One part of wedding planning we haven’t touched upon is the honeymoon! If you’ve been following my Wedding Series, you’ve read all about our wedding. You probably even noticed that we were a little sad once it was all over. Why? Because it was the only time all of our friends and all of our family would be together. It was an amazing celebration that went by way too fast! I believe this is the purpose of a honeymoon… to give the bride and groom one last thing to look forward to!
Our honeymoon was probably one of the only things I didn’t have binders and folders for. Which is okay since this is not an organization post, right? Shane and I never booked such an extravagant vacation before so we enlisted the help of a travel agent. We knew we wanted to go somewhere tropical but didn’t know where exactly. So, we went to the travel agent with a list of things we were looking for:
- Tropical, warm weather for the time of year we were traveling
- Within our budget
- Relaxing, but with the option to participate in excursions/activities
Hawaii, St. Lucia, St. John, oh the possibilities! After lots of dreamy pictures and some research on each destination we chose Costa Rica. Costa Rica offered the best of both worlds for Shane and me. Shane would be able to get his adventure and I would be able to get my sand and sun. The best part about using the travel agent was that we didn’t have to do a thing other than decide on the destination! She booked all of the travel arrangements, reservations, etc.
Our first stop was to the rainforest! We stayed in a hotel right at the base of Mt. Arenal, an active volcano. We were surrounded by so much greenery and many interesting animals that just roamed around the resort like they owned the place.
View of Arenal Volcano from our hotel room.
Arenal was Shane’s part of the trip, the adventure part. I love adventure, too, but I don’t love all the nature and… bugs. The hotel had it’s own hot springs to lounge in. They were private, beautiful and relaxing.
Our first adventure was a hike to Mt. Arenal, which was really a nature walk much to my relief. We “hiked” the base of the mountain which was surrounded by lava bombs (large volcanic rocks) and beautiful views. We even got to see where parts of Jurassic Park were filmed!
Shane surrounded by lava bombs.
Our next adventure was horseback riding to La Fortuna waterfall. Our poor horses (so skinny and tiny) took us a long way through fields, forests, and ravines until we reached our destination – La Fortuna. My horse liked to walk dangerously close to barbed wire, face the wrong way and eat grass while Shane’s horse liked to live on the dangerous side, galloping and leaping over tiny hurtles.
When we got to the waterfall our guide said, “Okay, now you walk down 5,000 steps and up again. I wait here”. I thought he was exaggerating, but ohhhh no. We had to walk down all those steps (the easy part) to get to the base of the waterfall which was well worth all those steps. It was beautiful and refreshing. I took a quick dip in the water before hiking back up the steps (the hard part).
Unfortunately, our last adventure in Arenal I do not have pictures of but was the most fun for me… zip lining! You can’t go to Costa Rica without going zip lining. I don’t have any pictures because, well… ya know… you can’t hang hundreds of feet in the air dangling from a line with a camera in your hands. Some people had GoPros but we’re not that sophisticated (or smart enough to think of that ahead of time). In lieu of the picture, though, check out this video I found on YouTube.
Our second stop was to Playa Conchal on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. We stayed at an all inclusive resort with plenty of sun, sand, and relaxation. This was my part of the trip 🙂 We sat poolside almost every day, enjoying pina coladas and strawberry daquiries.
To end our honeymoon we went on a “Sunset Cruise and Snorkeling” trip which was a catamaran ride that took us into the Pacific, anchored and snorkeled. We saw all sorts of fish and even a guitar shark! The catamaran was lots of fun. I love sitting in the front of a boat and getting splashed by the waves, so sitting on the netting in front was amazing. The sun started to set on the ride back and we saw huge turtles and dolphins.
I would highly recommend Costa Rica if you are looking for that perfect mix between adventure and relaxation. It’s a great escape for a romantic vacation or even a family getaway. I’m so glad Shane and I shared this experience together.
Check out my other Wedding Series posts:
- Wedding Series Part 1 – My Special Day
- Wedding Series Part 2 – Wedding Binder Organization
- Wedding Series Part 3 – Computer Organization
- Wedding Series Part 4 – Monster Spreadsheet
- Wedding Series Part 5 – Seating Arrangements
- Wedding Series Part 6 – How to Add a Special Touch to Your Wedding
- Wedding Series Part 7 – Miss to Mrs.
- Wedding Series Part 8 – Our Honeymoon (you are here!)
