Two tickets to…undecided location?
October 14, 2009 · Posted in honeymoons & travel by mo
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This recent New York Times article, 100 Hotels Under $150 by Stuart Emmrich, reminded me that we have yet to decide on what to do about a honeymoon.
[Side note: You should check out the New York Times piece if you're going to Europe on a budget. It lists hotels under $150 in a variety of cities, including London, Florence, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Rome and many others. A great resource for travelers!]
We both love to travel, explore new places, experience new cultures, and eat a lot of food that is foreign to us (but really yummy.) We have been to Europe (London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Amsterdam, Rotterdam,) and Asia (Bangkok and Hong Kong) which leaves a lot of places to be visited! We’re basically treating our honeymoon as an excuse to visit someplace we have never been to before.
There are a couple of issues halting my research (and I LOVE to research, especially when it comes to places I have yet to visit.) One of the issues we are having is when to have this fantabulous vacation. With me having to work and go to school, and him having to…well, work and go to school, you can imagine that time is a bit difficult to coordinate.
[Our vacation to Paris a few years ago]
The second problem is that we’ll be having a Chinese banquet a week after our San Diego wedding, so that rules out skipping town for any extended period of time.
That means that we are most likely waiting to have this trip, I just don’t know until when and I don’t know how with our schedules, but we’ll be waiting.
I’m honestly a little scared that time will pass and I’ll randomly remember 2 years later–oh yeah. We never took a honeymoon.
Two questions:
1. Are you planning to wait to take your big trip, and if so, how long are you waiting? Months? A year?
2. If you were in my shoes, knowing the places we have traveled to together, where would you go?
We’re waiting at least 6 months for warmer weather in Europe. We haven’t picked the countries yet but definitely Spain and possibly Scotland and Ireland. Have you thought about Australia or New Zealand’s spring?
Buenos Aires Argentina. I haven’t been but I so want to! It’s called the “Europe of South America” for its architecture and they have this amazing cafe culture. It sounds like it would be a once in a lifetime trip - perfect for a honeymoon!
My other suggestion is the beaches of Croatia during the warm months. Nothing like laying out a beach and relaxing during your honeymoon. It’s the Mediterranean that most American’s don’t normally think of. I think they would have some great cultural tourist spots as well.
We haven’t officially decided. Right now, the plans are to go to a conference the week after the wedding (it is paid for by my work & it is in Texas in March, so it will at least be warmer weather.) Then, we will go on a smaller beach trip with friends in June. On our 1 year anniversary, when we will have more vacation time and hopefully saved a bit, we are taking a big trip. We aren’t sure where because the Mr hasn’t left the country while I have lived overseas. The South Pacific sounds nice or maybe we will visit friends in Turkey.
We decided to wait until our 1 year anniversary to go on a big trip. We were both starting new jobs right after the wedding and after all the money we’d spent on the wedding, we thought it would just be more comfortable all around to wait and do a big blowout trip (2 weeks in Hawaii anyone?!) a year later. Plus my younger sister was graduating and two of our good friends getting married the week after so we also had the time constraint. Instead, we just both took the week after the wedding off of work and did a stay-cation after spending the rest of our wedding weekend in a great hotel. We went to places around home we hadn’t gone to in a long time, ate out most nights, and just had a great time being married. We have no regrets with our decision. And I can’t wait until next May!
My vote is for a tropical location! Have you been to Mexico? The Riviera Maya is gorgeous, and the food at our boutique resort was seriously some of the best either of us has had. We wanted to be pampered on our honeymoon, so it was perfect. We’re saving our Europe trip –packed with touristy attractions — for next year!
Emily’s most recent blog post: 57 Years
We aren’t going on a huge honeymoon. We found out that his dad’s side of the family is having a family reunion after our wedding close by, and since something like this hasn’t happened in like 38 years we thought it might be a good idea to go for a few days. I found an inn in the town that it’s going to be at. Then we’re going to take a few days and drive up to Atlanta.
I would love for us one day to go overseas, but he has no desire to fly, and actually wants to spend some time exploring the US. I’ve been overseas a few different times and loved it. But, I haven’t seen much of the Eastern Seaboard of the US (and I live in the South!) …so we have decided every year to take a road trip somewhere to see a new part of our own Country!
ooh travel is my favorite! OK, what about 1) hawaii for tropical. waikiki is one of my favorite spots on earth. or 2) africa, maybe a safari? it’s a big trip but so what? it’s your honeymoon!. or 3) what about somewhere else that is uber-romantic in europe, like maybe a prague/vienna combo?
so many ideas!
