Father’s Day Staycation: A Guide for Gifters

A staycation is the perfect way to get dad to relax without breaking the bank. Whether you decide on a local resort or to set up a tent in the backyard, you’ll love the memories.

Set Up the Gift

If you and your dad live close to each other, make him breakfast and give him a card detailing his staycation plan. If you and your dad aren’t in the same city, have some flowers or a plant delivered to his doorstep. He won’t know about the staycation part of his gift until he reads the card. Of course he’ll have more questions, and you can answer ’em all on the phone.

Establish Ground Rules

The idea here is to completely disconnect from society and your everyday life, but that’s practically impossible to do when your smartphone keeps chirping away. As everyone to stow their smartphones and electronic devices so you can at least stand a chance of resisting the temptation to respond to email, hang out on Facebook, or have lengthy conversations that could really have waited a fwe days. Or, take things eveb further and ban television too. (If you think dad’ll balk at the idea of ignoring emails, remind him that it’s not all that hard to set up one of those out-of-office autoresponders.

Set a Budget

You want a dollar amount that’ll be enough to cover the products and services that will simulate the hotel experience. When dad’s away on vacation, chances are he doesn’t prepare his own meals or make his own bed. That means that you should offer him the same luxuries. You’ll probably be okay in the kitchen (although you could certainly order his favorite takeout instead). But unless you really want to clean toilets, hire a cleaning service to tidy up after him.

You should also plan for any other miscellaneous expenses that may arise, such as movie tickets or the cost of entry or supplies for other activities he may want to do.

Plan Activities

Speaking of expenses for activities, you’ll also want to plan out when and how they’ll be executed. If dad wants to spend the day watching movies, which titles will make the cut and what snacks will you need to have on hand to pull off the in-home theatre experience? If dad enjoys fishing, will you need to rent a boat or prepare a picnic lunch? And if you want to surprise him with a trip to a national park or some other local attraction, do you have a game plan or will the two of you just roam around aimlessly?

Regardless of the activities you choose, planning ahead will keep those unnecessary headaches to a minimum and keep dad in vacation mode for the duration.

Unsure of fun things to do in your local area? Pay a visit to AAA for an activity guide or peruse the community section of your local paper to find out about upcoming events dad may be interested in. Or you can purchase a travel guide from the supermarket.

Choose Lodging Wisely

Are there too many distractions at dad’s place to pull off an in-home staycation? Consider reserving a room or suite at his favorite hotel or resort and encourage him to take advantage of all the on-site amenities, including the spa, hot tub, and of course, room service.

Cheers to a fun-filled staycation this Father’s Day.