Adventure Moon
When I first heard the term Adventure Moon it gave me butterflies. It immediately resonated with me. On reflection, I consider our honeymoon to have been an Adventure Moon.
What I think I love most about this descriptive title is that a honeymoon truly is always an adventure. It is the start of an epic journey of a new life together. A remarkable first experience, perhaps to a far away and exotic destination, that is a one of a kind experience. At it’s core, a honeymoon is a pause from the day to day, a moment after the celebration with family and friends, and a trip hand in hand making memories you will have forever. Hear me out, even if you’ve been married 2, 3, 4 times - the honeymoon - is always a new experience with a new person. I think I’ll stick with just one honeymoon in my lifetime though.
An Adventure Moon to me captures the excitement of the beginning of a new life together, and planning that adventure takes time. For me, I dreamed of our honeymoon all the while planning our wedding. It was as much a part of my engagement experience as which flowers to have at our reception or the venue we chose. Whether adventure to you means skydiving in Switzerland, swimming with whale sharks in Belize, or a safari in Kenya, your Adventure Moon is what you make of it. Adventures can ben anything, and even if you plan far in advance, or pack your bags at the last minute, your Adventure Moon can be whatever you desire.
We spent our honeymoon in Seychelles in September and October 2012. Our journey started by driving to Buffalo, flying to New York, taking the overnight Emirates flight to Dubai and spending two nights there. Well, that’s a long story, but it turned into three nights in Dubai. It was our first time visiting the Middle East and it was the start of an adventure for sure. Dubai to Seychelles was our next hop, upgraded to business class for this leg was our surprise (more on the bonus night in Dubai can be credited with the upgrade). So we travelled again overnight. A shorter five hour flight late at night, 2am-7am, direct from Dubai to Mahe. It may have been mimosas (hold the orange juice) that made me giggle, but stepping out of the small airport in Victoria, was everything I dreamed it would be. I can’t say the Moët & Chandon didn’t have an effect, but the water, the sky, the small boat awaiting us, it brought tears to my eyes. I had literally stepped into the postcard of my imagination.
If you’re like me, and your honeymoon is intertwined with your wedding planning, you’ve likely already been envisioning your first holiday as a married couple. We had the honeymoon of our dreams, and I hope you do too. Where will your first trip take you?
PS - if you’ve made it this far, high five! I’m going to tell you a secret. How did we end up staying three nights in Dubai instead of our scheduled two? Upon arrival to the airport at 11:00pm, for our 2:00am flight, we had learned ‘that not enough people had got off the plane’. Quite literally this is what they said to us, as if it were as much of a surprise to them as it was to us. Putting us unfortunate honeymooners, in a space where there were no seats. We pleaded, and then we were handed tickets, they’d found seats for us! Joy pulsed through my veins. Until I looked at the tickets, they’d confused us with another couple, our names were not printed on the tickets. Like us, there were about 16 people wishing they were going to be handed tickets to paradise. So I gave them back, and passed that joy onto other eager travellers who’s names were in fact printed on the boarding passes. We spent the next 22 or so hours trying to make the most of our time in vibrant Dubai. Returning to the airport that next evening felt as though we were playing at a casino - would we get on the flight? We had our fingers and everything else crossed. The rest is history, we were greeted warmly and handed even better little passes, ones that said Business Class, not Economy, and the rest is history.