It’s the summertime, you and your partner should consider doing a staycation one weekend. What is a staycation? A staycation according to the dictionary is, “A vacation spent in one's home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.” Instead of spending tons of money traveling to other countries, you can create an itinerary of fun activities to do in your hometown.

Here are four essentials you need, to plan a staycation:

Make sure your Netflix, Hulu, etc., accounts are updated. If you and your partner plan on binge watching your favorite television show or movies, check your Wifi connections and make sure your streaming platform accounts are active. This is the perfect time to binge watch your favorite television shows or Netflix originals that you’ve been too busy to watch.

Stock up on your favorite foods and beverages. Don’t waste money ordering out. Cook your meals at home together, make your favorite cocktails and simply enjoy each other’s presence. If you decide to book a hotel room in your hometown, then make sure you stick to a budget for your meals. You don’t want to spend the bulk of your time, pondering over meals and at restaurants when you really should be out and about having fun together.

Plan your outdoor activities ahead of time. Check to see what activities are cheaper or free on certain days and plan accordingly. Check the weather and make sure that the weather won’t prevent any issues forcing you to cancel your plans. If you need to make reservations or pay a deposit to attend or participate in activities, please do so in advance.

Bring something entertaining with you. Make sure you have your speakers to listen and dance to your favorite music, books or magazines to read, playing cards or board games or anything else that is considered entertainment for the two of you. There should be some down times during your staycation and having some form of entertainment is essential.

Staycations are fun to do regardless if you decide to stay home or book a hotel room to switch up your daily environment at home. You and your partner can enjoy being tourists in your hometown or snuggle up together the entire time together in the comforts of your home or hotel room. The only requirement really, is to make sure that you enjoy each other’s company. Staycations are inexpensive and can be done no matter where you live.

Recently, I booked an Airbnb for one night to do a photo shoot for my upcoming blogs (including this one) and used it as a perfect opportunity to do a staycation with Brian. He's great with not disturbing me while I get work done for myself and/or my clients. He enjoys gaming so even on our staycation, I managed to get a little bit of work done.

I didn't read the reviews but upon arrival, I found out that the place was super cozy and it didn't have a stove so we prepped the salmon, mushrooms and asparagus that we bought to cook for everyone at the shoot, for our dinner the following day. Given that we still had to eat, lucky for us, there was a restaurant right across the street from us. We walked over and had dinner later that evening.

During dinner, I decided to really unplug from all of my devices for the remainder of the night and spend quality time with Brian. Needless to say, once we got back to our guesthouse, I was full from dinner, poured a glass of wine and fell asleep right there on the couch lol. I'm sure it was due to my busy day preparing for my photo shoot and the shoot itself, which is hard work. Brian didn't complain because he had his entertainment via a game he plays on his phone and he could control the television in peace without me wanting to watch "girl movies' lol. Overall, we had a great time on our staycation and will definitely do it again.

Have you ever did a staycation with your partner? What's some essentials that you must have during your staycation? Post your response in the comments.