Want Better Sex? Take A Staycation

Even with jet lag, lumpy mattresses, noisy neighbors and gross food, sex was always better when my husband and I were on vacation. Once we escaped all of the daily obligations, we found that we both had a lot more energy for sex. And then we discovered staycations. More sex and less travel time — it definitely made for a winning combination.

I've lived in California all my life, so we were lucky to live close to beautiful beaches lined with luxurious hotels. When we human beings go on vacation, we usually make a point to see every tourist attractions in the area. We don't think of being tourists in our hometown. There are spots near your home that are just waiting to be explored with this idea in mind.

Here's an exercise I give my coaching clients: make a list of all the interesting and unique places there are to visit (and stay for the weekend or at least overnight) within a 50-100 mile radius of your home. I bet you'll be surprised. Once you have your list, start making plans to visit them. Look for the things you would on any other vacation: visiting museums, golfing, hiking, wine tasting, biking, whatever you can enjoy together. 

My husband and I did this quite a few times. We went to an apple farm and made homemade applesauce. We attended concerts in the park. We attended the live theater by going to the box office on the day of the performance and getting tickets that were a fraction of the cost. Some additional ideas: stroll through an open market, tour the local courthouse or walk the downtown streets. Do anything that's different from your typical date night. The combination of breaking your routine is a great formula for feeling more sexual.

One of our favorite staycations happened when we were offered an overnight package at a local hotel, including the room, dinner, massages and breakfast. We drove 20 minutes from our house to our "home away from home" and arrived just in time for happy hour. The bellman took our bags, and we settled into comfy rattan chairs on the patio, chatting with other guests.

We met one couple who had driven over four hours and one couple who had flown from another country to make this hotel part of their vacation experience. Their jaws dropped when they found out that we lived a short 20 minutes away.

Most people remarked at how lucky we were to live here (we agreed) and they asked us why we would go such a short distance for our "vacation." We told them that the stress of packing our bags, waiting in lines at the airport and the cost of traveling was working against what we wanted to get out of a vacation in the first place: a relaxing way to be together. (Not to mention, the sex on our staycations was incredible.)