Your honeymoon trip is probably the one you most waited for, and the one you will plan the most. It might be that you have always known where you would spend these romantic days, but it might also be that you are stuck among many wonderful options and you just can’t make up your mind.
Don’t worry, the World is huge, and there are amazing places to see, it is only normal that you just can’t decide where to go. I had trouble myself making a decision together with W for our honeymoon, we changed our minds many times. Options went from the Maldives, Fiji, Caribbean to nothing at all.
Looking back at the time I spent hours researching on Internet, I think of what really helped me to make my decision. And I gladly share with all of you who are in the process of deciding and planning, some tips that will help you making up your mind when choosing your honeymoon destination. However, just remember: in the end the decision is all yours!
What do you want to do?
That is the first question you should ask yourself. What kind of things you expect to do in your honeymoon trip – apart from the most obvious one? Lay on the beach? Visit cultural places? Go shopping and dine at fancy restaurants? Diving and snorkeling? Relax? Have a massage? Go to parties and drink a lot? Island or a big city? Safari?
Defining what you and your other half want to do to spend a romantic time together is the most important step. After you think of what kind of place you want to go, comes the next important step…
The Budget
Yes, I know! That is probably most people’s problem. We can’t always afford what and where we really want to do and go, that is why you need to agree on a maximum budget. How much can you spend on the trip? How long do you have to save some extra money?
Knowing your budget will most probably refine your options, and it will also help you know the maximum you want to pay for a hotel and for flight tickets. Still don’t know how you are going to save some extra money for your dream trip? W and I had the idea of asking our wedding guests to contribute with any amount they could, to help us pay for our honeymoon in the Maldives. It was a great idea and it worked out pretty well, we managed to pay our flight tickets with the money!
When?
Are you planning to travel during high or low season? Right after the wedding or a few months later? Deciding when you are going is a crucial decision, because it means it will be cheaper or more expensive. Depending on where you are going, the weather will also play a big role. Is it rain season? Winter? Too hot? Monsoon or hurricane season? Perfect weather? Don’t forget to check this, I know people who went to a normally sunny island in the wrong season and all they got was rain!
For how long?
Knowing your budget will probably define how long your honeymoon will last, but of course that it also depends on where you want to go. My honeymoon trip lasted 12 days, I spent the first days in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, then headed to the Maldives for a week. At first I wondered if I would get bored spending a whole week in an island, it turns out I thought that it wasn’t enough. So, the length of your trip really depends on you and the place you are going, of course, keeping your budget in mind!
Compare
If you managed to narrow down your choices, you can now compare them. Take your time to read reviews, check what other people have to say about the hotel you are considering to stay, or what other honeymooners thought about that place you want to go. Which one is your favourite destination? But which one goes with your budget? Which hotel is cooler? Which activities you prefer? This step is crucial to make your final decision!
Compromise
Not everything is perfect, you might have to compromise on something in order to have the honeymoon you both want. Is that hotel too expensive? Are the flight tickets more expensive to that destination than to that other one? Do you prefer to pay a bit less for the hotel just so you can stay longer? Or you prefer paying a bit more for that dreamy hotel even if that means you can’t stay longer?
It’s ok to change your mind!
Yup! It is ok if today you want to spend your honeymoon in Paris, but tomorrow you are feeling like going to Thailand! It happens to everyone, and it is normal. Even before I started dating W I knew I wanted to go the Maldives for my honeymoon. However, when I started researching and saw the prices I panicked, so I started considering other places. After changing my mind a dozen times, W and I made a few compromises and decided to go to where we wanted in the first place, and it was the right decision for us…. we would definitely do it again!
In the end, all you have to do is to keep in mind what honeymoons are all about… spending time with each other in a way that both of you enjoy! That being relaxing at a spa or diving the whole day… just go for what makes both of you happy!
