take off for a couple of days without leaving a few clients in the lurch.

Or can’t I?

No, not leave clients in the lurch. Take off a couple of days.

The problem is that I am so excited about what I do, that it doesn’t feel laborious at all. And so when someone tells me to take some time off, it’s like asking a kid who loves to play…to take a break from playing. Not an exciting proposition!

Nevertheless, I think it is important to recharge as well. So that new ideas can flow in. New perspectives can be formed. And one can return with renewed vigor.

I seem to be warming up to the idea as we speak, don’t I?

Maybe I can think of the new content I need for this blog – a new series. Or a new service that I have been thinking of launching but never got down to it. Or…hang on. This is becoming a to-do list in itself.

Let it be.

Sometimes, it’s good to just relax and do nothing. Even if you like it a lot. Amāni-bhava it is then, this weekend.

Wish me luck!