One Night, Once a Month, for One Year

2021 was the year of staycations. Not a single trip except a 15 minute drive to the Prince Waikiki. Just a one night stay, once a month, for one year.

I guess you could say it was sort of an experiment. I would book a one-night stay at the end of a calendar year or the start of one to review the year, do a calendar year-end audit, (which I’ll talk about in my next book), and set my intentions and goals for the next year.

It’s always one of the best 24 hours ever year after year. Just me, God, and my thoughts in a quiet, clean, air conditioned room.

So, I did a sort of experiement. Since we couldn’t go anywhere and had never been at home more in my life with the cases going up and down and restrictions etc, I decided I would do something on my dream list that I don’t know what I was waiting for. More of those kind of “staycations.”

And because the rates were so incredibly affordable due to a lack of people coming to Hawai`i, (aka like 50=65% off usual kamaaina rates, better than employee rates), I decided to lock this in and booked 1 night, per month, for one year at the Prince Waikiki.

It became a part of my monthly schedule. And you know what, it taught me how to pack super fast and super light. I got better with practice every month and it’s almost like it prepared me to be a better packer and unpacker. Something I never did well when preparing for trips that would always stress me out.

I was able to refine my travel packing list to what I most needed and felt like a pro after 12 trips. Sounds kind of crazy, but I feel like I was preparing for my own future of traveling.

So if you work in a hotel, let me tell you that “early check in” and “late check out” meant everything to me. Because when you only have 24 hours and normally with usual check in and check out you don’t have that, every single hour counts.

I found myself not staycationing, I found myself stayworking.

I got so much work done in those times. It was like a sprint. A sit down and face all the hard stuff I didn’t want to do because there was no where else to go. I literally stayed in the rooms during these stays. And when you only have to care about yourself (no kids or hubby around) and there’s no mess you’re looking at around you to clean, you can’t help yourself, but get to it!

It was a truly special year to have had this kind of experience. As the Bible says, there’s a season for everything. This may have been a season of no travel, so instead, I saw it as a season to have the opportunity to enjoy the hotels here in Hawai`i, support the local workers, appreciate where we live, and be close to family, but get away for a little bit!