4 Freelance Friday: The Perfect Honeymoon

For my bridal shower last year, my cousin Gabrielle compiled marriage advice from family and friends in a little book she entitled "The Inside Scoop". On the very last page is a quote from someone married seven years that reads:

"Go on a long six month+ trip to faraway places on the cheap. Seriously. This way you carry nothing but what's on your back and you see the world and unplug from our society for awhile. It's great for the marriage because you get a chance to get to know each other more deeply and create a super deep bond for when the difficult parts of life come knocking."

Patrick and I had already been planning our round the world honeymoon, but reading this completely validated our decision to run away for six months together. Our hotel rooms may have been adorned with cockroaches instead of rose petals, and our meals not usually candle-lit or accompanied by champagne, but I wholeheartedly agree that a trip like this is the perfect honeymoon.

Honeymoons are supposed to be all about enjoying time with your new spouse. Well, on this trip we had nothing but time with each other. We woke up together, ate together, spent every minute of every day together. In fact the longest time we were apart was about two hours for Patrick's kidney stone removal surgery. It's remarkable we had anything to talk about.

So we had plenty of time to learn every little detail about each other. Not only can Patrick predict what I will order off any given restaurant menu, but I know at exactly what point he will lose patience with a pushy salesman or an unhelpful airport employee. We know what the other one appreciates most in a hotel, city, or maybe even in life. At least for right now.

And overcoming obstacles--from being stranded on a Brazilian island to dealing with the aforementioned kidney stone fiasco in India--brought us even closer together. Knowing that we can deal with unpredictable, stressful, and sometimes ridiculous circumstances gives me great confidence that we will be able to handle dirty diapers and mortgage payments. I understand how Patrick approaches problems, he understands my thought process, and we are an excellent (and impressively efficient) decision-making team.

So to all you enfianced girls and boys out there, consider a six-month round the world adventure for your post-wedding getaway. And to our married readers, it's never too late for a romantic second honeymoon.

Now we want to hear what you think...what is your idea of the perfect honeymoon? What honeymoon/travel experiences have brought you and your significant other closer together?