Staycation for Entrepreneurs: 3 Reasons I book a hotel alone every year
Staycation for Entrepreneurs: 3 Reasons I book a hotel alone every year
Every year, I intentionally take time away, by myself to fill my cup, be alone, and pour into my business. Here’s what that’s like…
Fudging my Myers-Briggs type
In high school, I took a psychology class and first learned what an extrovert was.
I wanted to be one.
At that time, I thought being extroverted meant you were popular and well-liked. I even fudged my Myers-Briggs type so the results would prove I was an extrovert. I had no idea being an introvert or extrovert was actually about how our brains are wired, not about being likable.
Finding what lights you up
As I grew up, I became familiar with what lights me up and what drains my energy.
Looking back, the writing was on the wall. I preferred to be alone in my room after a day full of over-stimulation. I found fulfillment in a few strong friendships rather than a wide circle of kind-of friends. I preferred silence to small talk.
I began to recognize what filled my cup and what depleted it. This was a huge step for me to achieving a healthy work/life balance as a female entrepreneur.
“Introvert” doesn’t mean anti-social. It means intentionally social.
People are always shocked when I share that I’m naturally wired as an introvert. I have no problem mingling in groups. I can speak easily at conferences and events. I run a business focused on empowering and connecting with lots of female entrepreneurs. All of these require engaging and interacting with others, activities people assume introverts avoid.
I can do these things because I keep a tight gauge on my energy levels. I space out networking events. I plan “me time” after work activities involve mingling and small talk. I continually practice work/life harmony. I read business books that fill my thoughts with new perspectives. I have a 5am rhythm where I wake up and start the day intentionally with peace and quiet.
To me, this is self-care.
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Build a business around your life and not a life around your business
The truth is, Holley Gerth blew my mind in her book “The Powerful Purpose of Introverts” when she explained clearly in words things I had only felt in my body. The insight I got from her book was a game changer. When I came to understand how I was wired, I also intimately understood how to best take care of my energy, my emotions, and my mind based on the wiring of my brain.
The best part of understanding how I’m wired is that I’m intimately familiar with what self-care means to me.
It’s also the key to how I build a business around my life and not a life around my business.
It makes sense now why the corporate life was a massive misfit for me and for so many entrepreneurs I know. I had to show up and constantly engage with others, on their timeline. That’s just not how I’m wired. Can you relate?
Thankfully, my husband knows how I’m wired too. He isn’t offended by my need for a healthy dose of alone time. Literally, it’s my lifeline. Uninterrupted thoughts. Intentional planning. Lots of quiet processing.
That’s what dreams are made of.
Managing Burnout as an Entrepreneur
Despite loving what I do, I’m in a very real season of burnout raising two kids, running two businesses, and managing our real estate investments (Read: 10 Challenges and Triumphs of Being a Female Entrepreneur). At home, my mind jumps from meeting my kids’ needs to planning what to eat every week, to tidying up the house as I’m walking a load of laundry to the washer. Being a working mom is an olympic sport and for me, it’s easy to become burned out and over-stimulated. When that happens, I need fresh ideas for what to do when I feel stuck in my business.
What is a “staycation”?
Ever feel like you need a vacation after your vacation? Vacations get all the glory and they are meaningful in their own right, but they can be exhausting. With staycations, the focus isn’t activities, but quality time.
With a staycation, it doesn’t really matter where you are because the location doesn’t matter. What matters is rejuvenating your mind and heart. Whether you schedule time away from work and just stay home, or retreat to a hotel, the point is to rest, not to engage in a full schedule of busyness.
Planning an entrepreneur staycation
Being an introvert means I’m easily over-stimulated. That’s why I began creating an intentional retreat with staycations. Because I find fulfillment in my work, engaging in projects fills my cup rather than drains it. That’s why my staycations often involve a mix of listening to audio books, journaling, moving my body, and passion projects within my business.
Three years ago, I started carving out over-night hotel stays to create 24 hours of time that purely fills my cup rather than drains my energy. To soak up the quiet. To be on my own schedule. To think important thoughts. There, I could journal endless uninterrupted thoughts. I’d process goals, dreams, and ideas that simply talking through never seemed to clarify.
I’d wrap up loose ends on passion projects (never client projects) because, truly, I’ve built a business I can’t wait to wake up to. Work rarely feels like “work,” so focused time to pour into the things that light me up inside is life-giving.
