Senior News Line: Staycation ideas for seniors

How do we go on vacation when we can’t afford to travel anywhere? How can any days feel like vacation when we do what we usually do, which is stay home?

The answer may be a staycation: Spend time doing something different without leaving your home area.

One of my favorite ways to unwind and decompress is to unplug the phone and read. I can get 10 free Kindle Unlimited books at a time, more than enough to keep me happy during an unplugged week while I pretend I’m on vacation.

With a free-delivery Walmart+ membership — $98 for a year — I can have groceries and snacks delivered to the door.

I’ve already checked the local events calendar, marking off several of interest. That doesn’t mean I’ll go to all of them, but the options are there: a sandwich, no-salt chips and a drink in a chilled to-go bag and a few relaxing hours at a free local outdoor concert.

One of the events I’m looking forward to is an evening community sing where likely hundreds of people — mostly seniors, I imagine — will get together outdoors to sing the oldies.

On another day I’ll spend some hours at the Louvre in Paris. I won’t actually be there, but close enough with their free virtual tour at www.louvre.fr/en/online-tours.

Do an online search for “museums with virtual tours,” and you’ll find several dozen choices. Zoos, national parks and aquariums have done the same thing.

The opportunities for staycation are many. Want to learn to paint or draw? Order supplies and spend some days hooked up to online art tutorials.

Want to write a book? You can get a lot done in an unplugged week. Want to bake a pie? Spend an afternoon first at a pick-your-own fruit farm.

A big rule of staycation: Housework and cleaning are not allowed.