Oddball Honeymoons Test Your Marriage Vows

My first honeymoon involved a month long trip around England. I've had three honeymoons because I was engaged for three years and many things happened in our life to delay the wedding including just wanting to wait long enough to be sure, planning for the wedding requiring six months planning beforehand and the requirement to take Engaged Encounter and a decision required about children. After our trip to England, my husband and I were both pretty sure we could marry and have our marriage last the test of time.

Trip Planning Requires One Person Making Arrangement and Both Reviewing

The planning for this first special honeymoon trip fell to me because I was unemployed at the time. My fiance and current husband gave me carte blanc to figure everything out. I made a number of assumptions that haven't been tested very often since. The first was that reservations weren't needed except on arrival and just before departure to ease the plane transfer. The first days worked well but soon after one town was all full up for the night, my husband became panicked every night that we wouldn't have a place to stay until we booked someplace. But we also learned to like the B&B's, one of which saved us when all else was full.

The second was that I'd create a general outline of possible things to do and we'd choose based on weather and availability. Some people told me I over planned and left no room for fate to have a say. My husband gave me the name of Sherilyn AND, instead of Ann, because he thought I couldn't stop going. His mind boggled at the idea and expense and time of doing it all, which I never required but meant discussion had to happen.

The third assumption was a trip requires variation for interest and should include birding, gardens, history, industry, art, music, nightlife, hikes etc. This one met with little argument except a decided preference from Bob on the part of birding.

A Honeymoon Where You Share Interests

My husband and I both like to travel, watch birds, watch people, learn about history and culture and explore. We'd discussed these interests prior to our honeymoon. However, neither of us actually had done all of them together. This honeymoon provided ample room for sharing interests. We started at Brighton, headed to Salisbury, down to Cornwall, over to the North Devon coast, up to Wales, the Lake Country and into Scotland visiting the island of Skye, Loch Ness, Edinburgh and back to England visiting Northumberland, Hadrian's Wall, Whiskey Country, and into the Wash area and back to London. We saw Stonehenge, churches, gardens, seats of power, birding areas, rocks, took hikes and drove a lot of miles in close contact. See some examples in my slideshow.

A Honeymoon Where You Learn Each Other's Behavior Quirks

My husband was pretty agreeable about this trip but got steadily crankier. I grew up a fast food maven, grab a sandwich and run while eating it, while he grew up with a tradition of formal dining. He astonishes me every time he sets out a table, chair, napkins and plates just to eat peanut butter crackers and a handful of grapes. So, I could accept this quirk, especially since he packed it all. Then there was the matter of beer. I soon learned I would hear nothing but protests if we didn't stop at a place where he could have his beer at lunch and his gin before dinner. Then there was the North Devon coast, a difficult, twisty turning road that required full concentration and he was the only one able to drive. My ears still hurt every time North Devon coast comes up and we've now settled on sharing driving, minimal number of hours in the car and the need for breaks.

The bottom line about a month together in close quarters-you will learn how well your lives suit each other quickly and how you settle arguments. It's a form of marriage practice that doesn't come out when you live together and both work and there's no place where you need to be as compatible as possible as on a vacation.

A Honeymoon Where You Relax

We've learned there's two kinds of trips we take, one involves down time where you don't use your mind and work your body. The other type of trip is delving into experiencing a different world where you read books about the history, myths, birds, and geology etc; everything possible and then go explore.

A honeymoon in most people's minds is a restful time where you explore each other. But not always. Be sure to discuss the type of honeymoon and vacation you both want.

Would I Recommend a Honeymoon in the United Kingdom?

Sure, as would my husband since we both had a terrific time, even while wearing seven coats on the Isle of Skye and blown so hard we couldn't identify the birds after finding only vegetarian food for lunch.

Highlights for us included the town of Bath, birding in the Wash, many of the Bed and Breakfasts especially one near Hadrian's Wall, Fountains Abbey, Bodnant Gardens, birding and hiking in Wales.

Here's my advice about honeymoons in general :

Decide who organizes trips, scheduling hotels, transport.

Discuss the type of honeymoon you will take-exploration or rest.

Pick a single point for a center of operations and spend several days in each locale.

Check that you don't plan to travel more than 300-400 miles per day, 150 is nice because you get to see more.

A pre-marriage honeymoon can teach you much about your relationship together before you marry even if you
both remain celibate.

Don't travel after dark except to entertainment or if someone else is moving you i.e. on a train.

Vary your activities and make sure you both get a say in what you do.