Why we chose to HONEYMOON for 2 weeks (and regrettably had to return)
It’s crazy the amount of judgmental people and opinionated people who decide to interject into our lives in general BUT especially want to interject on the happiest day of our lives, our wedding.
Yes, there are seriously people out there who will put you down because they don’t like an idea you have or a color you are using or even how you plan to spend your honeymoon. We all know who those people are and they will probably always be that way. They are the people who just simply for whatever reason can’t be happy for others or stubbornly believe that their way is the only way even if it isn’t the right way.
We encounter them at work, the coffee shop, sitting in traffic and even within our own family. YUP — our own f-a-m-i-l-y.
So let the hatters hate and enjoy your life… am I rightttt?! 🙂
Anyways – we saved up all our vacation days and picked 2 destinations that we an easy flight and 2 destinations that were almost completely different.
When we were planning, we both wanted to explore and see new places and emerge ourselves into history but we both also knew that realistically, we will both want to have a drink in our hands and pass out in some white, warm sand.
Here is the lengthy list that we put together as we were planning for our January honeymoon:
-Mexico
-Jamaica
-Aruba
-Fiji
-Hawaii
-Bahamas
-Europe
-Thailand
-and so many more…
So once we had that, we looked at flight patterns, prices, and the things we would do in these different places. We had a sense of what we were looking for in a hotel (all-inclusive) and we knew that majority of these places had a bunch of options. What it came down to was the number of amenities and the price point for the resorts.
Two weeks away and staying at an all-inclusive resort(s) can seem like it’s going to cost an arm and a leg but what we are here to tell you is that it is possible AND you can do it!
We started out looking at websites that we knew would save us on deals like booking.com and expedia.com but the real gem for us was cheapcaribbean.com .
Not only is this how we found the hotel we were staying at in Riviera Maya, but it also showed us soooo many more hotels that we cannot wait to visit.
Once we did our research, we actually ended up finding a better deal with the hotel property straight from their website, barcelo.com … Now staying at Barcelo Maya Grand Resort is a whole blog post in itself so I will link that here but the one thing I did learn in this process is that you may see a great deal through a partnered website but it will never hurt you to call or email the actual property to see if they have anything else going on to help you save. Now that doesn’t mean that will always be the case but it never hurts to ask or do your own research!
The second place we stayed was Sandals Montego Bay which we found another gem of a deal straight from sandals.com . From the service the moment we arrived to Jamaica to our very last day, the Sandals staff and resort as a whole was amazing and I’ve linked that entire post here.
With Mexico being our exploration and adventure side of our honeymoon, Jamaica was our relaxing. We got what we wanted and more from both countries and we really did enjoy every minute of it.
The one thing we would both agree on if we had to go back and do it again, we would probably say that we stayed 1 too many days in Jamaica and not enough days in Mexico. Granted Jamaica was our second week and we may have been ready for our next adventure by that point but I don’t believe we had enough time to relax in Mexico and I believe that is why we would add 1 more day to Mexico if we could.
No matter what, I will always recommend a longer “out of office” time to anyone who is asking and I actually believe we are trying to figure out our next romantic getaway now…
