Honeymoon: Simple or exotic?

I've traveled extensively in my youth, but now at 45 and planning for marriage, I'm most excited about our honeymoon. While many couples jet off to exotic locales, my soon-to-be wife and I have decided to stay closer to home, so we can bring our beloved dog along. Some may say this limits the "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, but for us, being together is what matters most.


Question: For those of you who are married or have traveled extensively before, when planning time away as a couple, how do you decide between making memories in exotic places versus doing so while still feeling comfortable at a nearby location? Do you think it's wise to bring a pet on a honeymoon? I'm curious to hear your perspectives and experiences in balancing these considerations.

I am married, and I have travelled extensively (for business, mainly). First of all, congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I would just go somewhere that both of you are excited about--it doesn't matter whether it's exotic or a quiet place just around the corner. At 45 years old, you probably have a few places you yearn to see, and your partner probably does, too. Try to match up your lists.

As far as the dog goes, if it were me, I'd try to find a dog-sitter. Dogs complicate travel. You usually can't leave them alone in a hotel room. You will be focusing on the dog's needs instead of having fun. Just my humble opinion. Of course, if the dog is a huge member of the family, you may enjoy your honeymoon more if the pup comes with, but that is a personal decision for you and your wife-to-be.

A honeymoon is just a vacation. If it is easy to take your dog where you are going, do it.Althought, as .catherine says, it depends on how good a traveler the dog is.

we took some dogs with us. Other dogs were brats, would bark when in a hotel room etc.

One car trip I planned for late November was so freeking hot we could not leave doggo in car during the day as planned. So, I had to scurry around to find a casita (a stand alone air b n b) to leave him in so that when we were out during the day, if he barked he wouldn’t bother anyone.

however, we have had foster dogs so well behaved, we take the foster dog with us on vacation and leave our own dogs at the kennel.

As far as making special memories, and all of that, sorry, I just don’t buy that hoopla. We just go where we want to go. Some trips are better than others.

Our actual “honeymoon” in the Caribbean was pretty boring, but because we had a big blowout trip to Asia the year before, I didn’t mind the boring honeymoon.

Thank you everyone for your recommendations. I will take them all into account when making decisions with my fiancée. We appreciate your well wishes. Our dog has not been on a proper vacation with us yet, only on a few trips to my future father-in-law's house. Our previous dog, a golden retriever, was well-behaved, but we were unable to bring her on any of our vacations. We had planned to, but she passed away before we could. That is why we are eager to bring our new dog with us on our next vacation.

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I can't speak for everyone, but DH and I had a humble honeymoon in NH in a motel that we thought was very nice at the time, and that I would never consider staying at now. We have no regrets, because we didn't have a lot of money and we were very focused on buying a house, which we did 6 months later. In retrospect, many of our fondest memories are not at all related to exotic locales or extravagant spending, quite the opposite. On our honeymoon, there was the time DH stopped the car so I could get out and take pictures of cute piglets on a farm. (It's probably safe to say that our honeymoon photos do not inspire a lot of envy). There was the Valentine's Day we shared a sub sandwich in the car because we were in the tiny window of time between getting out of work and our gardening class with the Arnold Arboretum. (At the time, I vowed that the next year we would go out for a fancy dinner or something. I believe we did, but I don't remember it. I remember the sub in the car though!) On our 25th anniversary, we saw a special exhibit on exotic frogs at the Berkshire Museum. We got to see Dave Sedaris live on that same trip, and we had someone doing some great home improvements for us while we were away, affordable because we were not spending big bucks on our trip. Those are all priceless memories; it's really about sharing good times together doing things you enjoy. We recently spent a week in the Berkshires where we visited an old quarry, a waterfall out in the middle of nowhere, and a native plant tour at a small nursery in a tiny town in northern MA. That's who we are and that's the kind of things we like to do. Frozen drinks on the beach may make for nice Facebook photos, but would not be our idea of a good time.

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Originally Posted by gmiller

Our dog has not been on a proper vacation with us yet, only on a few trips to my future father-in-law's house. Our previous dog, a golden retriever, was well-behaved, but we were unable to bring her on any of our vacations. We had planned to, but she passed away before we could. That is why we are eager to bring our new dog with us on our next vacation.

