With the economy in its current state of disrepair vacations are harder to organize, fund, and justify.  These conditions, though they are not ideal, create the opportunity to have a stay-cation of your very own.  Stay-cations are much more cost effective and eco-friendly than the traditional vacation to sunny beaches or far off places.

While trips to far off places and sunny tourist towns next to beautiful beaches make for unforgettable vacations they can be extremely costly and have a negative impact on the environment.  Lodging for traditional vacations for two adults costs, on average, $164 per night in North America.  The average flight costs $315 per person, but could be more costly for farther trips.  If you factor food and tourist attractions into the budget the cost will increase based on your personal spending habits.  For a week long vacation, the average cost is $2,080+ for two adults.

The environmental impact of vacations varies by forms of transportation, length of stay, and type of vacation.  When flying from Seattle, Washington to Cancun, Mexico the carbon emissions for a one way flight is approximately 1,470 kg CO₂ per passenger.  This makes the carbon emissions for a round trip flight 5,880 kg CO₂ for two passengers.  That is quite an impact for a one week vacation.

Compare this to a stay-cation.  Rather than spending thousands of dollars for a trip somewhere far away and emitting unnecessary amounts CO₂ from travel, stay home and create yourself a stay-cation for much less.  Staying home will save you travel and lodging costs, you may decide that you want to go out for dinner or to the local water park which will increase your costs, but you can set a budget and find local attractions that fit within your budget.  By not traveling great distances and by staying within your normal travel radius you limit your carbon emissions which will not increase as drastically as they would if you were traveling greater distances.

Stay home, have fun, save money, and save the planet!