Backyard Vacations, Staycations and Cheap Holidays


Planning your Backyard Vacation
Suggestions to Magnify Your Fun
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Guidelines
This section is about getting your brain in the right mindset. If you set up the guidelines and get everybody to agree to them you will increase your chances of good times by 75%.

Attitude
If you take the attitude that you have when you are on an actual vacation you shouldn’t have any problem. And what attitude is that again?

To relax
Have some fun
Go adventuring
Check out new destinations
Break up the “Routine”
The feeling of getting away from it all
Make new friends,
Visit some old friends
and/or see some relatives
Are open to new experiences
Willing to meet and talk to new people
Give up on rushing around
Try new foods and flavors
Take plenty of pictures
Lose track of time
Sleep in different beds
Are open to being silly or at least have some fun

It is probably a good idea to explain to everyone that a backyard vacation is not some form of punishment but an opportunity to prove the saying, “We can have fun no matter what happens.”

So ask all parties involved to agree to the reasons for going on vacation and you shouldn’t have any problems. You have to go in with a good attitude to get the maximum benefit out of your Backyard Vacation.

Cranky Beads
Get a Mardi-Gras necklace and name it the “Cranky Beads”. At the start of your Backyard Vacation explain what the “Cranky Beads” are about and put them on. The cranky beads are worn by the first person that is cranky. Then they must continue to wear them until someone else gets cranky and the beads are then passed on. It is totally acceptable behavior to mock the person wearing the cranky beads because they soon figure out that the fastest way to get rid of them is to stop being cranky.

Technology
What happens on vacation when it comes to technology? You put the technology away. So lay out some rules regarding cell phones, texting, emails, video games, and watching TV. Now having a laptop with a wireless card is a very handy item when researching free things to do in your neighborhood. So it’s your call on the technology. My suggestion is to limit all technology as much as possible.

You should really have a no TV rule for the entire vacation with an exception of a movie or two. If you went to Hawaii – I highly doubt you would sit inside and watch sports. You don’t need to watch the news, period. People will die and the economy will still suck whether you know about it or not. Don’t worry if it is a big deal someone will run and tell you.

If you can take everybody’s watch and cell phones and put them in the glove box. Listen to CD’s instead of the radio. Don’t buy or read the paper. Taking a vacation also means getting away from all the negativity and intrusions to our own sense of balance. Turn it all off, chill out and have a great time.

Photography
This can be the best part of your whole backyard vacation. If you don’t have a digital camera see if you can borrow one or maybe you can find some room in your budget to get one.

Now here is your assignment.

Tell the story of your Backyard Vacation with a beginning, middle and an end. Take pictures of the simple things, what you had for breakfast, how much stuff was in the cooler, everybody sitting down for dinner. Take a picture at each of the picnic locations you go to.

Take pictures of all the activities that you do. Getting ready, playing the game and what people were like after the game. Make sure you get a close picture of everyone in your group trying every activity. Take a picture even if they are just sitting on the sidelines watching the game.

Try to catch emotions. When people are happy or sad or mad. Just take pictures without asking people to smile – catch them smiling instead.

Take silly pictures with silly poses in silly locations. Try to get other involved in your comedy photography.

Take as many pictures as you possibly can. Most photographers will take 1000 pictures and be proud of five or ten. Get a good sized memory card so that you don’t have to download the pictures that often. Have a good supply of batteries or if it is rechargeable put it on the charger every night.

Take pictures up close and far away to show the whole picture. Take pictures of the people that you meet. Just document the whole thing.

Have Fun!

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