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One idea, then, is a dog-centered vacation. I don't know where you live, but if you live in the US, and particularly in or near the Northeast, you could go to Vermont on vacation and take the dog to Dog Mountain and the Dog Chapel there... One of my very favorite places. Also, many hotels in VT are very pet friendly.

https://www.dogmt.com

I say make a once in a lifetime memory for your honeymoon. There will be many vacations to take your dog but only one honeymoon. You wouldn’t bring a kid on your honeymoon…. IMO it should be about the two of you. Dogs and kids stay home.

I took a memorable honeymoon and have many anniversaries trips that stand out. We did do a few that were local and, therefore, seemed like no big deal. We could have done them anytime.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I can't speak for everyone, but DH and I had a humble honeymoon in NH in a motel that we thought was very nice at the time, and that I would never consider staying at now. We have no regrets, because we didn't have a lot of money and we were very focused on buying a house, which we did 6 months later. In retrospect, many of our fondest memories are not at all related to exotic locales or extravagant spending, quite the opposite. On our honeymoon, there was the time DH stopped the car so I could get out and take pictures of cute piglets on a farm. (It's probably safe to say that our honeymoon photos do not inspire a lot of envy). There was the Valentine's Day we shared a sub sandwich in the car because we were in the tiny window of time between getting out of work and our gardening class with the Arnold Arboretum. (At the time, I vowed that the next year we would go out for a fancy dinner or something. I believe we did, but I don't remember it. I remember the sub in the car though!) On our 25th anniversary, we saw a special exhibit on exotic frogs at the Berkshire Museum. We got to see Dave Sedaris live on that same trip, and we had someone doing some great home improvements for us while we were away, affordable because we were not spending big bucks on our trip. Those are all priceless memories; it's really about sharing good times together doing things you enjoy. We recently spent a week in the Berkshires where we visited an old quarry, a waterfall out in the middle of nowhere, and a native plant tour at a small nursery in a tiny town in northern MA. That's who we are and that's the kind of things we like to do. Frozen drinks on the beach may make for nice Facebook photos, but would not be our idea of a good time.

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Thank you for sharing your heartfelt marriage memories. It's clear that the most meaningful moments you've shared together have little to do with extravagance or grandeur, but rather simple pleasures experienced together. Wishing you many more years of making treasured recollections, creating your life together. Thank you for the reminder that happiness comes from within, not from any expense or display. Congratulations on your lasting marriage and home - may you continue enriching each other through shared appreciation of simple pleasures.

I am embarrassed to say we took my children on our honeymoon, which was obviously a second marriage. So I would be taking the dog, no doubt.

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Originally Posted by Tybee

I am embarrassed to say we took my children on our honeymoon, which was obviously a second marriage. So I would be taking the dog, no doubt.

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I don't think you should be embarrassed for doing something that worked for you folks, even if it wasn't in accord with some societal expectation of what the ideal honeymoon should be.

It was a rocky trip, but on the other hand, everyone started to bond, and they are all very close now.
We'll be married 25 years in December, and I'd love to take a trip to Scotland, just the two of us, but now we have two dogs that we don't want to leave behind, so that will have to wait. I would not mind a couple of dog free years just to travel, but doubt husband would agree to it.

Just bought the place we are living in August so major fixing and decorating. My goal is to, hopefully, have all done by end of November so we can go and do something fun for a few days. There are so many fun activities and things to do at this place during the winter so we'll wait until spring to do a major trip. I have a milestone birthday and anniversary. I will be looking for something extraordinary to do to celebrate.

There is certainly nothing wrong with doing something extraordinary if your circumstances permit it and that's what you want!

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Originally Posted by Tybee

I am embarrassed to say we took my children on our honeymoon, which was obviously a second marriage. So I would be taking the dog, no doubt.

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Don't be embarrassed! I'm sure your children loved being part of your honeymoon. Did you all share one big room, or did the kids have their own room?

Oh god no, the kids had their own room and were watched over by the oldest, a 16 year old. Although we had the Westie in our room, now that I think of it.

It's kind of a blur, we went somewhere weird, Mammoth Caves, and it snowed. Although we did see Lincoln's birthplace, that was cool.