This weekend I was reflecting on the value of a “staycation” aka enjoying our surroundings and not traveling but still doing “tourist things”. How many of us travel to places all over the country and world going to sites and museums, but when we are home fail to visit attractions in our own backyards? When I was little we often took one main family vacation but spent a lot of the summer doing tourist things in Chicago, going to museums, the beach, the zoo etc.
Now, we still live in the suburbs of Chicago but we rarely venture into the city. There are a whole variety of reasons but at the end of the day it seems that many people are most likely to “play tourist” when friends and/or family come to visit. October 19 and 20, 2019 is an event called Open House Chicago which allows people to play tourist and obtain access to more than 350 buildings in the city and suburbs. We did it a few years and really enjoyed it and weather dependent, hope to do it again this year. I mention this because “Open House (insert city name) is a growing trend worldwide and a great way to find hidden gems in your own backyard.
What are your favorite things to do on a “staycation”?
Three Generations of Travel 