I have made it no secret that the hardest part of this pandemic for me has been the fact that I can’t travel. I guess I shouldn’t say I can’t, I’m choosing not to because as a family we decided that (for right now at least) it’s the best option for us. I’m use to traveling at least 3-4 times a year. Now, that has been broken over the last few years because I have 2 kids under 4 years old. Not saying that that should stop you from traveling but because of when my children were born it just wasn’t in the cards for us. To top it off I had a trip planned to Puerto Rico in January 2020 that had to be cancelled because of the Earthquakes. Clearly something is trying to keep me home but I’m not having it. Lol
When I was shopping for Christmas gifts for my husband I realized what we needed most was to get away. Even though we couldn’t go on a real vacation that didn’t mean we couldn’t go on a staycation. I absolutely love a good staycation. One of our favorite places to visit that’s in driving distance is Chateau Elan, so I booked us a weekend there as a gift to my husband which was also a gift to me! We went for the weekend and the plan was to do nothing. As parents we are on the go all day everyday and the one thing that drives us crazy is having to wake up at 730am or earlier every single day. Even on weekends, my children wake up at 730am. Yes, we’ve tried letting them stay up later, doesn’t work. We’ve tried letting them go outside before bed, doesn’t work. We’ve tried lavender at bath time, does not work! We have literally tried it all so we just gave up and accepted that our children will wake up at 730am regardless. We figured out a solution and that solution is to leave! That’s why traveling is so important to us. We get time away to focus on each other, but most importantly to sleep in.
Even though the thought of a staycation even made me uneasy with a Pandemic going on it had to be done and I can say this, I was very pleased with the precautions in place by Chateau Elan. There was hand sanitizer everywhere. Mask were required in all public areas. The chairs outside of the winery were spaced out. There was a safety seal on our door to show that no one had entered after it was cleaned, and at check out we just dropped our key in a box which required zero contact. I will say that in the winery there were tons of people without mask but when you’re eating and drinking once inside of a restaurant you can’t really keep a mask on. Which is why we opted to sit outside after purchasing our wine and because of the spacing of the seats we felt safe.
Our weekend was everything we had hoped for and the reset that we both needed. We slept in, ordered take-out for every meal, took bubble baths, drank tons of wine, did minimal work, read books, took walks, and just relaxed. It was beautiful! We even decided to make this staycation thing a monthly event until we can get back to traveling and I can’t wait to pick our next location.
Look, we all need a break and that’s why getting away is important. Whether it’s a true vacation or a staycation take the time you need and don’t feel guilty about it. In order to be our best selves we have to make sure we take care of ourselves. Never forget that.
