REMEMBER LAST YEAR when I won this? Well it’s finally time to cash in my prize. After a lot of research and debate, humming and ha-ing, and weighing pros and cons – we went from Costa Rica to St. Lucia to Tobago and then finally settled on a small little surf town in Mexico, Sayulita.
I hate to sound like a brat but winning free flights to ANYWHERE in North America (+ Caribbean) made it really hard to choose a destination. I know, I know, cry me a river. There was immense amount of pressure to “take advantage” and go somewhere really far that would otherwise not be an option for us ($$$$). The US seemed too boring even though there are a ton of American cities I’m dying to check out. The Caribbean was extremely tempting, especially since it’s so far from Vancouver. Growing up in Toronto, exotic places like Barbados and Jamaica were always just a hop and a skip away, but now it feels like an epic trek to get there (possibly the only downside – apart from being far from family – about living on the west coast). Also – let’s not forget about the swimming pigs that I vowed to see at some point in my lifetime. I mean, the pigs swim! No – I still haven’t accepted this reality. Those pigs made the Bahamas a top contender for sure.
We had almost completely decided on Costa Rica until we sort of realized that we’d burn 2 of our 7 precious vacation days on travel (and I mean completely burn – like a 12 hour travel day). It also was in the midst of the rainy season and hey, if we wanted rain we’d just stay in Vancouver, right?
After all the dreaming and planning and feeling like we were spinning our wheels and never going to be able to commit to anything we made a list of what we both wanted to get out of the trip.
1. Hot and sunny
2. Cheap once we got there (hey, funds are low)
3. Spanish speaking (Dan’s request)
4. Not an all-inclusive
5. A place where we can have adventures and be active but also relax on a beach
6. A cultural experience (not a tourist trap).
7. Not too far so we don’t spend half of our vacation travelling
When we broke down what was important to us, Sayulita seemed like the clear choice. I have a lot of friends who have visited this tiny little surf-town just north of Puerto Vallarta and they all rave about it. I’ve always wanted to visit and though the flights aren’t that expensive or far from Vancouver “taking advantage” of free flights stopped being our priority.
I just love how vibrant and colourful everything is! Ironic, I know, since I live in a world of black and white. And TACOS! I want all of the tacos. And Margs. And Coronas. EEEEEE!
We leave mid-October just after a lot of the projects that I’ve been killing myself over will wrap up and right before I start working full-time with PlaidFox. It’s the perfect time for a getaway for Daniel and I and now that we’ve booked it, it can’t come fast enough!
Have you ever been to Sayulita? We’re now accepting all recommendations!
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