Probably more than any other time of the year, this is when some people start to get vacation envy. They hear family or friends talk excitedly about taking trips to warm and sunny locations, knowing full well there's no vacation in the cards for them due to lack of time or money.
It's then that they drop the "s" word: staycation.
People first started to talk about taking "staycations" a few years ago, and the concept of the exploring your home turf for fun and overlooked things to do is solid gold.
But unfortunately the word has taken on much different meaning: resignation that you're stuck here and need to keep yourself occupied after a long, gray winter.
I say it's time to move on with a better word -- and attitude. Let's talk Moventure (More Adventure).
Staycations used to be frugal-chic, but now no runway for the fashionable word world would be caught dead in last year's vocabulary.
Staycation is a crutch for those timid, penny-pinching souls who never venture out of the house, instead shopping at second-hand EBay stores and trimming their children's hair with Flowbees.
While we are still figuring out the next steps in the new economy, we need to give the stulifying staycation the boot, yet keep the idea that there's lots of fun things to do locally -- if we just open our willing to get out there.
As proof, G-Sync has several suggestions that are free or cost next to nothing to attend.
A number of local institutions like the Grand Rapids Public Museum are offering extra programming to entice you to get out of the house. (This might be a great weekend to revisit
WhatsYourArtGR.com)
If you can't get enough of Rapid Growth, then we are hosting a free lecture on the topic of
Higher Ed, Stronger Economy this Tuesday, April 6 at Wealthy Theatre.
There is even a new Easter Egg Hunt debuting on Friday night at Rosa Parks Circle, which is sure to bring in the masses to hunt for the more than 10,000 eggs hidden downtown.
So as I toss the first handful of dirt on the overused staycation, I want to raise a toast from my favorite watering hole to something that more reflects our wandering spirit, Moventure.
The Future Grand Rapids Needs All of Us (to get moving.)
Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
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