When I first set foot on the Vineyard, some twenty years ago, a feeling of aaah, home went through me, though I hadn’t ever been here. And the first couple of years, as a summer resident, I spent a lot of time getting to know the Island, exploring the hiking trails, finding my favorite food, beverage, and music haunts, and generally testing out the waters, so to speak, to hone in on my little niches: Menemsha Hills and Great Rock Bight in Chilmark, the where-have-you-been-girl Wintertide Coffeehouse community in Vineyard Haven, and in Oak Bluffs Johnny Cruz at the Rare Duck on Sunday nights and the midnight run for Back Door Donuts. Eventually, I felt less like I was on an extended vacation.

But it didn’t fully become home until my daughter was born here in 1993 and we settled into year-round living.

Ironically, the more entrenched in the community we became – even more so since my daughter has been in high school – the further I got from the beaches, hiking trails, and my off-the-beaten-path faves.

Yes, we still get to the West Tisbury Farmer’s Market once or twice a summer; yes, we go up to the Gay Head Cliffs a couple of times a year; we take in the sunset in Menemsha maybe once. When my family makes their annual trek down from Canada, we are happy to show off the Island as much as we can, snatching an hour or two here and there out of our busy lives.

But when was the last time I went to Chappy? For a wedding three years ago. When was the last time I went to the Harbor View in Edgartown and sat on the deck at sunset? For bachelorette cocktails two years ago. Or packed a picnic and hiked the long path down to Great Rock Bight to spend the day, instead of going to Edgartown’s quicker, easier Bend in the Road Beach? Don’t get me wrong, an hour or two is great – a welcome relief from the daily routine. Indeed, it’s one of the rewards of making it through the long, endlessly gray winters.

However, like many Vineyarders, my work schedule kicks into high gear in the summer, and there’s little time to really enjoy all the elements of the Island that made me fall in love with this place. When we say “Vineyard vacation,” we are most likely thinking of what the Island has to offer visiting vacationers. Those of us who live here usually do not take time to smell the Rosa rugosa growing along our lovely shores. And when we can take a vacation, we tend to think first of destinations afar. But as my husband and I have discovered, taking a “staycation” – that is, a mini-vacation on the Island – can be a wonderful way to really enjoy our home, perhaps even more so with the current economy.

So to celebrate our first wedding anniversary last August, we decided to get full mileage out of the event and take a staycation up-Island. We wanted to enjoy a leisurely dinner in a beautiful setting and not have to worry about the drive home or the call of the alarm clock the next morning. With overnight plans for our teenagers secured, we made a reservation at the aptly named Outermost Inn, which is nestled on the homestead of Hugh and Jeanne Taylor at the outer tip of the Island in Aquinnah – next to the Gay Head Lighthouse.

Though they tend to book longer stays and overnights are not their forte, the Taylors have a soft spot for their Island neighbors and say they are flattered when we think of them to celebrate a personal milestone. Hugh says there are four Island couples in particular who they’ve come to expect each year: three celebrating wedding anniversaries and one for the husband’s birthday. So, when we called to make a reservation, Hugh and Jeanne were very accommodating, and we were lucky to book the actual date of our anniversary.

Hugh jokes, “For a lot of Vineyarders, coming up to Gay Head is like leaving the Island.” And he’s right, it can seem a world away, and that’s part of the beauty of it. It feels all the more like a vacation. We arrived early enough to take a walk on the grounds, then lounge outside on the tiered stone and wood deck that overlooks a sweeping lawn, woods, and the sea beyond. After going back to shower and change in our room-with-a-view (with a wall of ocean-facing windows and the Gay Head Light in full splendor), we headed down to a fabulous dinner at the hands of chef Dan Sauer. But first we had a celebratory glass of champagne at the outdoor bar, where we mingled with an eclectic mix of company, including two Island couples, a pair of New Yorkers also celebrating an anniversary, and a lovely and charming celebrity who frequents the Vineyard (think savvy heroine-in-distress in Dark Knight). We did feel a world away from our daily life, and kind of like movie stars ourselves in that quietly glamorous setting.

We stayed up until the wee hours, counting stars, listening to the not-so-distant surf, and savoring our little escape, which continued the next morning. It was a rainy, overcast day but one with pockets of sunlight that added to our sense of romance and lent a Jane Austen novel-like aura to the landscape, making us feel all the more as if we had been swept away to some grand manor in the English countryside as we breakfasted in the dining room before returning to our home in Vineyard Haven.

