Stay-cation

In our not-so-fabulous economy, the so called "stay-cation", or a vacation close to home, has recently gained more popularity. I can appreciate this living in San Clemente - a small, fun beach town in Southern California - why leave?
Jordi and I got married on Memorial Day Weekend three years ago, and were racking our brains trying to figure out what to do for our anniversary this year. Road trips and camping are affordable, but not always romantic. But we also didn't want to spend $100-$200 a night on a hotel - not to mention gas, food, and everything else that comes along with leaving town.
We were planning on spending the night at our friend's apartment in Laguna since she thought she would be gone, but when her plans fell through, we ended up staying at our own apartment in San Clemente. And we had a really nice, perfect, relaxing and romantic weekend "getaway".
While you may think you could never have a vacation in your everyday surroundings, I found that much of vacation is a state of mind. Also, just making a few changes around the house and adjusting your perspective can shift your focus from "work day" to "vacation". This is the perfect opportunity to go, see, or do all those things in your area you've always wanted to but have never had the chance.
First of all, inform everyone that needs to know that you are going on vacation and won't be available. You don't need to mention that you will actually still be in town.
Clean your house like someone really important is coming over.
Pack your suitcase and get ready to go.
Then go somewhere for the whole day. California is full of towns, beaches or mountains that are easy to spend the entire day enjoying. The idea is to drive under an hour and be able to spend all day walking, eating, exploring somewhere new and spending time together as if on vacation. Get far enough away so that you have to stop and buy lunch, not go home for a sandwich!
For us, this was going to Laguna Beach for the whole day. We had breakfast somewhere we had never been, and walked all up and down the town and beach, stopping at a cheese shop along the way for fresh sandwiches and homemade macarons - amazing! After more walking, we got some of the best gelato in town before heading back to the hotel, I mean home...
For a fancy dinner we got supplies from Gelson's, an upscale super market, and bought fresh lobster they sell for $10 a pound - they come live, but they'll steam and clean them free of charge!
The next morning we had breakfast on our balcony and went through our "marriage packet" - all the questions and issues we had to discuss before we got married, and is good to do every year or so.
After an afternoon at the beach, we went to Massage Envy  - not spending money on gas or a hotel left us resources to splurge for some massages!
In the evening we went surfing at San O, where neither of us have been in years. The waves were super fun, and it was a beautiful evening.
We were starving by the time we got to La Rocco's - a pizza parlor downtown where we've walked by  a dozen times, and always wanted to try.
The rest of the evening was spent going over our new budget for the year - one of those things we never have time to do during the year, so it becomes an anniversary routine - woohoo!
AAAALLLLLL that to say - by purposefully not using our computers, cell phones, or watching TV, and by cleaning the house, eating special things or in special locations, doing everything we've wanted to do but have never done made it feel completely like a vacation. Most of the places we went or things we did were firsts - massages, state beach, new restaurants, lobster dinners - all of these were new experiences and made us feel like we were on vacation. Also, just taking the time to have good converstaions is half of what makes a good and relaxing vacation.