Staycations

People love travelling! It brings joy and helps escape the everyday routine. What could be better than visiting an exotic place, meeting new people and trying new foods? As proof, travel agencies display photos of happy tourists enjoying cruise voyages, climbing the mountains or swimming in crystal-clear oceans. Travelling, however, may also involve negative experiences like flight delays, lost luggage and miserable hotel rooms with leaking taps. You may also be out of luck with the weather, which can ruin your beach holiday. Paying lots of money for an unfortunate trip is disappointing, isn't it?

Can we enjoy our vacation and avoid inconveniences? Julia Carter, a manager in a construction company, believes she has found an alternative to travelling and insists that it works well for her. "I used to be very passionate about travelling," Julia says, "Each time before my holidays, I browsed the Internet searching for travel options. I'd never travelled on my own, relying on package tours. My rule was to avoid the cheapest offers. As for the expensive ones, I wasn't able to afford them anyway. Though I was reasonable with all my choices, the total cost of the trips was high anyway. I had to save for months for a seven-day vacation. It didn't feel fair, but I couldn't imagine spending my vacation at home! Staying at home sounded like no holiday at all."

Julia confesses that she changed her conception of a good vacation after two consecutive trips when everything, or almost everything, went wrong. First, she went for a beach holiday and spent a whole week in a wet bungalow because of cold and rainy weather. Second, she caught a flu in the airport, and instead of enjoying concerts in one of the most expensive cities in the world, she had to stay in bed in a cold hotel room, feeling very ill and miserable. Having returned home, Julia discovered such a thing as staycations.

The word staycation is made from 'stay' and 'vacation'. It means that people do not go anywhere but do all sorts of activities they usually do while travelling. They go on bus and walking excursions in their local area, eat out, explore museums and exhibitions, and buy souvenirs. What they mustn't do is work and routine chores.

"Where's Bob?" Jack looked worried and nervously rubbed his hands. "There he is. Can't you see him? He 20__ on the sofa. Do you really need to wake up the poor cat?" Mum was always very protective of her pet and hated it when he was disturbed.

"I've got a job for him," declared Jack, "I've just seen two fat 21__ in the basement. Bob has to catch 22__ as soon as possible."

"He 23__ a mouse in all his life!" Mum laughed heartily. "And I think if he sees a mouse, he 24__ a heart attack."

"I wish we 25__ a braver cat," Jack couldn't hide his disappointment. "Everyone 26__ that it's a cat's job to protect the house from those small grey beasts. Otherwise, cats are the 27__ creatures of all domestic animals."

"Cats are not domestic animals," Mum kept defending her favourite pet. "They 28__ in the house to make it nicer and cosier."

"Fine! As you say! But what are we going to do with the grey thieves in the basement?"

Computers and mass media take a lot of our time. Not only teenagers spend 29__ hours in front of their screens but adults, too!
Some people think that the situation is 30__ and something should be done about it. The others say there is no need to dramatise.
Virtual technology is a 31__ part of the contemporary world and we should accept it.
Moreover, mass media is not only for 32__.
It is 33__ used for educational and business purposes, too.
The profession of a 34__ does not surprise anyone anymore. It feels as common as a driver or a sales manager nowadays.