Honeymoon Planning During a Pandemic

In case you missed it, Colin and I got engaged in October and we’re in the middle of planning our small, non-traditional wedding. But if you know me, you know one of the parts of the wedding I’m most looking forward to is our honeymoon!

Unfortunately, trying to plan a honeymoon during a global pandemic is no easy feat. Actually, trying to plan anything during a global pandemic is tricky. I think that has been one of my biggest lessons from 2020/2021. I love to plan. I love a spreadsheet and a list. I love looking forward to the future, sometimes to a fault. And it’s been so hard for me to not be able to make concrete plans for the last year (and counting!).

I’ve had to learn how to scale back, plan for just the short term, and accept that no future plan is really guaranteed. And I’ve learned to cherish the few things I am able to plan for and put on the calendar, even if they weren’t what I originally had in mind.

The original honeymoon plan

When Colin and I first started talking about our honeymoon, years ago, we talked about making it a big trip. In a regular year we’re known to spend three weeks in Southeast Asia, book a budget trip to Ireland or Iceland, and even move to Prague. So we knew we wanted our honeymoon to be something extra special – a once in a lifetime trip that we could splurge on.

Our first thought was New Zealand! It’s somewhere neither of us have been before, and definitely a place we would want to spend more time and more money to experience fully. We planned to fly from Vancouver, spend at least three weeks driving across both islands, and maybe add a quick stop in Australia on the way back. We’re not big outdoor adventure people, but we do love a beautiful landscape and cute small town.

Unfortunately, New Zealand is not a cheap place to visit. Flights there are expensive, and costs on the ground are high too. As the pandemic ramped up, it became clear that New Zealand would probably be one of the last countries to open their borders – and rightfully so. Which made us rethink our plans…

Our back up plan was Japan. I first visited Japan in 2014 when I spent a month in Tokyo working for a language camp. And Colin and I spent about 24 hours in Tokyo on a layover in 2019. But neither of us have explored outside of Tokyo. We both love what we’ve seen of Japan – the food, the temples, the landscape, the culture. It’s a place we both really want to explore more. So with New Zealand looking less possible, I began planning an itinerary that would see us visiting Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka over a few weeks.

But sadly, as the months went on, even Japan began to look unlikely. Our assumption had always been that if Japan was going to host the Olympics in the summer of 2021, surely we could have our honeymoon there a few months later. But with news that the Tokyo Olympics won’t be having any spectators, and the games themselves at risk of cancellation, we started to realize that a honeymoon in Japan in 2021 might not be possible.

Changing course

Of course, the simplest thing we could do would be to postpone our honeymoon. We know we will be able to get to Japan and New Zealand eventually. But Colin already has the days off work and we do want to go somewhere to celebrate our wedding this year. So we decided to scale back.

We tossed around a few ideas. Neither of us were too keen on the typical honeymoon spent at an all-inclusive resort. While I have nothing against all-inclusive resorts, it’s just not our favourite type of trip. We prefer to explore new places and not have to wear sunscreen all the time.

The truth is we just don’t know what travel is going to look like later this year. There’s a chance things will be back to normal, and that we could have the New Zealand or Japan honeymoon we originally wanted. But there’s also a chance things will be exactly the same, with international travel pretty much off the table. Despite the fact that we should both be vaccinated before our honeymoon, we have no idea what restrictions will look like.

So instead of risking it, we decided to make a plan that would work for us now. Of course, we could have waited; we didn’t have to book our honeymoon six months in advance. But as I said off the top, I love planning. Half the fun of travelling for me is being able to plan a trip. I didn’t want to put that off when we could plan something now that would be safe and still make us happy.

The new honeymoon plan

So what is the new honeymoon plan? Well, like most of my best travel stories, it starts with a flight deal. I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw one of my favourite travel deal websites had shared a new deal: Vancouver to Montreal round trip direct flights for $150-230 CAD per person. I was intrigued. When I had looked up flights to Montreal before, they were showing as $600 per person and with a stop both ways. I ran it by Colin and, a few minutes later, found myself on the checkout page.

We booked flights and will be spending two weeks this fall in the Montreal area. Colin and I visited Montreal together in 2016, and I have been a few times before that, but we haven’t explored more of the area. We’re super excited to check out Quebec City, which looks like a mini European town, and maybe splurge on a few nights at their famous Fairmont.

From there, our route will be dependent on what’s open. If restrictions are eased with the US, we’re planning to rent a car and go on a New England road trip. We’ll sample maple syrup and do some leaf peeping in Vermont, take in a basketball or hockey game in Boston, get a taste of the Ivy Leagues on a Harvard campus tour, see lighthouses in Maine, and eat all of the lobster rolls.

If the US isn’t an option, we may head east to Atlantic Canada (assuming they’re open). We’d love to drive around Nova Scotia, checking out the scene in Halifax, admiring Peggys Cove and taking in all of the natural beauty on Cape Breton Island.

And, of course, if restrictions aren’t eased at all and we can’t visit the Maritime provinces or the US, I’m sure we’ll find plenty to do in Quebec and Ontario. Colin has never been to Ottawa, so we could check out our nation’s capital. I could see us touring a few of Quebec’s small towns or enjoying a week in Ontario’s cottage country. We could even pop in on my family in Toronto!

So our final plan is up in the air but our flights are booked and we’ll be honeymooning somewhere within a drive of Montreal!

Is travel back?

Not really. At least, not yet. I know some people are travelling now, and others have chosen to travel throughout the pandemic. For me, that’s not something I’m comfortable with. Our government has asked us to avoid all non-essential travel outside of our local community – let alone outside of the country. And if we did leave the country, we’d be facing an expensive two-week quarantine upon our return.

So while travel like we knew it in the “before days” isn’t quite back, I think travel planning might be. When we booked these flights to Montreal, I got a huge jolt of adrenaline. I spent the first few days doing so much research, planning out our route, and even booking a hotel in Montreal (don’t worry, it’s refundable!). I had a huge smile on my face and couldn’t contain my excitement. It was so nice to have a trip on the books again and something concrete to look forward to.

I’ve always loved visiting new countries (my goal is to visit 100 in my lifetime – just 57 to go!) and have always prioritized international travel over domestic travel. Despite living in Canada for most of my 28 years, I really haven’t seen much of it. So many people talk about Canada as this awesome travel destination and I’m excited to finally experience a bit of that.

I’m glad to know that the parts of travel I love, the parts that really excite me, are still possible even if I’m not spending 12 hours on a plane or filling my passport with stamps. I was worried that a more local honeymoon might be a letdown but so far, not at all. I am so excited for our plans and hope that this appreciation for local, slower travel is something that sticks with me long after the pandemic is gone.

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Have you done any trip planning during the pandemic? How’s it gone?

And if you have any recommendations for our Quebec + New England or Atlantic Canada honeymoon, please let me know! 

 

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