stay·ca·tion

ˌstāˈkāSHn/

noun

informal

A vacation spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.

 

A week before president’s day weekend, I get a calendar reminder saying “ Go somewhere warm” apparently the wise version of me from 3 months ago knew I’d need a vacation. I quickly opened my computer to find the cheapest getaway from NYC. Tickets to Florida were expensive and anywhere more than 3 hour flight from NYC would be  a waste of time. The thought of spending the coldest days of the year and Valentine’s day at home was just bothersome and slightly depressing.

Why not a stayccation? I wasn’t yearning for a new location and adventure. I just wanted a long weekend away from everyone I knew. Relaxing, writing, catching up on my favorite shows while drinking wine. There you have it I had a weekend relaxation to do list yet no destination. Even if that meant staying in  a hotel room for the weekend I was all for it.

A quick search on Airbnb and my weekend trip was the joke of the office:

-What are you doing this weekend?

-Going on a boat

-ah nice, where?

-Brooklyn

-…

-South of Brooklyn

-with who?

-alone

-…

Every single person had the same reactions and similar questions. They wanted to know Why?, with who? Won’t you be bored? What will you do?  Alone on Valentine’s Day?

The Why.

Well why not?

One’s own company is one of the most underrated things. People need to start realizing that alone does not mean lonely and for Buddha’s sake it was only for 3 days. Whether we want it or not people around us influence our decisions. So even that “gut feeling” you have it’s most likely you mom’s or best friend’s voice floating in your head. So I always thought that in order to truly be yourself you have to get used to being alone once in a while.

One of my coworkers thought the idea was great but he had some (by some I mean many) questions. Does the boat have heat? Life jackets? First aid kit? Utensils?

All of which I didn’t think about. So I sent an email to the owner with some of my concerns. They in fact had all of those on board. Before I knew  it was Saturday morning and I was ready for my weekend of solo boating.

Day 1.

I drove to the shores of Brooklyn in Sheepshead Bay. I thought it was going to be an isolated area but to my surprise there were plenty of restaurants nearby, a TGIFridays, A lobster place even a movie theater just 6 min walk from my boat.
In 1 degree Fahrenheit weather, I walked through an almost empty parking lot. As instructed by the owner went through the fence separating the parking lot from the water. There was  a slanted wooden passageway leading to my boat. Almost impossible to cross but I made it.

I arrived at around 4pm, just in time to prepare a quick meal and watch the sunset.

 That I night I made a Japanese bowl with fresh tuna, brown rice, avocado, peppermint tofu and ginger.

 

It then got very windy and as someone who has motion sickness I could barely eat or drink

I spent the night watching movies until I fell asleep.

 

Day 2.

Day 2 was still very cold but at least sunny. It was valentines day so in honor of some self-lovin I spent most of the morning in bed.

Started the day with some Vanilla greek yogurt and berries.

I started cleaning the boat because a friend was supposed to stop by. I had this grand plan of ordering food, Getting some more ice cream  and having some girl talk. Unfortunately my friend could not make it so I did something better.

I visited the local fish market,

I played around with my new toy

 Then I got some take out from a lobster place nearby, they were advertising a valentine’s day special 1 ¼ lobster.

I Spent the evening eating while watching a scary movie.  There are very few things in life that make me happy and food is one of them. That night I went to bed watching the ocean through my window while catching up on some blog writting.

Day 3

My last day was very short. I mostly spent some time cleaning up and eating all the leftovers. As I was leaving the boat, all packed and ready to go, I realized something, there was no big revelation or some self discovery it was just a reminder of who I was and the things that bring me happiness. I find Joy in being alone (sometimes). I love an adventure, yes even if it’s a staycation. It has been 5 weeks since my trip to Ivory Coast, although I’m back in New York my mind wanders constantly. Impatiently awaiting my next adventure (hopefully not a staycation)

-Mama Cax