Disclosure: Westin Galleria provided my family with two night’s stay to facilitate this post. This post was not reviewed by a 3rd party. All opinions are mine and may not reflect those of the company. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” All photos are mine and subject to copyright.

It is half way through the summer, and we all have high hopes of doing things for the summer, going places and seeing things. Instead of stressing out about expensive airline tickets and long travel days, you should consider an increasingly popular and fun vacation in town, also known as a “staycation.”

Visit your local museums: art, science, botanical gardens, zoos, planes or whatever the interest. Every area of the country has its local attractions, some world class, others, well, just fun. Every area also has its architectural gems that are registered on the National Register of Historic places. You want to know how to do a staycation, pretend you’re a tourist in your own town and go visit them.

• Go to the pool.
• Get adventurous. Grab some skates and go roller or ice skating. Go for a bike ride through the trails. Just go! Some hotels run promotions like Westin Galleria Ice Skating Package that include 4 VIP skating passes with unlimited in and out access to the rink and name badges and lanyards to hold them, complimentary usage of ice skates, four neck scarves and skating socks.

• Go shopping. Make the trek to the regional mega mall and spend the day seeing what’s new. These complexes are like cities with food service, theaters, entertainment, etc.

• Take a nap. Hey, vacations are meant to escape from daily life and relax. Catch up on sleep in that hammock.
• Read a book. You don’t have to be sitting in a far away place to settle in with a good summer read. Go to a local coffee house and splurge on a cappuccino or other creation and spend a few hours lost in a book.
• Take an exercise class. Try pilates, spinning, karate, etc.
• Spend time with the kids. People remember the good times spent with each other more than the places they’ve been. Get out a deck of cards or a board game. Spend time talking, laughing and reminiscing. Life is short–spend time with family.

Let’s admit it, we probably have spent more time exploring places far away from home than we have the sites of our own area. This is natural. People tend to dismiss local sites or always assume they’ll go there some day. So, there are bound to be places around us we haven’t explored or activities we haven’t tried.

The trick to enjoying a staycation is to deviate from daily routines and truly make it a vacation. Eat out. We had the most delicious meal at 2nd Floor Bistro inside of Westin Galleria. Relax. The Westin Galleria is one of the best places to stay for your staycation as it is connected to Galleria Dallas, with some of the best shopping and eateries in Dallas. You will also be treated “heavenly” as soon as you check-in. Click here for more pictures of our stay at Westin Galleria. If you do so, a staycation can be more relaxing, fun and certainly less costly than a big travel extravaganza.