We didn’t take a honeymoon afterwards but I wish we would have. I could have used about 3 days worth of sleep! If you can’t do a huge getaway I would recommend a relaxing place where you two can be alone for a few days. Then take a longer trip when you can.
Linda’s most recent blog post: Library Loot
We are going on a honeymoon right away, if only because we need a break to decompress from the wedding stress! I know a few people who have skipped the honeymoon right after the wedding, or who have gone on a “mini-moon” (a few nights somewhere local), and honestly most of them have not gotten around to taking a real honeymoon, 2 or 3 years later, unless they already had it planned at the time of the wedding (i.e. buy tix now for a trip in the spring).
Regarding where you should go, if I’d been to all the places you have (!) I’d probably do either South America (Chile? Buenos Aires?) or Australia!
DCKate’s most recent blog post: weekend of productivity, III
I think that a mini-honeymoon (a weekend thing is totally fine!) is necessary right after, even if you have to wait a year or more before you can take a longer one! As for recommendations, my vote is Greece. No matter how many times I go, I still see new things. Santorini is my favorite. If you check out my blog (leni.typepad.com) you can see photos from my recent trip there!
leni’s most recent blog post: Santorini (Part 2) + Update
Katy said it earlier, but my husband and I did two weeks in Croatia and it was hands down the trip of a lifetime. I’ve been all over Europe and a long list of other places - Fiji, New Zealand, Belize, Hawaii, South Africa, Morrocco and more - Croatia is my favorite yet. The beaches are divine - and much less crowded than Greece. The food and the WINE (OMG - the WINE!) was amazing. I didn’t have much time to plan so I found a local travel agency - Secret Dalmatia and they planned our entire personalized itinerary based on what we love - food, wine, history and of course a little bit of spoiling ourselves. We traveled from the Northern castle region down along the coast and out to the islands. We stayed in a 15th century palace apartment, had cooking classes with one of Croatia’s most famous chefs and had not one but two private wine tours with winemakers we now consider very dear personal friends. I know I’m gushing but it was the most mind-blowing trip ever. AND - the price was pretty reasonable considering we were there in July. I’d be happy to tell you more if you like, but if you want to see photos, here’s a link to my Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=281610&id=748105443&l=40a9e7d3ca (ignore the silly couple!). If you want to more info, just email me. :)
ooh, i second croatia - it’s amazing. i’ve only been to split but i loved it!
Wow! I want to thank you all for your comments and feedback.
For the first time ever (and quite possibly the last,) the boy sat with me and read all of the comments from EAD and my personal blog, Pink Argyle. (pinkargyle.blogspot.com) THANK YOU!
I’m comforted that some of you mentioned commitments surrounding your wedding and having to wait too. I have a few work commitments I have to attend to in July after the wedding, and it makes me feel better to know that others out there are experiencing the same time constraints.
@Meag: Australia was one of our top considerations, and we may just look into a trip in December!
@Katy, Rebecca, Elizabeth: I had never thought about Croatia, but I looked up the travel agency Rebecca recommended and all of their tours look amazing. I also searched pictures, and Croatia looks like a beautiful place to visit. It’s on the list now. :)
@Elizabeth: I might have to ask you for more Prague/Vienna info. They both look like gorgeous places to go. Of course, Hawaii has always been on the list, and your glowing recommendation has definitely swayed me!
@Emily: We live 30 minutes away, but we shamefully have never been to Mexico! I have a travel book on my shelf that has yet to be used, so we’ll definitely consider it!
@Linda and Leni: I would loooove to take a couple days off after the wedding! Maybe we can squeeze that in so that we can rest, because I know it’s just going to be chaotic for a few days!
Mo’s most recent blog post: Honeymooning: where would you go?
Mo, we’re waiting to go on our “real” honeymoon for a while. Instead, right after the wedding we’re planning on going to New England for a little bit (Cape Cod, ending up in Maine where his family vacations every summer) and then planning some tropical destination for our real honeymoon!
If Spain every crosses your list at all, pleeaaase please let me know!! I know of so many beautiful places to visit and see! And talk about experiencing a different culture and food! Of course I’m biased…the food and culture of Spain made me want to live there!
juel’s most recent blog post: Ode to the Blue Ring
