HERE'S TO THE STAYCATION

This year – this most unusual of years – it’s all about home. Staying home, enjoying your very own backyard or that beautiful expanse we know as New Zealand. Holidays, breaks, refreshers, little weekends away are all to be enjoyed within our own boundaries and borders.

Unlike other years, it’s about discovering or rediscovering what many Kiwis take for granted: large, green open spaces, and public galleries and museums (that unlike those in many cities around the world, are free to visit), as well as rivers, lakes, and mountains within driving distance for most.

I can vividly remember being on a European trip with my family when the guide asked where we came from. After listening to our response, a long pause occurred, then a rather loud, disapproving Gaelic sniff. “Noo Zeeland, zee end of zee earth.” And at the time I thought it was, having taken 30 hours to arrive at our destination, but today that very isolation feels like a blessing.

It’s easy to see why so many are also taking time to reinvest some love and attention in their own properties due to staying home rather than travelling, and businesses such as landscapers, renovation builders, and interior designers are seeing the benefits of that change.

If a staycation is currently on your radar and you want to take the time to focus on your own home, here are some options that might give you some satisfaction or add value, or both.

First, declutter. Nail that garage first. Get rid of all the stuff that’s broken, outdated or no longer useful. If it’s still functional but of no use to you, give it away, recycle or dispose of it. Inside, you can move furniture and move art. Have some fun and enjoy the changes.

Edit, and what you don’t edit: use. Nothing needs to occupy a precious space where items are relegated as being ‘just for good’. No matter your home’s size, your property address, whether you’re in a large residence or a compact unit, try to make the most of the outdoors – your outdoors. Follow the sun (if there is any!) and give thanks that although we might not be able to travel the world, you’d travel the world to find what we have in our own backyard.

It seems that not only I, but also others have had a chance to stop chasing everything that appears greener somewhere else; instead choosing to appreciate what’s been in front of our noses the whole time – home.

Here’s to your home and mine, and here’s to a staycation.