Where do you want to go/are you going/did you go?

How important is the idea of a "honeymoon"?

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

Answers

One of KC's buddies rented us his house in the Poconos for a week; we had the most relaxing vacation ever. A lot of vegging, a lot of reading, some nice long walks, and a trip out to town once a day. There were some nice shops out toward Stroudsberg.

It was a nice way to unwind after the stress of planning the wedding; I don't think it's a make-or-break time for the marriage or anything, though. Just a nice way to start off together, even if it's a three- day weekend.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

Bless your heart for starting this topic. We've been trying to decide on honeymoon plans for over a year now, but nothing really strikes me as being just right for us. Everything from the Virgin Islands to the coast of Maine has been discussed, and right now we're toying with Jamaica.

I'd love to hear what other people have done/are doing.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

I think the concept of the honeymoon can be an important one. I know I'll be ready for mine after seven months of wedding planning. We could be going to Podunk Town USA, and as long as we have a chance to relax and enjoy each other, it would be great.

As it is, we're leaving the morning after our wedding for the Amalfi Coast of Italy. We fly into Rome, where we're spending 2 days, then we're heading down the coast to a little town called Positano, south of Naples that is perched the side of a mountain overlooking the ocean. It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen, and when I was there five years ago, I thought that if I ever got married, this is the place where I'd like to honeymoon. We're staying at a little pensione called Casa Teresa and spending 8 glorious days doing nothing but sunning ourselves, drinking wine and being lazy Americans. Actually, we'll probably do some day trips to Pompeii and the island of Capri. My fiancee is very psyched and I can't wait to be there.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

Wow, Catherine, that sounds totally wonderful. Mr. Boy's family and friends will be flying into Philly from England for the wedding, so we'll probably spend the first week of our marriage in the bosom of our newly joined families, doing touristy stuff. I'm sure that'll be fun, but not quite the getaway we'd like, although I'd love to stay in a hotel in town sort of away from all the hullabaloo. I expect we'll wait a while before having our first married, us-only fully planned vacation. Since Mr. Boy might not not be able to leave the country for the first year after we get married (while we wait for our INS interview & stuff), we've been brainstorming places we'd like to go in the US. So far San Francisco and Austin are at the top of the list for neat stuff to do, but for pure relaxation & soothing atmosphere, I long to go to Mohonk Mountain House.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

I've always loved the idea of Europe, Italy specifically -- not the whirlwind Ugly American tour, but more like what Catherine is doing.

But there's always the "layabout the beach" option. I could happily do the coastal thing anywhere -- Baja, Belize, Bermuda, St. Kitts. Then, the Boy started talking about Wakaya in Fiji, and I'm pretty sold on that idea. It's his cash to pony up anyway.

For me the honeymoon would be de rigueur. Of course if there were mitigating circumstances and we had to postpone, that wouldn't be the end of the marriage or anything, but it's important enough to me that I would plan the wedding based on when we could get time to go away, and not vice versa.

One thing that is very important to me honeymoon-wise is that I want to have at least four or five days on the back end of the vacation, where everyone thinks we are still "away" but we have actually already returned and begun the decompression process. You know, time to just be, in what is now our married space. I hear about these couples that returned from London/Paris/Hawaii/the Panama Canal on Sunday, and had to be at work on Monday. No thank you.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

Alls I know is I want a big, gorgeous sunny bed, lots of good food, and good wine. Catherine totally has the right idea. While I'd like to go somewhere like Paris, that I've never been, I don't want to go anywhere I feel pressured to go see things and do things, if that makes sense? I think a honeymoon should be pure couple time.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

We went to Maui. We did not, however, buy any T-shirts or other paraphenalia containing the slogan "Just Maui'ed".

Our typical day went like this; 1. wake up around 8 (due to the time change, this was easy), 2. eat breakfast somewhere close by or in our room on the balcony, 3. lay on the beach and read, 3a. lay around some more, 4. nap in our hotel, 5. shower and go to dinner, 6. watch the sun set from one of the many open air bars or from the beach, 7. in bed by 10, 8. repeat

We took a snorkeling trip one day and a sunset cocktrail cruise one night. Also went to a luau. But mostly it was walking around and relaxing in the sun.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

You make total sense, Naked Hannah. A honeymoon is not a class trip to see landmarks and be educated. The couple shouldn't feel obligated to provide a slide show & dossier of all the cultural stuff they learned. It's an opportunity to do whatever you want, and if what you want is to adhere to a strict, lounge-intensive schedule, then that's what you should do. Touristic efficiency is not part of the honeymoon concept.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

Well, I learned a couple of things. For example, always put a towel down on a wooden deck. Also, use bath mats in the tub.

Strictly for sunbathing and comfort purposes, of course.

I'm glad for this thread, though, seriously; I'd like to take another trip a bit further afield in a couple years time. There are some great ideas here so far!

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

Anyone wanna marry me?

For the record, Brussels. I can't imagine having a big deal wedding since I have no family and only a couple of friends. So not worried about decompression. But that is a while from now...if ever.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

It's very important to me that we use our honeymoon to just lounge, too. I want to go somewhere unlike anywhere I live or regularly go, I want to be treated like a princess and be expected to do nothing other than eat, drink, and practice baby-making, and I want to feel love in the air.

No adventures on our honeymoon, just hanging out being happy.

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2002

We're getting married and honeymooning in New Orleans. We've lived together for two years, so we have had plenty of practice with the baby-making thing. We both wanted to go somewhere we could be reckless and irresponsible and wild. N'Awlins seemed to fit all of those requisites. And I've already made a list of places to go and things to do... the first of course is the courthouse, to stand in line for our marriage license!

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2002

We're thinking about New Orleans, too! We don't have any solid plans yet, but for now that's our frontrunner. When are you getting married, pickles? If you're going soon, can I get tips from you on the best and worst of the trip? Can I take advantage of your experience? :) (We're getting married in mid-November, for the record.)

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2002