By India Berry

In the first article of our new series, India Berry walks us through the art of the summer staycation.

Just like everyone else in the world, all travel plans I had made for this summer had been cancelled. But after two months of 5AM tutorials over Teams and the drama of my sisters' AP exams, we definitely needed a break: preferably involving less screens.

We couldn’t exactly go abroad, and rules and restrictions were changing so much in the United States that we decided it wasn’t worth the risk to visit other states. We were stuck at home, bored and beginning to get fed up with the extensive quality time quarantine had forced us into.

With the new ‘voluntary lockdown’ and more and more restrictions being added in the UK, it’s looking pretty likely that things might begin to shut down again. Although we’re out of summer mode and already behind on assignments, it might be time to start thinking about weekends in instead of planning days out. Here are a few of the things I learned during a quarantined summer that helped me stay sane and actually enjoy staycationing.

1. Get outside and explore (if you can)

When it became a bit more socially acceptable to leave the house in May, my sisters and I spent so many weekends planning day trips to hiking trails, fields, beaches and pick-your-own farms throughout the state. We often opted to take the backroads instead of the highway and driving through all the different towns made us realize how much we still hadn’t seen, even after four years of living in New Jersey. Coming back to St Andrews, I have forced my flat mate to accompany me on so many walks, going down Lade Braes, the Fife Coastal Path and of course, East, West and Castle Sands. We’ve realized that we don’t know St Andrews as well as we thought we did. If restrictions allow, explore your area by looking up any and all tourist attractions, taking a different path on your walk, or going on long, scenic drives. You never know what you might not have seen yet.

2. Bring out your holiday clothes

Determined to make use out of the sundresses that she had bought in hopes of wearing them in Greece this summer, my sister almost always came down wearing something that put the rest of our loungewear to shame.

Soon, we all began wearing our summer outfits, even though we had nowhere to go. We all felt like we were on holiday when we were hanging out in our tank tops and shorts, dresses and bathing suits. Getting dressed up instead of wearing the same sweatpants again can make another day of lockdown feel like an event, making the day a bit more interesting.

3. Recreate your favourite dinner

I spent a lot of time over quarantine building my cooking and baking skills. Once I was pretty confident with the basics, I started trying to recreate meals and desserts from our past summers. There was homemade pasta drying all over the kitchen, frustration over remembering how many times I had to fold the croissant dough and very intricate focaccia art designs. Not only is cooking just a great skill to have under your belt but remaking the dishes from your holidays is always a nostalgic reminder about past summers. We had plenty of ‘Remember when…’ conversations over dinners, taking us back to nights in France or Italy.

4. Just relax…

What else would you do on holiday? I spent most of quarantine watching films and tv programmes I had been meaning to get to, getting back into my love of reading, listening to hours of ABBA and just lounging around the house. Zoom calls and online work have become the new normal and its absolutely essential to take a break and just do nothing every once in a while.