Honeymoon dilemma

[zoebartlett]

We''re planning on going to Portugal for our honeymoon but nothing''s been booked yet. We''re excited about the trip but a thought crossed both of our minds and neither of us are sure what to do. Although I''m not sure how much the honeymoon could wind up costing us, I do know that the exchange rate is very unfavorable right now.

We''d love to buy a house within the next 2 years but prices are still higher than we''d like. We''re planning on putting any $ we may receive as wedding gifts towards our house fund, but we''d like as much as possible to be put in. We''re doing the best we can but it''s hard to save the amount we''ll potentially need.

Here''s what we''re thinking and we''d love your thoughts.

1. Go to Portugal -- if we say we''ll wait and go another time, will we REALLY? Is it best to go now before we possibly have kids (this hasn''t been quite decided yet)?

2. Save most of the money we''ve been saving for Portugal and take a shorter honeymoon in the US or Canada. This would allow us to still have a honeymoon AND put the majority of saved money into the house fund. If we did a shorter honeymoon, we could splurge a little more than if we went somewhere for a week-10 days, which is what we''d do if we go to Portugal.

Some of you may think this is a no brainer and you may choose the first option. Which one though, is best for the long term? There''s a chance we could still go to Portugal on the family vacation I wrote about in another thread.

 

[BigDiamonds]

I LOVE to travel so I''m definitely biased, but I vote for vacation! Travel experiences stay with you forever and can be so incredibly rewarding. However, it''s all about what is important to you. We have chosen to forego purchasing a house for a while for a number of reasons, one of which is that we want to focus our money and energy on travel at this time in our lives.

Would you consider going somewhere less expensive? Europe is exorbitant right now, but lots of other places are more affordable. I would think of countries that are less expensive in general, like Latin America or Southeast Asia, and also countries who have fixed currencies pegged to the US dollar. Here is a list. Of course, if your heart is set on Portugal, I say do it!!

 

[iheartscience]

I would definitely choose to go to Portugal. I love to travel and it''s a big priority of mine. I try to travel outside of the U.S. once every two years at least. I''ve never had as much fun on a vacation as I''ve had when I''ve gone to Europe. I went to Europe for the first time when I was 17 for 2 months and I''ve gone back 3 times since then. I think you might definitely regret skipping your dream honeymoon. There are plenty of times to be practical and save money, but I feel like travel (and your honeymoon!) isn''t one of them.

There are ways to get around that exchange rate...you can eat on the cheap for breakfast and lunch by getting food at a market or grocery store and just eat out for dinner. You can stay at nice hostels or pensions for a few nights in one location instead of at a fancy hotel every night, or you can try to find an apartment to rent for your stay. I did that once in Nice, France, and I stayed in an apartment literally 1 block from the ocean. Needless to say, it was amazing!

Plus, could you cut costs in your daily life right now to save extra money? Skip Starbucks, don''t eat out as much, etc.? You could also sell stuff you have sitting around your house or closet on eBay. I think you can make Portugal work!

 

[Selkie]

I think that if you've already been saving and planning for it, then totally do it! Honey, just DO IT!

1)There will always, ALWAYS be something more "practical" to spend your money on. It's your honeymoon, it's your first chance to really enjoy yourselves and NOT worry about responsibilities as a married couple. After you start the house buying process, it only gets harder to do outrageous things like spend 10 days in Portugal.

2)Sure, you might go with your family, but this is for you two! Think about just doing what you want, without having to consult the rest of the group at every turn. How nice would that be? (Of course, this is coming from someone who HATED family vacations because no one agreed on anything. EVER.

)

3) I have no gripes with honeymooning in the US (we went to Maine) or Canada, but that seems like something that is far more likely to happen as a family vacation down the line than going to the Azores!

4) I want to see pictures of the AZORES, darn it!!

This is all tongue-in-cheek, I hope you realize. But I think I personally would regret it if I didn't take that opportunity.

Oh, and I LOVE your new avatar. Is it an Aljdewey special?

 

[Deelight]

Unless there is likely to be a massive jump in house prices in the short-term future or the market is UBER crazy like it is here in Australia and the capital growth is insane I would bide my time and have the honeymoon of my dreams.

Thats my 2 cents

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks gals!

Yeah, I KNEW you''d choose going to Portugal over being more practical.

I TOTALLY understand wanting to take a mental vacation from all of life''s stuff and go somewhere amazing, especially on a honeymoon. It is a once in a lifetime experience and trip. To us, one of those amazing destinations is Portugal.

My parents went on a 6 week honeymoon throughout Europe. I think they used all of their wedding money and wired money from home and even then they were broke by the end of the trip. They had 2 lawn chairs and one lamp in their apt. that they carried from room to room when they returned because they were so broke. That''s not nearly the situation we''re in but it makes me smile to think that despite being out of money, my parents still made it work and had a fabulous time. They still talk about it to this day, almost 38 years later.

On the other hand, would we feel good that we chose to go somewhere less expensive (in the states or CAN), have a fabulous mini honeymoon AND save for our next house? Yes, definitely. Decisions, decisions!

Selkie, your post made me laugh. Thank you! I think we''ll wait to see what the final cost will be and then decide. And yes, my new avatar is an Alj special.

 

[basil]

My fiance and I just faced a similar dilemma. Whether to go on a "dream" honeymoon (Hawaii or Europe) that would be more of a stretch financially or just a "nice" honeymoon. We decided on the "nice" honeymoon that was about half the price (cruise to canada). Part of what influenced our decision was that if we were to go to Hawaii or Europe, we''d want to stay for 10 days-2weeks but we aren''t allowed to take that amount of time off from work right now. THe other part is that we''ll be in a much better situation financially in the next few years (living expenses almost cut in half when we move in together, plus save about $300/month in travel expenses).

Another thing was thinking about our trip - I didn''t want to have to worry about whether the stop for coffee or the bottle of wine with dinner was ruining our budget, which is what I would have felt like if we had been paying a few thousand more for the accomodations. I decided that for me, shopping and dining where I wanted to without worrying so much about price was more important to me than a fancy hotel or more on plane flights.

Anyway, I felt comfortable forgoing the expensive trip because I know our financial circumstances are going to change significantly in the next few years, and I know that we''re not having kids in the next few years. But if either of those don''t apply to you, I''d be tempted to go for it now

 

[Sundial]

I love Portugal and I love to travel - I say go for it! This is your one and only honeymoon so make it something special.

 

[zoebartlett]

Sundial, you''ve been to Portugal? Was it to the Azores by any chance? Sao Miguel???

 

[Sundial]

I''m afraid we haven''t been to the Azores. A few years ago we spent a week at a fabulous resort near Sintra and last year we were in Lisbon for a day during a long European cruise we took for our anniversary. We really enjoyed Portugal and I can''t imagine that you would regret visiting any part of this lovely country.

 

[CaliCushion]

I went to Portugal (Lisbon, Sintra and Macau) last year for my New Years and my birthday. While it isn''t cheap, it''s a lot cheaper than many other European countries. There''s little cafes all over that serve sandwiches, bicas (espresso),natas (egg custard cups) and other pastries, beer, etc. It would be very easy to have cheap breakfasts snacks and lunches every day. If you''re a drinker, beer is often the same price as water in Portugal and they have amazing Ports. While in Lisbon and the surrounding areas, the train is easy to take and cheap too. Let me know if you have any specific questions.