Although the thesis that prevails is the opposite, if you are trying to relax and not have stress in August, it is best not to tempt fate at airports or test your patience by waiting in line at seaside restaurants... This summer philosophy It begins to have more and more followers, to the point of having been baptized by The Washington Post as early as 2005 as a staycation. It is an English term that unites two concepts: stay (stay, be) and vacation (vacation). That is, stay or be at home during the holidays.
"Staying at home in August and going out for short trips within a close radius is a very current concept," confirms Joan Miquel Gomis, professor of Economics and Business Studies at the UOC and a specialist in tourism. However, while in the past those who stayed at home during the month of August did so largely because they lacked the budget for vacations, now many travelers, "when they can afford it, prefer to travel at any other time of the year," adds this expert who directs the magazine Oikonomics.
As explained by The Washington Post in June, it is no surprise that the most requested vacation destination in 2023 by Americans is the beach. "But the second option, with 28%, is to stay at home," the article qualifies, citing a survey. That is, make August at home and not travel anywhere.
Galloping inflation, the increase in hotel prices and mass tourism are turning staycations into a global trend that has already accumulated 90 million results in the Google search engine.
For psychologists, the phrase "I deserve a vacation" does not have to mean going somewhere else. Vacations, away or at home, are all about taking time to relax. And this can be done on the couch as well as on a crowded beach. After all, relaxing is a state of mind…
The point is that more and more people find it cool and trendy to spend a good part of the month of August at home, taking advantage of the fact that the city is empty, it is easy to park and it is not difficult to find a place in restaurants that are full the rest of the year. be expensive or cheap.
So, no rushing to airports, no walking in and out of hotels with a suitcase in hand, no jet lag and no blues on returning, but instead the possibility of homey dolce far niente. , reading books freely, hanging out with friends, going to the movies and thinking only about where to have breakfast tomorrow.
Despite this holiday menu, August is still the preferred month to travel for 40% of Spaniards, followed by July (30%), June (14%), September (12%) and October (2%), according to a recent ObservaTUR study.
It is true, as indicated by Gomis, that many workers are forced to travel in the eighth month of the year to fit into their company's work calendar or to coincide with their children's school holidays, but when it is possible to choose, the tendency it is, more and more, going out to see the world in any other month of the year.
Returning to the staycation, some Internet users tell on social networks that this year they will spend the holidays with no other plan than to let themselves go. There will be days that they do nothing, while others will go out into the street and not return until night (even at dawn, if the fates are favorable…) Their daily trips will be pure uncertainty, without preconceived plans. Maybe one day you'll head out of town for a one, two, or three night getaway, but with a carry-on bag for everything. Maybe they also decide to go eat there at the last minute (instead of having to reserve a table a week in advance at the beach bar). They may even look for a free outdoor event (free does not mean less fun…) or attend some of the street parties that take place in August in almost every city.
Within the staycation there are various factions. Some of them try to escape the overcrowding radar, although anti-tourism is also increasingly touristy. Several cities, for example, offer tours of places that do not appear in the guides: disused factories, old railway lines and places that have fallen off the maps (or from general perception). This is the case, for example, of The Worst Tours, a company from Porto that admits offering “the worst tours in the world”. And because? Because the route is not even established before the start of the walk and avoids the monumental historic center, to opt for the cheap bars and the old markets, according to their website. As the promoters of the project point out, their tours are aimed at "anyone who does not want to be a tourist."
Many other cities (Barcelona, Madrid, Venice, London, Paris, etc.) offer similar anti-tourist circuits designed for residents to get to know their own city better or for visitors to connect with essences that are not reflected in tourist brochures.
“Spending a large part of the August holidays at home is a good opportunity to rediscover the city in which you live. In Barcelona, for example, there are many people who have never been to the MNAC, the Sagrada Familia or the Miró Foundation but, later, when they travel abroad, they sign up to visit all the museums”, emphasizes Gomis.
If it is about getting to know the city itself, the Jane's Walk movement, inspired by Jane Jacobs (the author of Death and Life in Large Cities, an American urban planner who specialized in "wasting time in the streets and writing down what she saw" , in his words), he proposes going out to explore the neighborhoods to learn about their history and the daily life of those who live there (although these walks are held in May, they can be done in summer late in the afternoon).
The underlying idea is that the path is more important than the destination. We talk, for example, about turning the bus into a climate shelter and traveling to the end of the journey to see those less recognizable parts of the city.
As for the ideas proposed for this summer by The Washington Post, the inventor of the staycation concept, they include: not telling anyone that you are on vacation (to enjoy full freedom of movement); avoid being tempted to look at emails in order to enjoy a true mental vacation (understood as doing the opposite of any working day); not get involved in any pending domestic chores (“unless painting walls relaxes you”, the article indicates) and allow yourself a small vacation budget, since “staying at home in August to save a little does not mean not spending anything”, adds the report .
In short, being able to rest without traveling in August is increasingly seen less as an economic failure and more as a rewarding experience.