Creating empowering tools like a female mastermind, how to start a business book, and free business downloads to uplift female entrepreneurs is my dream life. I pour what I’ve lived and learned from nine years of running a marketing consulting business into other women business owners. It’s unreal!
Goals of my hotel stays
The three goals of my hotel stays are:
Stress relief - a break from over-stimulation is incredibly re-energizing as an introvert
Tap into inspiration - processing ideas in my heart brings immense satisfaction
Find clarity in the next season of life - I’m a written processor, so it’s only when I’ve processed through journaling that I create focus for the steps ahead.
It’s as simple as that. My staycations are typically only one or two nights so I focus on what gives me life in order to rejuvenate and return home with a fresh perspective.
What hotels I book for my entrepreneur staycations
No premium 5-star hotels here. The short answer: I stay wherever Hotwire shares sweet deals on well-maintained hotels.
These hotel stays aren’t about experiencing something glamorous. The pampering is in the solitude.
Targeting 3.5-4 star hotels opens up lots of opportunity to find decently priced hotels within a short driving distance.
The caveat here is that the hotel has to be safe and well-maintained. Glamping is as close as I get to roughing it so Rose Motel wouldn’t make the cut.
Safety tips to entrepreneur staycations
Personally, I’m unapologetic about prioritizing safety. If you’re thinking an entrepreneur staycation might be for you, let’s be smart about it. Friend to friend, we have to plan ahead when we’re staying alone.
Here are a few non-negotiables when I plan staycations. As you’ll see, I am 👏 not 👏 playin’ 👏 around when it comes to keeping myself safe:
Budget in the valet service if the hotel requires you to otherwise park in a parking garage or unlit streets. It’s worth it and it makes you feel like Kim Kardashian when you hand over the keys. * Pulls sunglasses off with a hair flip *
If you have to leave your room, for example to grab takeout, do it and be back in your room before dark.
Don’t wear ear buds outside your hotel room and be alert while you’re walking through hallways and on streets.
Tell no one you’re staying alone. When you book the room online and you have to select how many people are staying in the room, choose two adults. When you’re checking in, pretend your SO will be coming up to your room shortly. When the receptionist asks the reason for your stay, no one needs to know you’ll be by yourself.
Check the space out immediately when you get in to your room. Once, my hotel room had outdoor balcony access. When I checked the door and found out it didn’t lock, staying in that room was a hard no for me. I walked down to the front desk and requested a room change.
Consider carrying mace with you and sign up for a self-defense class so you can feel confident about your safety.
Plan your own staycation
Once, my lovely, extroverted friend, Laura, asked me ideally how many nights each week would be filled with social commitments. I told her I was trying to get better about being social, so “two nights was my ideal”.
Then, I asked her ideally how many nights she would like to be social. She said she’d like to get better about having solitude, so “six nights per week” was her ideal number for social obligations. We both laughed at the irony. I can’t think of anything that more clearly sums up the introvert/extrovert paradox.
Alone time doesn’t sound appealing to everyone, but if you’re an entrepreneur who’s wired as an introvert, a staycation just might do the trick to rejuvenate your heart.
Female business resources
Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business (with free access to the resource suite)
Hi, I’m Francie!
Nice to meet you. I’m the founder of Founding Females®. Some call me a business sage because I love to empower female entrepreneurs to breathe life into the business dreams God called them to.
After feeling like a misfit in the corporate world, I discovered a life I loved waking up by starting a business.
I’m the author of Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business, a guided journal helping hundreds of women start and grow their businesses.
I’m also a passionate entrepreneurship hype girl, female leader, public speaker, and community enthusiast.
My MBA and 10 years in a corporate career and in business ownership positioned me as an entrepreneurship educator with forward-thinking strategies for starting and growing successful businesses.
As a community leader, I realized other women could thrive with the right guidance and support. I created the Founding Females® Mastermind Community that provides a safe space for women to build better businesses.
I believe that anyone with a dream on their heart can pull up a seat to change the world through entrepreneurship. Looking to grow your own business? Click for info about how to work with me.
About Founding Females®
The mission of Founding Females® is to help build a better future for female entrepreneurs through education, encouragement, and shared wisdom. We create safe spaces for women to share business challenges and receive peer support.
In addition, Founding Females® offers an online female business mastermind, a how-to guidebook for female entrepreneurs called Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business, and in-person events, like an annual women’s business conference and local Founding Females Meet Ups.