Choosing your honeymoon can be a daunting task. There are so many amazing places in the world to see and experience. Especially as the first travel experience as a newlywed. You also don’t want to miss out on a greater experience, pick the wrong one, or wait too long to pick and then end up getting some crappy hotel not far enough from home for it to feel like a real getaway.
Here are my top 7 tips for picking the best destination for the honeymoon of a lifetime!
Figure out your budget
Figuring out how much you have to spend on your honeymoon first, will be a big help. It’s both a positive and a negative, but helpful nonetheless. By knowing what your budget is going to be, it automatically knocks things off the list for you. It’s unfortunate if it eliminates your dream destination. At the same time it allows you to focus your efforts on something that’s realistic and reasonable. Maybe you’re not going to Greece, but that doesn’t eliminate other options. An all inclusive resort with the best amenities they have to offer for their newlyweds could still be a viable option.
The traditional Pros and Cons list
Write out a few different things you have thought about in regards to destinations. It can be beaches, mountain slopes, or historical Europe, but write them down. Then write out with your spouse the best and worst things about them all. You’ll have the data to read through and help make your decision. You’ll also be able to see it visually, on paper. Which destinations have the most pros and the least cons. It’s definitely a logical way to go about it and not an emotional one. It’s a way to make a decision on choosing your honeymoon.
Recommendations
Everyone has something to say, so you may as well ask them anyway. Whether it was the best trip or the worst, your friends and family have something to say about their own honeymoons. They’ll give you glowing recommendations of their week away with their new husband or wife, or warn you against even thinking about the awful resort they experienced. My words of caution with what you hear from them, are that there’s a reason for everything. People have experienced bad trips because of incompetent staff, others because they didn’t purchase the travel insurance. Some people loved their honeymoon, but that’s because they had low expectations and that may not be a suitable destination for you. Some people hated their honeymoon because they had ridiculously high expectations and sabotaged their own experience. It’s worth it to ask and check out their opinions for the sake of choosing your honeymoon destination.
When you check with others about where they spent their honeymoon and how it went, be sure to factor in what you know about them as people. It helps you create a viewpoint of your own about whether or not you should consider their suggestion.
Factor in Time off
Most people don’t have a lot of PTO. My guess is, you took some time off the week of the wedding in order to prepare. Since time away from work is limited, make sure that you’re not hurting yourself in the future by taking off too much time. Most people think about a weeklong trip, but maybe cut it down a little to 5 days. That way you still get plenty of time away, but you’re not rolling through your PTO either.
Travel time
When planning a trip, especially an international one, it’s often forgotten about to think of how long it will take to arrive at your destination. For example, I traveled from New Jersey to Thailand. It took us 26 hours in flight, plus driving to the airport, and then driving to the resort afterwards. Your relaxation time really doesn’t start until you’ve arrived and settled in. So given you more than likely don’t have unlimited PTO, you want to make sure that travel time doesn’t eat into what you do have available for your honeymoon.
Another point within this topic, is that it’s more than just the PTO. You want to make sure that how long it takes you to travel, is worth how long you’ll be staying. It’s a completely personal preference, but if I’m traveling any longer than a 12 hour flight, I want 10 days. The first and last days are duds when it comes to travel. Even more so when the flights and travel time is long. Make sure that it’s worth the time spend traveling to and from your destination when choosing your honeymoon.
Be aware of the political climate and health risks of the locations you are considering
If you have multiple locations you’re looking at, be sure to add the current state of affairs to your list. Safety is huge, and no one wants to be disrupted on their honeymoon by politics or getting sick. This is your time to rest, relax, and enjoy being with your forever love. It would ruin the time you have together if your safety or the political issues of the area were to become a problem for you. By not including areas that may not be safe, it narrows down your options even further. This brings you closer to a final decision.
Communication
These days, everyone typically has a pet, or potentially children to take care of while they’re away and chances are you have family and friends to thank for taking care of them. No one likes unplugging 100% without being able to talk to their kids, or make sure their pets are ok while they are gone. Make sure that while you are away, you have some form of communication while you’re gone. This works both ways as well. If one of you gets sick and you have to return home early, something happens, or you need to reach home for some reason, it’s important that it’s an option for you.
Whether you use a VPN, wifi enabled communication apps, or an international phone plan, make sure you’re picking a destination that isn’t going to black out your ability to communicate with everyone back home. If you want more info about communicating abroad, check out this post I wrote about Staying Connected While You’re Away.
I hope these tips help in choosing your honeymoon! Leave a comment and let me know if these tips help, or if there’s anything else I can do to help!
