We have some huge trips planned this year, so in the mean time we will have to stay a little closer to home. We’re going to have to (I can’t believe I’m about to say it) stay-cation. Whoever created that word has a sick sense of humor- and I’m not laughing.  Just thinking about a stay-cation makes me want to throw a tandrum like a small child. Oprah and Suze Orman should have a stay-cation together for the amount of times I’ve heard them talk about how awesome they are.  Boo- I’ll say it- Stay-cations suck!

When I can’t be on the road traveling, I quickly start to get wanderlust. It’s bad too. I start browsing Airfare Watchdog and TravelZoo for great flights from my hometown- just because. I bookmark National Geographic’s Top 10 cities of 2011- because, what if my dream city is on the list?! I start reconsidering a road trip to Vegas, because even though I’ve been there dozens of times, it’s still a vacation if I’m out of town!

When I think about it though, my problem is that I tend to repeat the same things, go to the same places, eat tacos at the same joint.  Really, it might not be a Stay-cation problem, as much as a ‘I need to explore’ situation.  To shake up my hometown, I’ve created a new weekly feature called “Travel your own city“, and I want you to be involved too.  The nuts and bolts are this:

• Each Thursday for the next 12 weeks we’ll outline how to explore your city, hopefully taking you to new places, making you try different experiences and ultimately revamping your relationship with the city you call home.
• In the comments sections of each post, write what you tried, link to your posts and pictures, let us know something about your city and what you’ve been up to.
• Then, we’ll create a recap each week so we can see how every one did!

If you want to be involved, you can join any time, but we’ll post a list next Thursday of the bloggers who are taking part.  So, if you want to be on the list, post a link to your website and twitter feed in the comments below.

We’re calling this event, ‘Travel Your Own City’, but even if you are on the road, these experiences might lead you to try new things, so feel free to join in.