Trends: Vacationing In Your Own Backyard

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Nearly 50% of American travelers are changing their summer travel plans to stay closer to home because of the rising gas prices, according to a survey by the travel web site TripAdvisor.

This year people on the First Coast are leaving their cars in the driveway and opting for staycations. It's a growing trend of people vacationing at their home or at least near it.

Right now many people are opting to change their backyards in hopes of creating a vacation destination at home.

That was the idea behind the Anderson family's backyard remodeling project at their Palencia home in St. Johns County.

"A backyard escapes, a place where we could spend quality time with our family," says Dee Anderson. "So we added the pool and even a putting green because my husband loves golfing."

When they bought the house the backyard was only grass. As part of the transformation they removed all the grass, added native landscaping, a walk area, water fountain, screened pool and the putting green.

Anderson says the family now spends most of their free time in the yard. She says it's a tranquil place to escape.

A growing number of First Coast residents are opting to put their money toward improving their backyards instead of traveling, says Matt Powers, the owner of Xscapes.

Xscapes is an outdoor showroom right off of Philips Highway in Jacksonville. Visitors can walk through the property and see all the outside extras in action.

"The whole premise behind Xscapes is people can come out see what they like and get ideas from it," says Powers. "We can then link them to the contactors to do the work or they can do it themselves and just get ideas for the project."

Anderson says being able to go to Xscapes and see the pool, putting green and water features all in action helped her decide what to add to her backyard.

Powers says right now he is seeing an increase in the number of people doing $5,000 upgrades to their yards.

"Especially knowing they aren't going on vacations, walking outside and enjoying their own vacation or retreat at home is very attractive to a lot of people," says Powers.

He adds some of the popular upgrades right now include: outdoor kitchens, extending the patio or sunroom and gazebos.

Powers says adding landscapes and other elements to your yard can get up to a 150% return on your investment when you sell the house.

Anderson says she isn't thinking about the return on investment. She is just enjoying the new backyard and the extra family time it has created.

Tune in to Good Morning Jacksonville on Wednesday (July 16th) for the second part in our Staycation series. We take a look at how one local community is trying to attract people on the First Coast to vacation very close to home.