What are your options? Perhaps a cruise or a regular travel itinerary just doesnÂt fit what you have in mind. You want to do something fun, different, relaxing, and suited to you. You want to enjoy each other rather than having to worry about itineraries and schedules.
There are lots of fun options that fall outside the cookie-cutter framework youÂll find on travel websites or in brochures dispensed by your motherÂs friends. You are limited only by the boundaries of your imagination and by what you want to do, no matter how irrational or zany.
However you decide to spend your honeymoon, be sure to make it memorable without making it a chore. For example, instead of gung-ho shopping (unless you enjoy that sort of thing), pick up a silly trinket or a grotesque paperweight from whatever roadside shop strikes your fancy. (The less tasteful, the better; this will help you maintain perspective in aesthetic debates years down the road.) Keep several cheap disposable cameras in strategic locations (such as the glovebox, your backpack, or the motel refrigerator) to capture all the unexpected fun moments. Do the same with small journals or even a tape recorder.
Be sure you have plenty of Post-it notes on hand for randomly placed, impromptu love notes, and make it a point when traveling to have dinner or drinks with total strangers at least once. Be sure to get pictures of the big-haired waitress, the horrible restaurant with the gigantic animal on top, and the hotel maid who slipped you extra towels on the sly. The places you go and the activities you find there will be secondary to the overall experience, so donÂt get hung up in the details.
Where to go? Why, anywhere or nowhere. First and foremost, you can always go home and lock the door. This can be far more fun than it sounds and is an especially viable option for hyper-protective pet owners who simply canÂt bear to leave their furry friends alone, or for those couples with demanding jobs who canÂt get time off work. The number-one rule of enjoying a honeymoon-at-home? Make the world go away. Tell everyone firmly that you are not to be bothered for a few days; stop the mail at the post office; turn the ringer off on the phone; order takeout for an entire week; bury the laptops and cell phones in the backyard. Then you will be free to revel in champagne, bubble bath, candlelight, and each other. A romantic honeymoon-at-home will allow you to immediately bond in your home together, and will give a whole new meaning to the word Ânesting.Â
On the other hand, you may choose to hit the road, with or without a planned destination. There is nothing like a road trip to unite two souls deeply and internally, as countless fabulous books and movies will tell you. To fully experience the magic, romance, and adventure of the open road, you need only an open mind and a willing nature. (A decent car and AAA coverage wonÂt hurt either.) Sights you could take in on your trip might include the breathtaking and romantic Grand Canyon, or that great classic, Route 66. Or if your taste runs to the quirky, a heart made entirely of rattlesnake rattles at the Dairy Queen in Ozona, Texas.
No matter how you celebrate your honeymoon, remember that the only expectations you have to fulfill are your own. So have fun!