Cancel Your Next Trip: Here's A Case For Staying Home

Here’s a hot take: Vacations are stressful. In fact, in place of sweating, barefoot, in an airport security line while panicking about where to stow your passport, perhaps the true secret to recharging is a staycation — leisurely time well-spent at home. To put that theory to the test, Refinery29’s Dayana Ariza-Gonzalez took five days off to enjoy her own city.

While indulging in her local downtime, Dayana put her energy into doing things that bring her joy — few of which she can squeeze in during her standard workweek. She spent an afternoon in the park reading her book, cooked up some homemade sauerkraut (she’s a bit of a fermentation guru), and lounged on her balcony, catching up with friends via video chat.

And beyond all that glorious time spent relaxing, she also saved money rather than spending (take that, vacations). She cooked at home, spent time outdoors, and thanks to Visible — the app-based phone service offering unlimited data, messages, and minutes for only $40 a month — all that catching up didn’t wreak havoc on her phone bill.

Fortunately, that leaves plenty of funds left over for Dayana to focus more intently on her fermenting career. Watch the video above to see how her sauerkraut turned out.