I’ve always loved going on holiday, mainly to feel a bit of sunshine on my face - but before Dean and I got together neither of us would particularly have said that we had a penchant for travelling as such.
We have certainly made up for lost time though, and now exploring new places together tops our favourite things to do. We normally manage to get abroad, at least for long weekends if not a full holiday, about two or three times a year, and we spend as much of the interim time exploring England as we can too.
So wedding planning was a bit of a double-edged sword to our wanderlust bug. On one hand, we knew it meant we wouldn’t be able to squeeze in the quantity (or, perhaps more accurately, frequency) in our 2017 travel list, but on the other we knew that the quality that the honeymoon would bring would make it well worth the wait.
I’ve already mentioned the timing of our nuptials was dictated by the Formula 1 calendar summer shutdown, as Dean works for an F1 company and the enforced two week break usually becomes our summer holiday. Except this year, it is going to be our honeymoon (with a little bit extra tacked on so that we actually have the chance to get hitched).
With an August departure date on the cards, our options were actually slightly narrowed. We wanted to make the most of having the time to travel slightly further, but a lot of places outside of Europe (and perhaps including) hit rain season at this time of year. One destination kept coming up time and time again though, as a serious contender for all year round sun. And thus our minds were made up, for our honeymoon we are off to Bali and Lombok with a stopover in Singapore on the way – all through
Turquoise, who were super helpful throughout with the most impressive hotel options and willingness to price match where possible.
When we are on holiday we try to see as many places as possible, so we were always going to do a multi-centre holiday. The key that we had to remember this time as well, is that we will really need time to relax as well. We settled on 3 nights in Singapore, 4 in Ubud in Bali, 5 in neighbouring island Lombok, 4 in Seminyak in Bali and then the long flight home.
We already live together so quite quickly decided that contributions towards memory making would be the best gift anyone (that wished to) could give us, which was another bonus of booking through Turquoise as they set us up a bespoke gift list with lots of exciting activity options and the ability to customise ourselves.
I am an obsessive travel planner, always mapping out a rough guide of what we want to get up to each day – to make sure we can fit in the maximum amount of exploring – but we have been so busy wedding planning that we have only managed to put the bare bones on our itinerary at this point. It may well stay like that and I will have to take a more relaxed approach to holidaying, the way that final preparations are going...but we are completely open to suggestions from anyone that has been!
Thus far on the list we tentatively have Botanical Gardens in Singapore; waterfalls, monkeys, elephants, white water rafting and paddy fields in Ubud; snorkeling, idyllic beaches, and mount Rinjani in Lombok; day trips to the Gili Islands; and rest and relaxation in Seminyak.
Anything that we absolutely must add to the list? Or anything to avoid? Pop it in the comments box below lovelies, and tell me all about your plans as well! There’s nothing I love more than some fresh travel
inspiration...
Lots of wedding love, Emma {
Year of the Yes}