Spikes in gas prices and an iffy economy are causing vacationers to rethink their plans to get out of town for a much-needed getaway this year. As a result, a new word has emerged in the lexicon: stay-cation. A stay-cation, defined, is a vacation you take by staying at home. This does not invite you to sit in front of the TV and drink beer or pop popcorn for a week or two, no. What it means is that, instead of traveling far and wide to discover the wonders of other cities or countries, you stay close to home and discover or rediscover the marvels of your local area.

If you’ve been a New Yorker all your life, chances are good that you have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the top of the Empire State Building or taken a day cruise around Manhattan Island. As a native of Los Angeles, you may not yet have boated 26 miles across the channel to the island of Santa Catalina where the buffalo still roam, or gone hiking in the Santa Monica mountains, or visited Old West locations like Vasquez Rock where hundreds of western movies were shot, or crossed the sand dunes of the southern desert.

Maybe you’re from a much smaller town, and you think you’ve seen all there is to be seen. But have you? Maybe there’s a little inn that serves Sunday brunch. It always piqued your interest, but you never checked it out. This coming Sunday, you might want to take a second look. You might also take a look at your local paper, or contact the local Chamber of Commerce or Visitors Bureau, as well as those of surrounding areas. Something is always going on wherever you live, or just a few miles down the road. A fair, a flea market, an art exhibit, a circus—something of interest, and probably a lot more than you realize.