When it came time to choose our honeymoon spot, there were a few things Mr. Porcupine and I decided upon pretty early. We've been incredibly lucky to go on some great vacations together. So far we've been to Puerto Rico, Mexico (twice), and on a cruise around the Caribbean islands.
[Vacationing in Cancun]/Personal Photo
[Drinks in the pool- our fav.]/ Personal Photo
[Sunset in Puerto Rico]/Personal Photo
What we love most about these vacations is being near water (any water that is not the murky Atlantic ocean will do) with a fruity beverage in-hand relaxing. What we hate the most is the horrible humidity and heat that accompanies some of these beautiful spots. So when it came time to figure out where to go on our honeymoon, we wanted to find a way to have what we wanted without the heavy heat.
Our first thought was a European cruise.
Image via The Cruise Girl
I've never been to Europe before, even though Mr. Porcupine has, and I've always wanted to go. We thought this might be the best way to see a lot of Europe in a short span of time. We did a little preliminary research, and soon realized that this idea was out of the equation for a few reasons.
- The timing was going to overlap with Easter, which we thought might pose a problem in Europe's predominately Catholic countries.
- We needed a 2-week span of time for most of the cruises we were interested in, and we didn't want to take more than a week's worth of vacation time for our honeymoon.
- These kind of cruises require a lot of planning and sight-seeing and a lot less sitting around like slugs.
Next up, we considered honeymooning in Costa Rica.
Image via Costaricanhoneymoondeals.com
Costa Rica seemed like a good combination of adventure and relaxation. I've always heard that Costa Rica is pure paradise. Plus, I thought it would be fun to explore the rain-forests, zip-line, and spend a lot of time in-between relaxing. But, again, we came up with the Easter issue. A little bit of research showed that Costa Rica is a predominantly Catholic country. Many places close down during the holiest of days and the rest of the time becomes a popular beach holiday with packed beaches. We soon decided to scratch the idea.
During all of the honeymoon decision-making I had one destination hiding in the crevices of my brain. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii. Why not go there on our honeymoon? It would be the perfect reason to go clear across the United States and attend a luau.
Image via Funtimehawaii.com
Image via Destination360.com
At first Mr. Porcupine hesitated because it seemed too cliche to him. But, after some more research he soon decided I was right. Hawaii is a perfect combination of what we want to do - a lot of relaxing and a little exploring. Not so hot that we will melt, and a lot more tourist-friendly during Easter.
Image via vthawaii.com
We decided on the Big Island after a lot of research. Each island has so much to offer, but we're really interested in checking out the Volcanoes National Park which is located on the Big Island. Although we could island hop, since I'm not a big fan of flying we decided that staying put in one place is the best idea. Our two flights from New York (adding up to over 12+ hours in the sky) are enough for me. There's only so much Xanax I want to have to inhale. (Not funny, don't abuse Xanax. Only use under your doctor's care to treat the in-air crazies).
I can not wait to drink a Mai-Tai, take a hula lesson, road trip over to the volcanoes, and soak up some of the Hawaiian sun into my translucent skin (after proper sunblock protection, of course). I just have to make it through another frigid New York City winter, and, oh yea, finish planning our wedding.
Did holidays or timing effect your honeymoon plans? Anyone have some great Big Island recommendations from their own honeymooning?
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