Then this spring my husband found an offer in the paper he couldn’t resist: an advertisement inviting Island residents who dined at the Winnetu’s restaurant, Lure Grill, for a complimentary overnight stay at the luxury inn in Katama any Wednesday or Thursday evening in May. He saw it as a perfect opportunity to sweep me away for another staycation. And how timely that it coincided with my birthday. Again, as with the Outermost stay, the gorgeous grounds and glimpse of the sea from our spacious suite, along with the succulent offerings from the Lure kitchen, not only gave us a welcome vacation from our busy lives but served as a wonderful reminder about why we choose to live here and how vital it is to our perspective to spend time like this enjoying our Island home.

As much as we can, we’ve taken the lesson to heart by doing touristy things just for the heck of it: like cutting out of work an hour early on a sunny, breezy day in August to head to the harbor in Oak Bluffs and walk hand-in-hand along the boardwalk, stopping for a Blue Moon and a basket of beer-battered shrimp at Coop de Ville; or in these last days of summer that blend into fall, like watercolors on a canvas, to walk along Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs, then huddle under the heaters on the Lookout’s porch with a carafe of sake and spread of sushi. For all appearances, we are just another pair of honeymooners on vacation.

Planning your own staycation

The key to a great staycation is to cultivate a vacation environment that makes you feel like you’ve stepped out of your daily life.

1. As with any vacation, mark it on your calendar with a start and end date – even if it’s just for one night. Let folks know you’ll be “away,” so you won’t be inundated with phone calls, whether work or social.

2. As your motivation for taking a staycation might be lack of time and lack of funds, make a plan, including a budget. If dollars are a concern, consider beforehand where you want to splurge: Do you want a more luxurious suite and takeout in your room, or will a simpler room suit your needs after a leisurely, gourmet dinner?

3. Make a what-to-bring list, and be sure to put a camera on it. Plan to take photos, as you would on any other vacation. (While you’re on your staycation, create at least one cheesy photo op: posing by the Flying Horses in Oak Bluffs, sitting on the porch at the Chilmark Store, or slathering clotted cream and strawberry jam on your scone and sipping tea at The English Butler in Edgartown.)

4. Do some research and look for packages. One of the great perks about living on the Vineyard is the deals to be had in the shoulder seasons and winter. For example, Vineyard Haven’s Mansion House offers a midweek special in the spring and fall that includes massages, a three-course dinner at Zephrus, and breakfast, plus use of the pool, gym, and cupola roof deck. And the price for the package deal is further reduced in the winter, lending support to what owner Susie Goldstein says about the inn: “You don’t have to be a millionaire to live like one.”

5. Determine what kind of staycation will best suit you. Here are three ideas to help you choose:

Occasion staycations

Plan a staycation around a popular holiday – Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day – when you’d already be blocking out the time to celebrate. Many chefs, such as Edgartown’s Kevin Crowell of Détente and Levon Wallace of Water Street (at the Harbor View Hotel & Resort) offer feasts featuring Island-grown fare from land and sea, and often with a prix fix option. Or, build your staycation around an off-season event such as the popular wine-tasting evenings offered by several upscale restaurants or the annual Vineyard Artisans Festival over Thanksgiving weekend at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury. Book a room at a cozy B&B in the area and make a reservation for dinner – perhaps at the nearby Lambert’s Cove Inn or new State Road Restaurant – and give yourself plenty of time beforehand to stroll the aisles at the Ag Hall to admire the work of Island craftsmen and artists.

Down-Island staycations

Chappy and up-Island residents, your ideal staycation might be to spend a night where you can get a little “urban” fix, that is to say, some Island night life – even if it’s just dinner and a movie, or a glass of wine where there’s live music playing. You can settle into your room afterward and won’t have the burden of the long drive home – especially in winter when weather conditions can make the journey more daunting. In the case of Chappy-goers, you won’t have to leave just when the band really revs up to catch the ferry before it closes. The Nashua House in Oak Bluffs, for example, is ideally located on Kennebec Avenue and offers reasonable rates in the summer, and even more Island-friendly rates in the winter when a night in one of the pretty (recently winterized) cottage-style rooms is as low as $69.

Off-the-beaten-path staycations

Down-Islanders, get out of town. To create a staycation where you really feel removed from daily life, take one of our long and winding roads to a country or seaside inn. While away the day in your own little cottage at the Beach Plum Inn in Menemsha, which stays open into October and offers off-season rates more than a hundred dollars a night lower than in summer. Or fly south – to Katama’s Winnetu Oceanside Resort. And watch for off-season specials like the Winnetu’s offer in May inviting Island residents to stay for free after dining at the Lure Grill. The offer was a concentrated effort to make a connection with the people who live here and Winnetu General Manager Roderick Anderson says the promotion “created a very nice vibe within the community” and will likely happen again. Once you get on the staycation bandwagon, who knows where on the Island you’ll end up?