The Art of the Staycation

Holidaying during a pandemic is...look it's iffy at best and at worst it can be a mess of cancellations and lost deposits. My solution: a Staycation! Rather than jetting off to the East Coast and risking a two week quarantine on the back-end of our holiday, me and Hubby headed to Fremantle for a two night staycay (that's a word right?) and I've put together a list for how to do it right (you're welcome).

Photo: Harry Cunnigham via Unsplash

Obviously, your starting point is nailing down your budget. As with all things, you gotta know your limits. Fortunately, it's tax time friends! So its time to get those tax refunds into gear.

Next? Choosing where to get your Z's! We chose a 'Stay, Play and Save' package via the Destination Perth website. Due to Covid-19 heaps of the Perth regions best hotels and resorts have put together packages to entice Perthites to hang around and spend their dollars at home. We stayed at The Hougoumont, a bizarre little hotel made up of shipping containers in the middle of Freo with breakfast and wine included.

The Hougoumont, Fremantle

Don't forget that a home staycay is definitely a legit option. Funds are tight? I hear you bud. Stock up on sheet face masks, and hot chocolate and marshmallows and you're good to go. If your staycay base is home, have a look at your local area and hit up spots you haven't been to before, explore on foot or bike, and plan some delish eating out or takeaway options.

Once you've worked out the 'stay' part of your staycation you need a list of 'must haves'. Think about what makes a holiday feel like a holiday for you. For me, it's no cooking, and at least one art/gig experience, plenty of exploring by foot, and a new book. So we checked out which cafes and restaurants are hot right now in Freo and made a short list of places we didn't want to miss and made a plan to hit up the Fremantle Arts Centre...and obviously snagged a book from Elizabeth's Book Shop.

Find someone who looks at you the way Laen looks at Spice Market Thai food!

Ground rules...yeah, rules. The thing is holidays are great, until you check your emails and your staycay list suddenly gets swallowed up by your work/study list. Friend, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, make your own rules but let me suggest your first one: No Emails (emails are known to be the killers of fun everywhere).

Finally, relax your little toosh off...drink all the hot chocolate, eat all the dumplings, and get all the Z's.

View from the top/elevator lobby.