Stay-cation with a Twist

June 3, 2013 Michelle Panting

It goes without saying that I love to travel, but sometimes time and financial constraints can make it difficult. When that's the case, one of my preferred solutions is a stay-cation. Typically this involves spending a night or two in a hotel here in Winnipeg, sleeping late, eating out and doing some light sight-seeing. But this time, to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary over May-long weekend, I decided to surprise my partner with what I'll call a stay-cation with a twist.

Chris and I got married young and very, very poor. So poor that instead of hiring a photographer, we paid friends with nice cameras and some photo schooling to take our wedding pictures. And while I totally don't regret this, it also means we don't have an album filled with a hundred professional-grade photos the way some of my friends do. So, to celebrate our anniversary I decided to fly Chris' wonderful and talented friend Chelsee out from Toronto to take some photos for us over the May-long weekend.

We had an amazing time. Having an out-of-town friend stay with you really allows you to explore your hometown in a new way. We enjoyed places like Kawaii Crepe (delicious!), sampled cappuccinos and americanos from MAKE Coffee + Stuff and Thom Bargen , climbed fallen (and falling) trees in Assinaboine Park while Chelsee snapped photos, saw The Great Gatsby, and indulged in a late-night ice cream run.

In the end, we got some amazing photos, spent time with an old friend and had the vacation experience at home for half the airfare and without the expensive hotel. Seems like a pretty good deal to me :)