Mooooooon!

There have been some components of this wedding that have seemed impossible to make decisions on:  the centerpieces, a necklace, transportation to and from the wedding for us and bridal party (still not figured out by the way) and the honeymoon.

The honeymoon should really take priority over the whole shindig but we found it difficult to find, and stick with, a plan.  Our starting criteria was that it should be someplace special, exotic, a once in a lifetime experience.  So we went with this:

an African photo safari to Tanzania and Kenya.  My dream trip as long as I can remember. Since Kevin had already done this when he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro he wanted to add something that was new for him and one of his dream trips.  Since we were already going to be over Africa way we decided to add this:

Also, because we decided to do this trip later in the year we decided to go on a mini-moon to the Oregon Coast.  We wanted some sort of vacation right after the wedding to unwind and relax and we know a beautiful romantic spot right on the beach that fit the bill.  Perfect!  All settled!  But then Egypt had to go and get all revolution-y and even though things have kind of settled down, until they get an actual government in place it doesn't seem like a great bet for all of your vacation dollars.  On to Plan B.

Where else have we both always dreamed of going?  How about here?

Greece!!  Great!  Done!  Settled!  That is our big Autumn trip.  Except......the more we thought about it the more we realized that as much as we call our little post-wedding trip a mini-moon it is still really our honeymoon.  Neither of us wanted our honeymoon to be the Oregon Coast.  It is lovely but did it fit the "special and exotic" criteria?  No.  So the plan became a mini-moon here: 

the beautiful island of Maui.  We could relax, unwind, not feel like we had to go exploring and do much since we had both been here before.  The further we got into this wedding business the more a relaxing spot seemed desirable to us. It is a gorgeous place and we both really like Hawaii.  So it was settled:  mini-moon on Maui and then Greece in the fall.  Except........neither of us were really excited about it.  We knew we would like Hawaii but it didn't feel special.  I thought of Hawaii as a honeymoon cliche, which I know makes me sound like a world class tool.  But really, it isn't that I find it so much of a cliche as it didn't feel right for us because of the aforementioned need for something exotic, once in a lifetime, truly special but where we didn't have to spend all our time running around being tourists and could just sit and relax.  Since we have both been to Hawaii and plan on going back a few times it didn't really fit the "specialness" part of the equation. You only get one honeymoon and you want to do it right.  We would have had a lovely time and been very happy but we jokingly started looking at some other options and then, quite by accident, found the perfect place.   So where is this magical place that will fit the bill?  Why it is right here....

Bora Bora and Tahiti!!!  We are staying a few nights in Tahiti and then a few more in Bora Bora in an over water bungalow that looks just like this....

...complete with "glass" floor to watch fish through.  The place we are staying is also a turtle sanctuary so we get to swim with these guys too!

We are both super excited about this which we weren't really about any of the other options. Nothing else really seemed to fit for us right now.  Yes, it Bora Bora and Tahiti are total honeymoon cliches but it doesn't matter because it fits perfectly with the criteria we had decided need to be included in our honeymoon:

• A trip right after the wedding so that it feels like a real honeymoon and not some regular, albeit very nice, vacation?  Check!
• Exotic, special and once in a lifetime?  Check!
• Time to really relax and spend time together because there isn't a ton of stuff to run around and see and do?  Check!
• But still has some interesting things to do like swim with sharks and rays and see the Gauguin museum and hike a little?  Check!
• Warm? Check
  
  South Pacific here we come!