Just because you aren’t leaving town on your family vacation does not mean that you have to sit on the couch and be miserable.  Chances are there are a lot of activities and restaurants in your own city that you have not yet had a chance to visit.

Before your next “staycation” head to the library or your local bookstore and check out a guidebook for your own town.  Even though I am not a fan of using only guidebooks to plan a vacation, they are a great resource for finding new activities.  The last time we had some vacation time and had to stay close to home we set a few travel goals for ourselves.  We visited two new (to us) parks, two restaurants, and two nature trails/walking paths.  We also checked out a few places that we had wanted to visit but didn’t have the time during the work week.  I set these goals before I looked at a guidebook.  This made the huge guidebook less overwhelming and we were able to really enjoy our vacation time.

Don’t just save exploring your city for your next family vacation.  Set travel goals each month.  Get out of your weekly routine and try something new!