Our regular columnist Molly Quell just got back from some time off and is feeling a little judged by the Dutch for staying home. 

On the first day of our staycation, my husband and I took the dog for a walk and got ice cream. That was the only item on the agenda. On our return, we bumped into some acquaintances sitting on a terrace, enjoying the sun.

“I’m great,” I told them when they asked how I was doing. “I’m on vacation.”

“Oh lovely. Where are you going?” they inquired.

“Oh nowhere, we’re just staying home.”

The couple looked at me incredulously and then looked to my Dutch husband, as if there had been some translation error.

“That’s … nice,” one replied, in a tone which indicated that she did not actually think it was nice.

I travel a lot for my job. When I got back from my last trip, which lasted five weeks, my husband tallied up that I hadn’t been at home for one entire calendar week in all of 2024. My idea of a good time is not elbowing my way through the blue screen of death at Schiphol or fighting with Deutsche Bahn over a refund for yet another delayed train.

You don’t need a workload like mine, however, to enjoy staying home on your holiday. The Dutch seem to think it violates their human rights to stay within their own borders when they are free from work.

The friends we bumped into weren’t the only ones who couldn’t keep their opinions to themselves. “You’ll take a real vacation later, right?” or “Did you go somewhere in the spring?” or “Well there’s still time to book something” or the inquisitive “Oh is everything okay?” – as if I would confess on the spot to my neighbour that we’d lost all of our money in a Ponzi scheme and couldn’t afford a proper holiday.

The Netherlands is a small country and does lack the sort of amenities that people often enjoy on vacation: the sun, mountains, good food, friendly people. So I do understand the inclination to go abroad.

What I don’t understand is the judgment over my own choice not to. The only thing cheaper than pitching a tent on a mediocre French campsite and eating my own peanut butter on my own bread is not going anywhere in the first place. You can just save the €40 a night you’re spending on a dry bit of dirt between three other Dutch families with screaming children and eat your peanut butter at home.

Plus I am one less car on the French highways contributing to the massive traffic jams.

During COVID there was a rise in the use of the word “staycation.” The Dutch just co-opted the English word. Pandemic restrictions led people to push the boundaries of the definition. A staycation means to stay at home but enterprising travel agents and those bored in lockdown decided it really a vacation where you stay…in your country.

In a normal sized country, this is nonsensical. You’re not staying anywhere if you live in Milwaukee and go to New York City for the weekend. Nor are you staying if you take a weekend away on Texel (unless you live on Texel.)

Upsides

Staying at home has some significant upsides. You don’t need to pack. You don’t need to go through the emotionally devastating process of choosing what books to bring. You don’t have to translate labels at the grocery store. You have your favourite mug to use.

This country is really not so bad in the summer. The weather has been crap but the weather here is always crap and it’s likely to be less crap in the summer. You do even get the occasional bit of sun – like this week.

Also, it’s cheap. The price of that ice cream cone may have been approximately the same in the Netherlands as in southern France or Italy, but I didn’t have to pay any money to get to the shop.

Perhaps it can be the next big lifestyle trend. Forget nikksen, now everyone is blijven.