Daycation, All I Ever Wanted (Plus a SOYJOY Daycation Giveaway!)

Credit: Kristen Seymour

I’m a planner. As much as I love to travel (and oh, I love to travel), I take almost as much pleasure in planning the details of the trip as I do in taking the trip itself. I’m not even a little embarrassed to admit that, for my last major vacation, I had not one but two (yes, two) color-coded spreadsheets, one to pick which cruise we’d take (based on the number of islands we’d see, length of trip and cost) and one to choose which excursions we’d take on each island. You can get in a lot of really fun, challenging physical activities if you plan it right, you know!

But, there’s a bit of a problem. I tend to go big or go home, so, unless I have, say, a week off, I don’t jump into Super Planner mode, so I rarely plan really exciting day trips. Unless I have an excuse, that is.

SOYJOY recently gave me a good excuse—they provided me with a Daycation kit (and you’ll have a chance to win your own at the bottom) with the idea of planning an exciting one-day getaway. The kit included a digital camera, a $50 AmEx Gift Card, sunblock, two sunglasses, a copy of Lonely Planet’s USA Guide, two books filled with games and questions (perfect for a road trip!), a no-ice-required cooler bag, a SOYJOY Backpack, two SOYJOY t-shirts, two reusable water bottles and, of course, SOYJOY bars.

Now, in July in North Central Florida, it’s hot. Like, really, really hot, every single day. So, while I love hiking and camping and such (and I couldn’t be more jealous of Jenn’s backpacking vacay!), a mid-summer adventure around here is going to have to revolve around water. So, I gathered a group of friends to go kayaking down the Santa Fe River, a trip that goes by a number of beautiful freshwater springs.

We packed healthy lunches of subs, wraps, watermelon and, well, okay, a cooler of beer, if I’m being truthful—it was light beer, at least—and set off down river. We alternated between racing to catch each other and letting the river carry us along. The low water level made paddling back into some of the springs a challenge, but hopping out of our boats to swim in the springs, which are 72 degrees all year round, was entirely worth the extra effort.

Planning a day trip like that might’ve taken a little extra effort, but for a fairly small amount of money (just the kayak rental and our picnic lunches), I got a one-day vacay that left me exhausted, smiling and filled with fantastic memories.

Now, are you ready to plan your daycation? One lucky FBG reader will win all the goodies I mentioned above. Comment below with what your perfect daycation would include, and we’ll pick one lucky U.S. reader to win in about a week. The winner will be notified via email, so get to commenting and sharing those ideal daycation plans! —Kristen