If it's a "staycation" I try to do things that don't directly "make" money but allow me to not spend money in the future. It's ALWAYS things I don't mind doing too much... if I dread it, it goes to a pro/contractor or what not. It's also nice to do things and learn a trick or two... that you can do later in future houses and such.
- built a fence
- repaired sections of a roof (I would not do this on a 2 or 3 story house, or a high pitched roof, luckily I like bungalows)
- rebuilt kitchen and washrooms
- update electrical (not main junction... sockets, switches, etc)
- low voltage wire entire house (cat3, cat5, coax, etc)
So pretty basic stuff, I looking to learn more about car repair now as that is an area I'm just TERRIBLE in.
Now in terms of direct earnings while on vacation, I would say the ONLY thing I do would be poker... but those can be loses as well :)