Learn Hardcore Russian: Я хочу поехать к морю, а пока остаюсь дома. - I want to go to the sea, but for now I’m staying at home.

Поехать is a perfective verb meaning to set off / to go (one-way) with the focus on starting the trip. Here the speaker is talking about a planned trip as a single complete event (“to go to the sea” as a goal).

ехать is imperfective and usually describes the process of going (“to be going / to travel by vehicle”), repeated travel, or general ability. Examples:
Я хочу поехать к морю. = I want to go (as a trip / to set off).
Я хочу ехать к морю. = I want to be traveling toward the sea (focus on process; sounds odd without context).

What’s the difference between хочу поехать and поеду?

Я хочу поехать… = “I want to go…” (desire/plan; not yet decided or not yet time).
Я поеду… = “I will go / I’m going to go…” (a stronger decision or future action). So хочу expresses wanting, while поеду expresses intended action.

Why is it к морю (dative) and not на море?

They mean different things:

к морю = to the sea / toward the sea (movement to a destination; dative after к).
на море = to the seaside / at the sea (common set phrase for vacationing “at the sea”; with motion it’s often поехать на море). Both are possible, but they highlight different viewpoints:
поехать к морю sounds more like to go to the sea itself / toward the coast.
поехать на море is very common for “go to the seaside for vacation.”

Why is морю in the form морю and not море?

Because the preposition к requires the dative case.
море (nominative/accusative) → морю (dative).

к чему? → к морю

What does а пока mean here, and how is а different from и or но?

а пока means “but for now / in the meantime.”

а often marks a contrast or topic shift: “and/but (whereas…)” in a softer way than но.
но is a stronger “but” (clear opposition).
и is simple “and” (no contrast). So: Я хочу поехать к морю, а пока остаюсь дома. = “I want to go to the sea, but for now I’m staying at home.”

Does пока always mean “while,” or can it mean “for now”?

пока can mean both, depending on structure: 1) “while / as long as” (often with two clauses):

Пока я дома, я отдыхаю. = While I’m at home, I rest. 2) “for now / meanwhile” (often as а пока, or with implied contrast):
А пока я дома. = But for now, I’m at home. In your sentence, it’s clearly the “for now/in the meantime” meaning.

Why is it остаюсь (imperfective) and not останусь (perfective)?

Оставаться (imperfective) describes an ongoing state: “I am staying (now).” That fits пока (“for now”) because it’s about the current situation continuing.

остаюсь = I’m staying (currently / as a state).
останусь (perfective) = I’ll stay / I will remain (often sounds like a decision about the future or the result of staying). Compare:
А пока остаюсь дома. = For now, I’m staying home.
Ладно, я останусь дома. = OK, I’ll stay home (decision/result).

Why is it дома and not домой?

дома = at home (location; “where?”)
домой = (to) home (direction; “where to?”) Here the meaning is “I’m staying at home,” so дома is correct:
Я остаюсь дома. = I’m staying at home. If it were “I’m going home,” you’d use домой:
Я еду домой. = I’m going home.

Why is there no subject pronoun я in the second clause (why not а пока я остаюсь дома)?

Russian often drops repeated subjects when they’re obvious from context. Since the first clause already has Я, the second clause can omit it naturally:

Я хочу…, а пока остаюсь дома. = “I want…, but for now (I) stay at home.” You can include я for emphasis or clarity:
…, а пока я остаюсь дома. = emphasizes “as for me, I’m staying home (for now).”

What’s the word order doing here—could it be rearranged?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but changes emphasis. Neutral here:

Я хочу поехать к морю, а пока остаюсь дома. Possible variants:
Я хочу к морю поехать… (emphasis on к морю)
А пока я дома остаюсь… (more colloquial; emphasis can shift) The given version is natural and clear.

Is к морю used with any type of travel, even though ехать/поехать suggests vehicle travel?

Yes. ехать/поехать is typically “to go by vehicle,” but in modern Russian it’s also commonly used for traveling as a trip, even if details aren’t specified. If you want a broader “go (in general),” you can use:

Я хочу поехать/поехать is still fine for a vacation context.
Я хочу поехать к морю = I want to go to the sea (as a trip). If you specifically mean “go (on foot),” you’d use идти/пойти:
Я хочу пойти к морю. = I want to go to the sea (on foot).

Why does к морю sound slightly different from “to the beach”—how would you say “to the beach” in Russian?

море is “the sea,” and к морю is “to the sea.” If you mean “to the beach,” you’d typically use:

на пляж (accusative with на for destination): Я хочу поехать на пляж. If you mean “to the seaside” as a vacation area, a very common phrase is:
на море: Я хочу поехать на море.

What punctuation is used here, and why is there a comma?

There’s a comma because this is a compound sentence with two clauses joined by а:

Я хочу поехать к морю, а пока остаюсь дома. In Russian, a comma is normally required before а when it connects two clauses with different predicates (here хочу vs остаюсь).