Dictionary

staycation en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /steɪˈkeɪʃn̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌsteɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ (General-American)

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (informal) A vacation spent at or close to home.
   • 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, 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:
   • 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, 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:
   • We need to encourage stay-close-to-home vacations, or "stay-cations," and check out nature's splendor, recreational opportunities and entertainment attractions nearby. 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:
2. (informal) A vacation spent at or close to home. ▸ A vacation spent at one's own home without other overnight accommodation.
   • 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, Paula Treick DeBoard, “Curtis”, in The Fragile World, Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Mira, →ISBN, page 108:
   • [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. 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:
   • 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. 1997, Pathfinders Travel: The Travel Magazine for People of Color, Philadelphia, Pa.: Pathfinders Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 64:
   • 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. 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:
   • [...] 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. 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:
   • 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, 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:
3. (Ireland, UK, informal) A vacation spent at or close to home. ▸ A holiday spent in one's own country without travelling abroad.
   • 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. 2020 March 16, Heather Carrick, “Coronavirus: Glaswegians stock up on camping gear before self-isolation”, in Glasgow Times, Glasgow: Newsquest (Herald & Times), →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2020:
   • 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. 2009 August 31, Nicholas Lezard, “Down and Out in London”, in New Statesman, London: New Statesman Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2012, page 54:
   • 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. 2019 December 4, Paul Stephen, “At the Heart of the Local Community”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 58:
   • 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. 2012 October 24, Jeff Brazier, “The Joys of Camping”, in HuffPost, UK edition, archived from the original on 01 Jul 2017:

Forms

Coordinates

nearcation

Deriveds

staycay · staycationer · staycate

Relateds

vacation

Synonyms

staycay · homecation · homecation · homecation · staycay · staycay

Translations (10)

ms cuti inap (vacation spent at or close to home) · da staycation (vacation spent at or close to home) · sv hemester (vacation spent at or close to home) · nl thuisvakantie (vacation spent at or close to home) · fi lähiloma (vacation spent at or close to home) · de Urlaub in/auf Balkonien (vacation spent at or close to home) · el οικοδιακοπές (vacation spent at or close to home) · fr balconville (vacation spent at or close to home) · fr restances (vacation spent at or close to home) · cmn 宅度假 (vacation spent at or close to home)

staycation en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /steɪˈkeɪʃn̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌsteɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ (General-American)

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (informal, intransitive) To spend a vacation at or close to home.
   • They may fill some of the airline seats and hotel rooms left vacant by staycationing locals. 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:
2. (Ireland, UK, informal, intransitive) To spend a vacation at or close to home. ▸ To take a holiday in one's own country as opposed to travelling abroad.
   • 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. 2019 August 16, Alice Newbold, “Is Anyone Else Suffering from Yacht Fatigue?”, in Vogue, London: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2019:
   • [...] I staycationed there this summer, enjoying the ancient town of Sandbach with Saxon crosses in its cobbled square; [...] 2010 September 14, Fiona Bruce, “Equitable Life (Payments) Bill: Second Reading”, in House of Commons Debates (House of Commons of the United Kingdom), volume 515, part no. 45, London: Parliament of the United Kingdom, archived from the original on 21 Sep 2010, column 763:
   • 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 August 5, Edmund King, quotee, “Weekend car use returns to pre-pandemic levels”, in Express & Star, Wolverhampton, West Midlands: Midland News Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Aug 2020:
   • 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. 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, Dublin: News Group Newspapers, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2020, photograph caption:
   • 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. 2015 January 15, Dierdre Reynolds, “Sunshine Saturday: We’re all going on a summer holiday”, in Irish Independent, Dublin: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 May 2017:
   • Baz [Ashmawy] and his family are staycationing in Ireland this summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic 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, Dublin: News Group Newspapers, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2020, photograph caption:
3. (US, informal, intransitive) To spend a vacation at or close to home. ▸ To spend a vacation at one's own home without other overnight accommodation.
   • If you're heading for the water today, or staycationing by the pool, you'll need something to read, right? 2020 August 4, Terri Schlichenmeyer, “‘Why We Swim’ offers a refreshing read”, in The Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Philadelphia Tribune Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Aug 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. 2009 August 2, Krys Stefansky, “Getting away from it all in your own backyard”, in The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.: Tribune Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2020:

Forms

Synonyms

staycate · staycate · staycate