When Caleb and I took our staycation last week, we decided to just "see how we felt each day."

We had some rough ideas scribbled down ahead of time, but no real plan. Each morning we asked, "What do we want to do today?" and each night, "What do we feel like doing tomorrow?"

On the good days, it was perfect. We could tune into our energy, rest when we needed to, and take spontaneous adventures.

But… there were downsides, too.

• We wasted a lot of time deciding what to do.
• Sometimes, because we didn’t have an exciting idea in the moment, we ended up doing nothing.
• Looking back, I don’t remember much of it clearly because a lot of what we did was ordinary — movies, walks, naps. Fun in the moment, but forgettable.

It reminded me of the opposite kind of trip we took — our first big vacation together to Florence, Italy.

That trip was different because I built out a structure:

• I grouped activities by area so we weren’t zig-zagging across the city.
• I built in optional choices, so if we did A in the morning, we’d do B in the afternoon.
• I took into account things like weather, long days on our feet, and energy levels.
• Most importantly, we didn’t waste time making decisions in the moment.

The result?

We saw more, did more, and made more memories. Florence is crystal-clear in my mind years later. Our staycation that ended yesterday? Not so much.

Neither trip was "better." They just had different strengths and weaknesses.

The staycation gave us freedom and rest, but we wasted time and didn’t create many lasting memories.

Florence gave us incredible experiences we’ll never forget, but we pushed so hard to squeeze everything in that I came home completely drained — needing a vacation from my vacation.

👉 Businesses are the same.

• If you’re always in "staycation mode," you spin your wheels and don’t move forward.
• If you’re always in "Florence mode," you try to do everything at once and end up exhausted.

The real key is learning to recognize which season you’re in — and giving yourself permission to lean into it. Some weeks will call for a sprint, others will call for space. Neither is wrong. What matters is being intentional about when you push, when you pause, and for how long.

So here’s your takeaway: Ask yourself today — am I in a “staycation” season or a “Florence” season? And what would it look like to honour that without guilt?

xo,
Sandra

Oh, one of the few clear memories from our staycation last week was standing with Caleb at the edge of the river on the tunnel’s observation deck. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to the falls. They handed us ponchos like the riverboat tour people you see in the background there, but we decided to brave the mist sans poncho for this shot.

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