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staycation

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: stay-cation

English

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WOTD – 26 September 2020

Etymology

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The noun is a blend of stay (at home) +‎ vacation.[1] The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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staycation (plural staycations)

  1. (informal) A vacation spent at or close to home. [from mid 20th c.]
    Synonyms: homecation, (rare) staycay
    • 2009, C. Michael Hall, Alan A. Lew, “Futures of Tourism”, in Understanding and Managing Tourism Impacts: An Integrated Approach, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 323:
      Increasing product lifespans and decreased energy use may also enable both efficiency and sufficiency [...]. This includes means by which materials are used more productively (i.e. the same quantity providing a longer service) and throughput is slowed (i.e. products are replaced less frequently, plus, in the case of tourism, distance of travel is less – the so-called ‘staycation’ approach).
    • 2009, Scott M. Spann, “Step 4: Create a Personal Spending Plan”, in Tax Resolution and Financial Freedom: Using the Financial Planning Process to Deal with Tax Debt, Mount Pleasant, S.C.: LifeSpan Financial Planning, →ISBN, part II (Starting the Tax Resolution Process), page 70:
      This extreme "no" discretionary spending plan does not have to eliminate fun from your life. It actually challenges you to find creative sources of entertainment and "staycations" (vacations at home or near your home town).
    • 2009 June, Tom Turnipseed, “Simplicity, Simply Put”, in Cecile Andrews, Wanda Urbanska, Less is More: Embracing Simplicity for a Healthy Planet, a Caring Economy and Lasting Happiness, Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, →ISBN, part 1 (Simplicity Defined), page 77:
      We need to encourage stay-close-to-home vacations, or "stay-cations," and check out nature's splendor, recreational opportunities and entertaiment attractions nearby.
    1. A vacation spent at one's own home without other overnight accommodation.
      • 1997, Pathfinders Travel: The Travel Magazine for People of Color, Philadelphia, Pa.: Pathfinders Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 64:
        If you're feeling the pinch of high gas prices and job woes, try a "Staycation", the new industry term for staying at home and enjoying yourself.
      • 2009 August, Nancy Conner, “Going Green: Transportation and Travel”, in Dawn Frausto, editor, Living Green: The Missing Manual, Sebastopol, Calif.: O’Reilly Media, →ISBN, part 2 (Greening Your Lifestyle), page 246:
        Instead of going away for a vacation, consider a staycation. That's when you stay home and explore your hometown—try a new restaurant, hike a local park, or visit that museum you've been meaning to check out.
      • 2010, Brian Kluth, with Stan Guthrie, “Protection Principles”, in Christopher Reese, editor, Experience God as Your Provider: Finding Financial Stability in Unstable Times, Chicago, Ill.: Moody Publishers, →ISBN, part 2 (Receive God’s Principles), page 99:
        [O]ne family I know realized they didn't have the money available for their usual summer camping trip. So instead of going on a vacation they decided to have a "staycation." They parked their pop-up camper in their driveway at home, set up some tents on the lawn, and slept in them every night. They cooked out every day with the grill and found free concerts, museums, and events in their own city.
      • 2014, Arianna Huffington, “Wonder”, in Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-being, Wisdom, and Wonder, New York, N.Y.: Harmony Books, →ISBN, page 193:
        For me, whether I'm on a visit to a monastery in Greece or an elaborately planned staycation (that involves disengaging from all my devices, going on long hikes or walks, yoga classes and unhurried meditations, sleeping in with no alarms, and reading actual books you can underline that have nothing to do with work), the essential element is to regain that sense of wonder.
      • 2014 November, Paula Treick DeBoard, “Curtis”, in The Fragile World, Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Mira, →ISBN, page 108:
        I could stop this right now, I thought. We could unpack the car and go back to our lives—a staycation in our own home.
      • 2014 November, William Powers, “Rooftoop Bees and Beans”, in New Slow City: Living Simply in the World’s Fastest City, Novato, Calif.: New World Library, →ISBN, part 1 (Spring to Summer: The Natural City), page 36:
        [...] Melissa uses some of her annual leave to add two days to a three-day weekend, and these five spontaneous days off became not only a Greenwich Village stay-cation but also something of the honeymoon we were too busy to take together in our hectic "uni-moon" days. But what to do on our stay-cation? Ten thousand Big Apple activities beckon.
    2. (British, Ireland) A holiday spent in one's own country without travelling abroad.
      • 2009 August 31, Nicholas Lezard, “Down and Out in London”, in New Statesman‎[1], London: New Statesman Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 1 December 2012, page 54:
        It's holiday time again. Having invented the staycation – no, I don't like the word either – four years ago when we ran out of money and out of patience with French traffic, we are sticking to principle and, as we did four months ago, hanging out at Tom Hodgkinson's gaff in north Devon.
      • 2012 October 24, Jeff Brazier, “The Joys of Camping”, in HuffPost‎[2], UK edition, archived from the original on 1 July 2017:
        Somewhere in the last few decades the stacation was substituted for the prestige and glamour of the trip abroad, and the recent flurry of low cost airlines all but cemented that as the new tradition for those that can afford it.
      • 2019 December 4, Paul Stephen, “At the Heart of the Local Community”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 58:
        The rise in patronage partly reflects the growing trend for ‘staycations’ in the UK, in addition to Pitlochry’s status as the southern gateway to the world-famous Cairngorms National Park.
      • 2020 March 16, Heather Carrick, “Coronavirus: Glaswegians stock up on camping gear before self-isolation”, in Glasgow Times‎[3], Glasgow: Newsquest (Herald & Times), →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 September 2020:
        Many families who had planned to go away for the easter holidays are now deciding to grab a tent and go on an isolated family camping stacations to ensure the kids are still entertained as many holiday resorts go on possible lockdown.

