Hello and Happy Tuesday! This is like my Thursday though since Ben and I leave for Florida tomorrow night 
I’m headed to Kickboxing in a minute so I didn’t exercise first thing this morning. Instead, I ate.
I made French Toast Bagel Thins with extra egg – you can barely see the bagel thin in there!
The sunflower butter falling into the bagel hole gives it away though 
Each year Ben and I take a trip instead of exchanging presents for our anniversary. Money has been tight this year since we moved back from Maryland to Orange County, CA (ummm, hello ridic cost of living). We’re considering a short-ish trip at the end of the year with these considerations:
– We don’t want to spend a lot of money
– We want to go to another county
– We live in Southern California (so islands off the east coast are not cheap from here)
Any suggestions?
We love Central America, but don’t want to repeat places we’re been. So, Costa Rica and Belize are out. I’m thinking Mexico?
I went to Riviera Maya/Playa Del Carmen last year and we loved it. Beautiful water and lots of stuff to do. We found an all inclusive resort and once we paid for our trip, we didn’t pay for anything else. I stayed at the Iberostar and I would definitely recommend it.
I FULLY agree with Alli…JAMAICA MON!! It is seriously the best vacation I have ever been on…VERY VERY relaxing, not very expensive, and gorgeous! you can get all-inclusive deals where even drinks are included and unlimited (whoo hoo!). Dunn’s River Falls, and the Bob Marley Masoleum are amazing. the island is small enough that you can go all over the place fairly quickly. I stayed at the Royal Decameron in Runaway Bay…staying in slightly smaller towns makes it less expensive, but also less tourists! I’ve been to CanCun, Hawaii, Mazatlan, and a bunch of other places, but Jamaica is the most relaxing by far…and the food is amazing, and you don’t have to worry about getting sick from the water like you might in Mexico. 😉
Well if you live in SOCAL and want to come to another country – I suggest coming to the United States of America… we have alll kinds of stuff (jaykay).
I just wanted to drop by and say that I laughed out loud at the NatalieDee comic.
My boyfriend and I just got back from Tulum, Mexico and it was a dream come true!!! Seriously, I never wanted to leave, it was pure heaven. Go there, immediately.
Second choice: Guatemala is awesome. It has everything you want – beaches, hiking, ruins, volcanoes, colonial city…and the people are super friendly.
I love the idea of a trip instead of an anniversary gift! It’s inspired!
Thanks for the ideas Becky. We took a day trip to Tikal when we went to Belize and Guatemala was pretty amazing!
PS. I’ve been obsessed with your blog for FOREVER and this is the first time I’ve ever made a comment! Getting a response MADE MY DAY! 🙂
Jamaica! But not to a resort. You have to backpack the country for the best experience of your life! Cheap too! OR, drive on over to southwest Colorado. You have friendly readers with guest bedrooms over here:) Talk about CHEAP. Kidding! Love your blog!
Thanks Alli! If I ever hit up CO, I will be on your doorstep with my bags 🙂
British Columbia. I live in the sunny interior of BC, it is so beautiful here. We have big lakes and forests, great places to run and hike and bike. We have so much space, Canada has the same population as California.
When do you plan to travel? Feel free to ask me any questions about BC.
Mexico City (aka the DF). It gets an undeserved reputation as “dangerous” but, like any city, stay away from the sketchy neighborhoods and you’ll be fine. We spent our honeymoon here. Unbelievably cheap metro system (20 pesos per ride, no transfers needed), inexpensive but amazing museums, huge parks, and of course completely out of this world food. Coyoacan, the (former) home of Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo is great and has my husband’s favorite tortas in the whole world.
Come to South America :D… Venezuela!
A friend of mine just went to Cabo and said it was the prettiest place he’s ever been.
OMG those french toast bagel thins are seriously making me drool right now! how do you make them?
i went to Cozumel Mexico, an island off the coast of Mexico, and it was really fun! we went swimming with dolphins, which is also something i recommend if you go there 🙂
This post roughly explains it – https://runeatrepeat.com/2011/03/22/bagel-thin-french-toast/
Mexico is the closest, I’d go with that. If I lived in (and you lived in) Northern California I’d say Canada. I’ve never gone farther than right at the border when me and my Gramm parked and walked along the border where all the cars were going in. I was sooo close (seperated by border patrol, a huge fence, and other things) but that’s about as close to being out of the US I have gotten so far XP
Never thought to do french toast with bagel things…duh!
Mexico definitely fits both the new country and cheap requirements. We just went to an all inclusive in March in rivieria maya and it was really cheap. if you go before true winter sets in it will be cheaper than waiting until the cold months when everyone goes.
Playa Del Carmen is beautiful! As is Puerto Vallarta, which is closer to you.
Yes!! It’s gorgeous there & maybe a 2 hour drive, if that!! We should exchange information! How long are you in the sunshine state?
I know its simple, but your french toast always looks SO good!
Wiiii! Come to Mexico
Canada! Husband and I went to Victoria Island last summer and it was beautiful 🙂
OK everyone can make french toast but me 🙁
How about st. lucia?
I would love to go to St.Lucia, but it’s too expensive to fly out there 🙁
If you choose Mexico, Cozumel is amazing! I’ve been to a couple different places and it’s my favorite, hands down. Great for scuba diving and snorkeling!
We love snorkling! Thanks for the suggestion!
Where in Florida?!? I’ve been blog stalking you and would love to meet you!!
We’ll be visiting the west coast – Marco Island. Are you familiar?
what about taking one of the short cruises that sail from la? they can range from a weekend to a week and you can customize them to fit your needs!
ps – your bagel thin is pooing sunbutter.
🙂
We’ve done one of those cruises before 🙂
I need to get on these egg thin french toasty things. Have you posted a recipe for them in the past/ can you tell me how to make them now? 🙂
This post roughly explains it – https://runeatrepeat.com/2011/03/22/bagel-thin-french-toast/
Hope it helps 🙂
Unless you’re dead set on somewhere tropical, can I suggest Vancouver? I loved traveling there. It’s absolutely beautiful with fantastic restaurants and things to do! But if you end up going somewhere tropical, I bet Mexico will be so much fun! I’ve never been so I have no advice south of the border. 🙂
I was going to say Dominican Republic, but that’s Eastern Carribean. You know..we went to Isla Roatan and absolutely fell in love. It’s amazing. Also, Cozumel was beautiful! As well as the Grand Caymens.
what about Scottsdale/Phoenix area?!
Join Living Social — they regularly do “Escapes” where they have great deals on travel — a lot to mexico usually and other interesting places you might not have thought of!
I second Samantha, but I’m biased. Vancouver is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Mexico sounds ideal, but I’m Miss Paranoid-Safety and just read some stuff about choosing the city carefully (and stay there, no driving around wildly). I think there was an article in Sunset Mag on the safest, funnest vacation cities right now.
If you find an extra bucks in your sofa cushions, check into the Cook Islands. Costco has packages as low as $1500 per person for 5 days, airfare and hotel. The Cook Islands are like Fiji or Bora Bora only at 1/5 the price.
That is such a neat idea for celebrating your anniversary. I hope that wherever you decide to go, you have a blast!
hawaii or fiji!!! you can find some pretty cheap places to stay and relax in fiji
What about Cancun or Cozumel? It’s beautiful and you can definitely choose if you want to be in a fun, lively environment or a chill, romantic one.
Mazatlan?
Come to Canada 🙂
This was going to be my suggestion too! 🙂