Before I start my old age rant about the now over-used term ‘staycation‘ it may be worth confirming what it actually means. Just check the online definition surely? It’s not quite that simple though as depending where you look the word seems to have wide range of meanings.
- Oxford language definition – a holiday spent in one’s home country rather than abroad,
- Wikipedia – a period in which an individual or family stays home and participates in leisure activities within driving distance not requiring an overnight stay.
- Cambridge dictionary – a holiday that you take at home or near your home rather than travelling to another place.
- Forbes – a fancy term for spending your time-off at home.
- World Wide Words – a stay-at-home vacation.
I could add hundreds of other slightly different meanings to this list. Although I really like the response that my writer-friend Janice gave:
“I think right now a staycation is an Anglo-American word for a safecation….”
When was Staycation first used?
The word was first used in the Washington Post on 4th August 2005 as follows;
“The city empties out. The commute becomes bearable. It’s the perfect time for a ‘staycation,’ to dig in those heels and enjoy the comforts of home: 300-thread-count sheets, stainless outdoor fire pit, well-stocked fridge.”
The word was added to dictionaries in the USA in 2009 and became very popular during the downturn in the economy over the subsequent years.
What did it originally mean?
In the United States staycation has always referred to a stay-at-home vacation where you take days trips or undertake activities without overnight stays.
Strangely it was picked up in the UK mainly from US TV shows and films but really took off when the worldwide pandemic hit in March 2020. The meaning seems to have morphed from staying-at-home in the USA to just staying in the country in the UK.
Language evolves doesn’t it?
A standard response to any variation in grammar, punctuation, pronunciation etc and often perfectly acceptable. Meanings of words and phrases have always changed throughout time as society and civilisation develops with immigration key to that evolution. Our society now is a combination of ancestry from across the globe and the influence of hundreds of other languages can be heard every day. This has always happened and will continues to happen.
Recently however, and by recently I mean in the past 20 years, the social media explosion has created a new type of language evolution. Where in the past words changed meaning and spelling over generations and sayings gained popularity by word-of-mouth this is now happening much much faster. Often as the result of celebrity use or TV. 
I think the main difference now is that the USA dominates most media channels so any changes in meaning for words and phrases is driven by their society so countries like the UK are now more heavily influenced. I do think it’s a shame that the word is so heavily used now as it does seem to belittle trips within your own country implying that they are somehow ‘less’ than an overseas trip.
Generational Staycations
It could well be that the whole ‘staycation‘ debate is really just a generational thing. People of a certain age, and I include myself in that bracket, probably consider staycations to be home-holidays with days-out whereas those that are younger see them as UK-only holidays. It doesn’t matter that we have different slants on the same word except for minor misunderstandings so it isn’t a big deal at all.
Same for holidays and vacations these days. Nobody outside North America ever had vacations previously but the word has crept in to our everyday-use here now.
No Staycations for us
Although so many people now use the word for home-country holidays we won’t be doing that. Because of our upbringing where holidays were just holidays regardless of where you went and staycations didn’t even exist then we will just use the word to describe time spent at home with occasional day trips.
Maybe it’s our age. Maybe it’s our Britishness. Maybe it’s just that we don’t really like the word.
To be honest though it really doesn’t matter what you call it as long as you enjoy the experience. Holidays, vacations, trips? They are all the same thing really aren’t they? Just interesting how words suddenly appear as if from nowhere and start to pop-up everywhere dominating a lot of the media.
Enjoy your time-off/trip/vacation/holiday/staycation/journey/travels wherever you are going. If it’s to the other side of the world or just to the end of the garden it is all a big adventure.
30/07 – 04/08/2020
JWalking 
I use the word in the same way you do, exploring your own home on a some odd days you have off. Whenever I have some extra time, my staycations look like going out to dinner in town or a spa or a local attraction but packing it into a day to give it that vacation feel!
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That’s exactly what a staycation is Rosie, it’s those local trips and adventures around your home area whilst you stay at home. Not going away for 2 weeks to the other end of the country like people are calling it now.
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Im not a fan of the word staycation. I like to say I’m on vacation even if I go somewhere an hour or two away for the day.
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It’s a horrible media-created word I think. Vacation for you guys and holidays for us has always been the best description. You don’t always have to go very far either.
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One year, our family took a staycation and I made a big effort to explore close to home. It’s fun to be a tourist and check out museums etc, in your own backyard!
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Nothing at all wrong with staycations like that, more people should explore their own backyards and the areas around where they live. Days trips and visits to local attractions can be great fun. Hope you’re keeping fit and healthy still Susie?
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You betcha! We backpacked overnight in the wilderness last weekend!
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Sounds brilliant, a real min adventure eh?
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Most Australians would say holiday rather than vacation. And I do like the idea of a safecation. No need to take unnecessary risks.
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We have always called them holidays and never ever use the word vacation, just seen that on US tv shows. Safecation sounds much better currently doesn’t it? Great way of describing the 2020 situation.
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I’m also not keen on ‘Staycation’. In NZ we have a phrase ‘to go on a tiki tour’, and Liz and I have been lucky to have enjoyed several recent tiki tours around our country! Even have a jaunt to the South Island planned in a couple of weeks. Still hope to get to the UK next June for a wedding and a bit of a tiki tour, fingers crossed.