Alternative forms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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staycation (third-person singular simple present staycations, present participle staycationing, simple past and past participle staycationed)

  1. (intransitive, informal) To spend a vacation at or close to home.
    Synonym: staycate
    • 2008, Peter D[avid] Schiff, The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets: How to Keep Your Portfolio Up when the Market is Down (Little Book Big Profits Series), Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 196:
      They may fill some of the airline seats and hotel rooms left vacant by staycationing locals.
      A use of the word as an adjective.
    1. (British, Ireland) To take a holiday in one's own country as opposed to travelling abroad.
      • 2010 September 14, Fiona Bruce, “Equitable Life (Payments) Bill: Second Reading”, in House of Commons Debates (House of Commons of the United Kingdom)‎[4], volume 515, part no. 45, London: Parliament of the United Kingdom, archived from the original on 21 September 2010, column 763:
        [...] I staycationed there this summer, enjoying the ancient town of Sandbach with Saxon crosses in its cobbled square; [...]
      • 2015 January 15, Dierdre Reynolds, “Sunshine Saturday: We’re all going on a summer holiday”, in Irish Independent‎[5], Dublin: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 May 2017:
        Having ‘staycationed’ with her sister in Kinnity, Co Offaly for the past four years, and with a budget of around €350, Bronwyn O’Brien says she’d just be happy to see the inside of a plane. “Although I didn’t mind holidaying at home, there’s nothing like getting on an airplane and feeling the heat hit your face the minute you arrive,” she tells.
      • 2019 August 16, Alice Newbold, “Is Anyone Else Suffering from Yacht Fatigue?”, in Vogue‎[6], London: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 August 2019:
        It's that time of the year when deleting Instagram seems like a sensible mode of self-preservation for people staycationing, or quite simply stuck on home soil, while others are hashtagging #HotGirlSummer all over the continent.
      • 2020 August 5, Dara Browne, “Fam-cation: RTE’s Baz Ashmawy shares adorable snap of his mother and daughter on staycation in Co Limerick”, in The Irish Sun‎[7], Dublin: News Group Newspapers, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 August 2020, photograph caption:
        Baz [Ashmawy] and his family are staycationing in Ireland this summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic
      • 2020 August 5, Edmund King, quotee, “Weekend car use returns to pre-pandemic levels”, in Express & Star‎[8], Wolverhampton, West Midlands: Midland News Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 August 2020:
        Over the last few weekends traffic is back with a vengeance, with families breaking out of lockdown to staycation in the UK and visit the coast, countryside and shops.
      • 2020 September 25, Aine Conaty, “Merry Mary: RTE star Mary Kennedy says it’s ‘so nice to explore our lovely country’ as she staycations on Inis Oirr with pal”, in The Irish Sun‎[9], Dublin: News Group Newspapers, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 September 2020, photograph caption:
        RTE star Mary Kennedy has said that it is "so nice to explore our lovely country" as she staycations on Inis Oirr with her friend.
    2. (US) To spend a vacation at one's own home without other overnight accommodation.
      • 2009 August 2, Krys Stefansky, “Getting away from it all in your own backyard”, in The Virginian-Pilot‎[10], Norfolk, Va.: Tribune Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 September 2020:
        Plan a staycation: Enjoy your own house, your own backyard, your own town. [...] This was the third summer the Wyatts and their two children have staycationed in Virginia Beach.
      • 2020 August 4, Terri Schlichenmeyer, “‘Why We Swim’ offers a refreshing read”, in The Philadelphia Tribune‎[11], Philadelphia, Pa.: The Philadelphia Tribune Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 August 2020:
        If you're heading for the water today, or staycationing by the pool, you'll need something to read, right?

References

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  1. ^ “staycation, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2015; “staycation, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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