“Go around the city and click your pictures”

Sometimes it’s just too expensive to go on vacation. Everyone knows this, so the “staycation” has become more and more popular in recent years. Take time off work and responsibilities to stay at home. But how can you make sure that you don’t waste your time vegging out in front of the television and ordering food from the same place three times a week? A staycation is a cheaper vacation in which you don’t have to pay for hotels, transportation (beyond the usual), and you don’t have to eat out every meal, but it doesn’t mean that you and your girlfriend should not treat the rest of it like it’s a real vacation. If you’re hanging around Vancouver on a staycation for ten days this summer, here are some tips to make it the best one ever.

1. Pretend that You’re Both Tourists

This may sound childish and silly, but when was the last time that you and she both actually went to the Vancouver Aquarium? Go there and see all the exhibits, buy little keychains from the gift shop, and snap each other’s photos next to the giant fish statues. Be the kind of annoying tourists whose unbridled enthusiasm always made you roll your eyes. You’ll find out that whether it’s a stroll through central Stanley Park or a trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery, it’s a lot more fun if you celebrate it the same way as any newcomers to the city would.

2. Time to Try Something New

Whether this means going out and taking that hot yoga class or just trying that new bar a few blocks from where you work is up, but embrace this as the time of trying new things. Take chances and risks for the things that you haven’t done before; try to fly a kite in Stanley Park while your girlfriend breaks out the watercolors just like a real artist. Give yourself permission to have a great time and totally disengage from your work and regular life selves.

3. Have at Least One Activity Planned for Every Day

Two activities would be even better (sex doesn’t count). Every day that you just stay at home and do nothing is a day that you lost a vacation. So keep those activities rolling. However, try to limit your contact with your regular friends. It might be tempting to count hanging out in your buddy’s living room as an activity, but there’s nothing different about that.

4. Treat Your Woman to a Series of Romantic Surprises

“Try to give her pleasant surprises all through the day”

From brunch at a nice place to a breathtaking walk across the suspension bridge, keep things fun and light and fill your days with signs of love and affection for her, and make your staycation, the best staycation ever.