I've noticed it's really difficult to work on side projects also when you're in between jobs (especially if you don't have much saved up) because the looming threat of financial ruin never lets you forget it, and you just get too distracted by it that it's hard to be productive even though you have so much more time, and every moment you spend on side projects your brain goes "you could be putting this energy into looking for a new job right now."

I know that's probably different than your staycations, but it's for that reason that I don't think I will be as bad at working on my personal projects once I've retired (if I ever can retire).