Booked My First Solo Staycation: Denim, Diamonds and Death

When I was in my 20s, I did a lot of solo travel. I didn’t get married until I was 31, so I had a lot of years on my own.

However, most of my solo travel was to meet up with family or friends. For the most part, I wasn’t fully vacationing on my own. Even when I decided to cash in frequent flier miles to go to Italy, I invited my parents and sister to join me there. I never spent an extended time at a vacation destination by myself.

Now that I’m in my 40s, a lot has changed. I would welcome some peace and quiet with open arms. Raising three kids barely gives me any alone time at all. Even though my kids are getting older, between them and the dogs I still don’t get to sleep in on weekends.

Well, that won’t be the case for two days in the fall because I’ve just booked my first solo staycation!

Partial Family Vacations

My family of five takes two big trips all together each year. But for the rest of our travel, we break into smaller groups. Usually I will have at least one trip with just me and my kids. Sometimes, we will have a trip with just one kid.

I’ve written about our partial family vacations strategy before. This method of travel is controversial to some, but it works for us. We can each pursue our own individual interests and get some one-on-one time with each kid.

Since we’ve had kids, my husband has gone on a few solo trips which mostly involved cycling races. He has encouraged me to go on my own solo trips, even something close to home as more of a staycation.

Finding the Right Solo Staycation

While taking a solo vacation or staycation has always appealed to me, I’ve never been motivated to book one. Why?

First, while I would like some time on my own, I don’t like to do everything on my own. For example, I dislike eating at a restaurant solo. I’ve done this on business trips and always bring a book with me, but I feel self-conscious. So while a solo cruise is appealing in some ways, the thought of eating all those meals as a solo diner is not appealing to me.

Getting away somewhere local is more practical due to cost and time constraints. But to be honest, there aren’t many hotels in my local area that really appeal to me. If I lived near the beach, I’d have a much easier time finding a place.

There aren’t any hotels in downtown Dallas or Fort Worth that are screaming “book me”. Sure, I could book an overpriced spa appointment and sleep in and read. But, I have never been motivated enough to book something.

Until now.

Mystery Book Fan Convention

Last week, my neighborhood book club leader told our group about a big fiction mystery book convention happening in the fall in downtown Dallas. Yep, since it’s in Dallas, the theme is “Denim, Diamonds and Death.” It sounds a lot like a comic con, except for with crime fiction writers instead of comic book or pop culture icons.

I was intrigued. Reading books is something I enjoyed a lot before I had kids. Just in the last few years I’ve been able to slowly pick it up again. I try to read one book a month, realistically just the one book the book club is going to discuss.

The convention is four days of discussion panels, workshops, parties and award ceremonies all surrounding mystery books. I’m already geeking out about it! I can’t make all four days, but I can go on the weekend while my husband holds down the fort and shuttles my kids around to all of their activities.

Even though the convention is somewhat local to where I live, I’m going to spend two glorious nights by myself in a hotel downtown. All 1000 rooms at the Hyatt Regency are already sold out to convention-goers, so I’ll pick another hotel close by. I can’t wait!

Have you ever left your family at home and done a solo getaway? I’d love to hear about it!

Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses