Welcome to Hello Tahiti!, a blog documenting our honeymoon trip to The Society Islands, or Tahiti as it's more commonly known. In the past I blogged about our trip to Japan and our cross-country move from Milwaukee to San Francisco. Our family and friends highly enjoyed reading my previous blogs so I thought I'd keep up the tradition.
Unfortunately I can't be on vacation forever and I've found that reading an old travel blog is the next best thing I can do to relive cherished vacation memories.I love documenting our travel experiences as they happen and find that they help me remember the subtle details forgotten after the trip ends. It's not easy to fully capture into words and photographs all the sights, sounds, and feelings experienced during travel, but I do the best I can.
Mike and I share a love of travel and have made it one of our marriage goals is to visit the 7 continents together. Initially we were planning on honeymooning in Morocco in the continent of Africa. But, after some research we both decided it wasn't the best place for a honeymoon. The main problem was our trip was going to coincide with Ramadan. Much like Christmas in the USA, the whole country of Morocco pretty much shuts down. Banks and restaurants are closed, public transit is jam packed with travelers, and hotels are booked solid with out of town relatives visiting their families. Besides these inconveniences, Morocco has some qualities that don't make it the most romantic place in the world. Alcohol is not allowed and a "proper" woman should have her arms, legs, and hair covered even if she is Western. Now, neither us of are big drinkers and I'm usually a pretty modest dresser... but it would be nice to enjoy a glass or two of champagne while wearing a knee length skirt and sleeveless shirt on our honeymoon, right?
So we decided to go somewhere else, specifically a tropical paradise. Personally, I've never experienced an extended beach vacation and I've always wanted to. On almost all of my vacations I've been bundled up in a jacket, pounding miles of concrete in my New Balances, taking in urban cultural sights like skyscrapers and bullet trains. Once those two words "tropical paradise" were mentioned, I immediately began picturing myself laying on pink sand in nothing but a bikini, wearing a pair of those ridiculous oversized sunglasses, sipping something fruity out of a coconut. I pictured Michael out snorkeling in the crystal clear blue water, waving to me and smiling, calling me to come see the giant manta rays and rainbow hued fish.
Eventually we decided on The Society Islands of Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, Huahine, and Raiatea. These names sounded so exotic and distant to us. Look at a world map - these islands are situated way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far away from anything and anywhere. It's crazy! Since they're so remote it hasn't been the easiest trip to plan, but I know it's going to be so worth it once we get there. We are both so excited!
Stay tuned...
let the adventure begin! (wish you could stash me in your suitcase...don't worry, i'd go my own way)
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