Honeymoon: check!

After months of research and agonizing over where we should go for our honeymoon (and more importantly, where we could afford to go), we have FINALLY booked our flight and accommodations for the trip.

Are you ready to hear where we’re going?

Really, really ready?

Truly good and ready?

Okay.

We will be going to the gorgeous island of Kauai in HAWAII!

Hanalei Bay in Kauai (near where we'll be staying)

Neither one of us has ever been to Hawaii so we’re really excited to explore one of the islands in depth and take advantage of all the sights and activities Kauai has to offer (um, hello mountain tubing).

For awhile there, we didn’t know if we’d be able to afford a honeymoon Hawaii. Even though September is typically the “off season,” we were still seeing some pretty pricey package deals. Plus we were reading about how expensive the meals can get when you’re staying at a resort and are eating every meal at the hotel restaurant.

But we were really stumped as to where else we could go. Obviously we would have loved to consider a European honeymoon, Spain, Italy, Greece, or some place more distant and tropical, but for reasons beyond our control, we were basically confined to the United States.

(Which ended up not being the worst thing in the world. Sure, our choices were more limited, but that made the decision making and search process a little easier.)

Finally, my lovely “researcher bridesmaid,” Hilary, sent me an article about vacation rentals, that led me to HomeAway, a vacation home rental site with listings all over the world, which lead me to a gorgeous, 2-bedroom, 1200+ sq. ft. condo on the north side of Kauai.

View from our lanai of a cruise ship passing by...

Now for a little cheaper than what it would have cost us to stay at a hotel on a crowded strip of resorts near Honolulu, we’ll have a whole apartment to ourselves in the lush, less touristy island of Kauai. That means we’ll also have a full kitchen that will allow us to make a few meals ourselves (I’m already fantasizing about cooking with some of the fresh, local produce) and save a lot on meals, hopefully leaving funds for horseback riding, and scuba diving, and (dare we dream?) helicopter tours (!).

We did hit a slight speed bump when it came to timing our departure from Boston. At first we planned on leaving the morning after the wedding, but as planning progressed, we realized that wouldn’t give us any time to meet up with our friends and family the next day and see off our out-of-town guests (some are traveling from as far away as Switzerland and Ethiopia to be with us).

So we’re now leaving the morning after the morning after the wedding, which will also give us time to come home, finish packing, say goodbye to Milo and spend a night together at home as husband and wife. (Eee!)

I’m so glad I can finally check the honeymoon off our to-do list! Now, when wedding planning gets a little hectic, I can daydream about lying on the beach in Hawaii next to my soon-to-be husband. I won’t say I’m looking forward to it more than “the big day,” but let’s just say, I really can’t wait.