What is better than a holiday with your kids? Staying home.

As I browsed through my Instagram feed last school holidays I saw photo after photo of Bali, the Greek Islands, Hawaii, Fiji, Noosa…. Lots of sand. Lots of sea. Lots of sun. Lots of ‘fun’.

Now I say ‘fun’, because when I think about taking my kids to these locations, the first thing I think of is not fresh seafood, fluffy pillows, margaritas by the pool, and chips with every meal. No. The first thing I think of is all of the reasons why I am genuinely happy to be staying home with the kids these hols!

Call me jealous, call me cheap, call me whatever you like. But I promise you, after years of travelling with little kids and then, more recently, a couple of years staying home during the school holidays, I can assure you, I know which one I prefer.

So here I present to you, the five reasons why a staycation is the best type of holiday:

1. You won’t be shushed on a plane.

Travelling is stressful enough as it is. Have you packed enough? Have you checked the passports? Locked the house? Dropped the dog off with the in-laws? On and on the checklist goes. And that’s before you’ve even arrived at the airport!

You arrive, check in, go through security, go through security again, and then go through security, before heading through customs and getting on the plane. By this time, you are well and truly ready for a glass of champers. BUT WAIT, your one-year-old is hysterically crying. And she won’t stop. She’s one, so bribery isn’t an option at this stage. You do ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that you can to calm her. Nothing works. You’re only 40 minutes into the 14-hour flight and a large, angry man yells out “Hey you with the kid. Can you shhhhhhh!? Just stop that kid moaning!” I’ll let you imagine what happens next. It’s not pretty.

2. No need to transport your life.

Portacots, bags and bags of nappies, nappy bags, baby monitor, baby wipes, favourite toys, variety of snack foods, bottle steriliser, medications, floaties, pram, again, the list goes on. And that’s just what you need for the baby! Isn’t it easier to leave it all at home and take each day as it comes?

3. SLEEP.

Whether or not you’re going to get adequate sleep of an evening is always a gamble. But way more so when your kids are snoozing in a bed other than their own. Who wants to risk that? “Not I!” said the fly. ‘The fly’ being every parent that has ever existed.

4. Money, money, money.

Flights to a fancy destination and accommodation in a nice hotel for 10 days for a family of five costs a damn bomb. Thousands and thousands. What I do when we end up staying home for the holidays is, adding up what I think a trip overseas or up north could have cost us, and then deciding that that becomes our holiday 'spending money!' Hooray! Not all of it of course, as that would be ridiculous, but like 10 percent of it usually works well. We have guilt-free trips to the zoo, the movies, the trampoline park and to cool cafes and restaurants, all whilst saving ourselves thousands of dollars. Well that’s how I justify it anyway!

5. The good old days.

Staying local forces kids to spend time with the neighbours, to play outdoors, to visit the cousins, to get to know their own city. There’s only so much iPad, Play Station and TV you can play, use and watch. Kids learn to play how we used to; up the tree, in the kitchen and on their bikes and scooters.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I don’t ever want to go to the Maldives or the Amalfi Coast. I just want to go when my kids are old enough to stay home!

Vacation or staycation: Which do you prefer? Tell us in the comments section below!

This content was created with thanks to our brand partner, The Natural Chip Company.