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Like the expression tiki tour a whole lot more than staycation. Sounds like a lot more fun. Hope you get the UK trip next year for the wedding, hopefully the world will be a little less messed up by then.
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Even in Dutch the word “staycation” is used these days. We are on one (holiday 🙂 now.
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It’s getting everywhere now. Glad to hear you’re on holiday and not a staycation. Much nicer.
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The word is holiday. End of.
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Exactly. We’re English aren’t we? We go on holidays.
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We do. Or we stay at home.
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I agree, and prefer to use the term holiday rather than vacation and never use the word staycation at all. It shouldn’t mean a holiday in one’s own country as it’s referring to staying at home. What’s wrong with the good old day trip!!
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Exactly. We’ve always had day-trips and holidays and never ever had vacations in this country so the term is ridiculous.
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There are so many beautiful places in this country that are overlooked in favour of ‘foreign holidays’. The UK has a wealth of countryside and beautiful scenery I personally love it. I do detest the word ‘staycation’ though, like so many other ‘trendy’ words that are created for the sake of modernism, it is unnecessary snd too ‘american’ for my liking. What’s wrong with ‘being on holiday?’
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Not fashionable is it? I’m with you all the way, it’s always been a holiday in the UK and never a vacation. Completely American social-media-driven term that only works with those that think they are ‘cool’. Not a fan.
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Totally agree. If you have to use the word at all, it means staying at home for your time off and going out on day trips. Colleges and universities have vacations when it’s not term time. And if you leave home, you’re on holiday whether you’re in the uk or abroad. However, I understand that the tourist industry is desperately trying to hype us all up to travel, hence the hysterical overuse of words like staycation.
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It’s a crazy term isn’t it, we’re just on holiday like we’ve always been wherever we go. It is a media term that doesn’t mean anything.
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Doesn’t really cut it down here in Oz either.
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Glad to hear it. Just an American media-driven term I think. Doesn’t mean anything.
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A holiday abroad was something beyond their means, and likely beyond their aspirations, when my parents took me on holiday. A cottage, or even caravan, on the North York Moors was excitement enough. 🙂 🙂 Nostalgic for Filey and Scarborough.
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Proper English holiday then. We went to similar places throughout our childhood. Great memories.
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With you 100% Ringo. Never use the bloody word. What’s wrong with holiday? It’s done pretty well so far and is rather useful for any occasion.
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Always been a holiday and always will be.
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Totally agree! Staycations are definitely just staying home and doing day trips. If you’ve travelled far enough to spend the night somewhere, that’s a holiday, or at least a short break, even if you’re still within the UK. And this is coming from an American, though I have gone almost completely British at this point, as I realised yesterday when I found myself enjoying a cup of tea in the middle of this heatwave!
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Glad you agree. I just think the whole staycation thing is instagram/twitter based and completely hyped up by the media. Tea in the sunshine, excellent and very English.
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It is interesting how some words seem to infiltrate other countries. We rarely use the word vacation here in Aus so a staycation doesn’t make much sense, despite it being used a lot here too. We mainly use the word holiday. Maybe I should make up a new word, stayday, or better still stick to the word that explains it perfectly, ‘a holiday’ regardless of where you go or not as they case may be!
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Exactly! No-one has vacations in England either so the whole staycation thing makes no sense whatsoever. Really irritating. As far as we’re concerned if you go away somewhere it’s a holiday, no matter how long it’s for.
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A word I never use. We do a lot of holidaying in our wonderful country and if I used the word Staycation, I feel I would be belittling our holiday or sounding as though we’d rather be abroad, when that certainly isn’t the case. We love going abroad and we adore our breaks in the UK. All are holidays. I’m my opinion anyway 😊
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With you 100% Sam, it’s not a word we use or like at all. Just so American and we’ve always had holidays in the UK haven’t we? Staycations were always days out from home when you actually spent a holiday sleeping in your own house.
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You’re so right – as long as you enjoy the experience it really doesn’t matter what you call it…the staycation trend has become a ‘fashionable’ term to (in my opinion) justify the fact that you haven’t been abroad and make it a trendy thing to do – almost as if it doesn’t really count. The good thing about the word is it helps to highlight and encourage people to explore the country they actually live in – its surprising//a bit of.a shame how little some people venture unless boarding a plane – I think they might be missing out 😊🔆
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You’re so right about how little most people have explored their own countries. So much to see and do in England.
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Absolutely 🔆
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I absolutely agree with you. I guess that the word vacation would be amplified by the “Bold” who set the trend, so now it is used well commercially. By the way, the 6th image is awesome! (blue couch :p) you created it?
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Vacation is just a commercial media-driven term now in the UK, never been used for holidays previously but the American influence is so great. Not my photo I’m afraid, borrowed from elsewhere. Good though isn’t it?
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Call me crazy or just an old but young at heart American, but I love the word staycation and don’t have a problem with who started the word. At almost 69 years young, believe me, I have more important things to worry about than who started calling it staycation, vacation or whatever, just saying. I live in one of the New York City boroughs, Queens and there is so much in New York City and the surrounding areas of Long Island that I haven’t seen, so yes I will spend a couple of days in Manhattan or Nassau County and I pack as though I was going to Canada or another state. I took a staycation in Uniondale, Long Island which is just 1hr and half away from me. I had a ball. I have been out of the country as I have worked for 11 years with both Delta and Malaysia Airlines in Boston and Los Angeles, so exploring places in the city that I was born in is okay.
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