Today, the day after Memorial Day, can be considered the first day of summer vacations. If you have a week or even part of a week of vacation time coming up and you’d rather not travel, then perhaps you’re up for a staycation. Of course, after running and gunning for months on end, you may want nothing more than absolutely no plans and no expectations from anyone. Great. But if you want to spend at least part of your time on some activities or projects, then here is a list of possibilities.

Catch Up on Your Personal Paperwork

This likely sounds horrible to you and it’s dangerous for me to list this option first – you’re that much more likely to stop reading – but let’s get it over with. Sometimes the series of unfinished but necessary paperwork you have piling up may be weighing on you. You may carry this burden that continues to nag at you – usually at a low level but not always. Perhaps you can never fully relax and let go because of these important issues that you’ve been procrastinating doing.

In such a case, the best thing you can do for yourself – for your peace of mind and wellbeing – is to spend a half day or a couple of half days of your staycation focusing and completing these projects. What kinds of paperwork projects am I referring to? Things like renewing your passport, setting up an investment account, talking to your insurance agent about getting an umbrella insurance policy, responding to a backlog of important correspondence from important others, or setting up an online bank account. Whatever the backlog is for you, you can rest assured that the rest of us have our own backlog.

Once you get this cleared away, then you can celebrate and reward yourself with some true relaxation.

Be a Tourist in Your Hometown

I’m a lifelong Chicagoan – except for my three years spent in Rockville, Maryland when I was a senior staff fellow at the NIH – and I know Chicago quite well. But there are many museums, sights, neighborhoods, and other attractions I haven’t been to in years or decades or at all. One of the most fun things my wife and I did last year was take an architectural boat tour down the Chicago River and then visit the viewing deck at the Willis Tower. I wasn’t eager to do these things because they seemed like they were for ‘tourists only.’ But I really enjoyed them and actually enjoyed the thought of being a tourist in my hometown. It gave me a different perspective on the city.

Explore Nearby Natural Areas

Even if you’ve spent your entire life in the place you live now, there are undoubtedly many natural areas that are up to 90 minutes away that you’ve not visited. This summer I plan on kayaking down the Fox River, not far from Chicago. I like kayaking but have done it only in far off places and never near my home. You may be into hiking or birdwatching or cycling. I’m sure there are undiscovered gems near you waiting to be explored.

Start Your New Hobby

Most of us harbor unfulfilled desires to express ourselves in some way, through music, painting, sculpting, pottery making, designing and sewing clothes, furniture-making, dancing, etc. It’s human nature to be expressive. Artmaking goes back to tens of thousands of years, and perhaps to times prior to the origin of our species.

You won’t master most crafts and arts in a week off work, of course. (You can get pretty skilled at the fundamentals of cooking and making some delicious dishes though.) So, the goal for your staycation can be to decide on your expressive form, research how best to start learning it and from whom, start lessons, and know by the end of the week if you’re willing to commit to it and, if you are, to commit to and continue it.

Invite Friends for a Barbecue or Indoor Buffet

I believe that the single best thing I did in my 20s that improved those years the most for me was inviting friends and acquaintances for simple dinners at my apartment. When still in medical school and rotating through the different departments and hospitals for my clerkships, I had the idea of inviting people I met in different circumstances over for dinner. I’d mix up my newfound friends and acquaintances with well-established friends and others I met. I’d invite six to eight people at a time, so we could all fit around my dining room table.

The simple brilliance of my plan was that no one else was doing this. After such a dinner, everyone would repeatedly tell me how much fun they had and how much they appreciated that I took the initiative to do this. I kind of became known for my dinner parties. I wasn’t a great cook, but I had some simple recipes I mastered that I knew were winners. Also, sometimes I’d ask my guests to contribute some dishes, a salad or dessert or bottle of wine, etc.

Also, at that point in my life I was rather shy and even at times socially awkward. Even now I’m bad at meeting new people and making small talk. And yet, while in my 20s, I found a way of becoming somewhat popular and of making some really good friends.

I’ll end with this, my word for this year is: Conviviality! (I’m not kidding. I’ll write more about it one day.) So, perhaps you can think of ways of making your life more convivial.

Thanks, and let me know what you think and which topic you would want me to cover.

Dr. Jack