Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Headin' down unda, mate - the Honeymoon!

Today's post is supposed to be about our honeymoon...but now I almost think it might be the honeymoon that isn't.  :(  Not sure what is going to happen to our honeymoon plans as Mr Fix It and I have had a rough weekend.  On Friday night, his work van broke down and he is concerned that if his motor is totally shot, it could be a HUGE expense (we're talking thousands of dollars) that would put a big wrench in our honeymoon plans.  Especially since Mr Fix It is currently looking for more work.

As I mentioned before, he is a self employed flooring contractor who installs any and all types of floors, showers, countertops, etc.  He does full bathroom and kitchen remodels as well and this business has kept him well provided for for many many years now.  In the six years we've been together, I have never known him to not have work lined up other than when he got in his surfing accident at the end of 2008 and couldn't work for 4 to 5 months.  So here it is, the beginning of 2010, our wedding year.  And Mr Fix It's end of the financial burden of wedding related items consists of my engagement/wedding ring, the remodel of his house before my daughter and I move in and the honeymoon.  That's it.  The honeymoon is his big huge responsibility.

So when he told me last summer that he wanted to take a trip to Indonesia I was pretty excited.  Mr Fix It is a surfer:


Yup, that's my little hottie.  And that's him in Indonesia...he loves to surf there and has made several trips.  And so since the wedding is mostly 'mine,' I knew that the honeymoon would be mostly 'his.'  :)  Then he mentioned spending two weeks in Indo.  Now I am all about laying on the beach watching him surf while I get some oceanside massages and do some cool shopping (Mr Fix It says the deals on designer things in Indo are insane and prepare to shop til we drop!)....but I didn't think 2 weeks of that type of lifestyle was going to keep me very satisfied.

I quickly put my mind to work and thought about the fact that I have always dreamed of going to Australia...and you can surf there...and Mr Fix It actually lived in Australia for several months many years ago.  So I suggested that maybe we go to Australia for a week and then go to Bali for a week...so that way we both get to go somewhere we love and do things we will enjoy.  Mr Fix It jumped on the phone and had booked our flight within minutes...and the cool thing?  He was able to use his air miles for the trip from LAX to Brisbane and from Bali back to LAX.  So he only had to pay about $740 for the entire airfare (from Brisbane to Bali and some taxes).  Yea us!

So here is our trip on a map:



The wedding is on a Friday night.  We will spend Saturday hanging with family and then head to the airport about 8 or 9 pm on Saturday night.  We'll take the red eye from LAX to Brisbane and arrive first thing Monday morning.  We'll spend 7 days in Brisbane and then on Sunday we head to Bali where we spend another 5 days before heading home on Saturday.  So all in all, we leave April 17th and return May 1st. 

As I mentioned, this is all up in the air now as our financial status is taking a huge hit with unexpected expenses (medical and auto related) and a lack of income on Mr Fix It's end.  There's more to come on this honeymoon post, like sharing some of the hotels I am hoping we will get to stay in and where we'll be...so stay tuned. 

But for now, do you have your honeymoon plans set yet?  Where are you heading and for how long?  And who/how did you decide on where you would be going?

16 comments:

Kim said...

I'm so sorry to hear about the financial/car/health issues. I am keeping you both in my thoughts! This honeymoon sounds amazing - foe some reason, I thought you two were going to Europe! How funny! I would love to go to Bali one day - it is supposed to be beautiful!

Heather said...

I’m very sorry to hear about the financial difficulties, which are of course horrible at any time, and especially during your wedding year. I’ll be hoping that things start to look up for you. Australia and Bali sound absolutely amazing!

Even though I lived in California for over 20 years, I’ve never been to Hawaii, so Stephen and I both agreed that we wanted to do a cruise around all of the islands for our honeymoon. Right now, we’re working on planning our excursions. I’ve never tried snorkeling before, so that’s definitely going on the list.

Shannon said...

I'm really sorry to hear about the last minute money stress. I definitely can relate. Are your plan tickets refundable? Could you maybe cut down on the cost by going to only one of the locations for a week? I hope it all works out.

I think you read my honeymoon post but we are going to St. Lucia for a week courtesy of my brother. It's his wedding gift to us. I basically let him find a few places he was willing to pay for and we had the final say. My only stipulation was somewhere beachy and warm :)

GM said...

I really hope your plans work out! It sounds like it'll be a wonderful trip. I would love to visit both of those places someday.

Chocolate Lover said...

That sounds like an amazing trip so I hope everything gets sorted out, that Mr. Fix It doesn't have to pay an arm and a leg to fix his van, and you get to do all these fun things you planned!

Life sure can throw curve balls at you, but you guys still have some time so I am sending lots of positive energy for things to work out as you want them to!

Salt said...

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you that this all works out. It sounds like such an amazing trip. I've always wanted to visit both of those places.

Our honeymoon is combined in with our wedding trip. We arrive on the island on Tuesday the 23rd, get married that Saturday, then all the guests leave and we stay until the following Friday. It should work out perfectly. :) I can't remember the last time had a vacation that long, so I'm stoked. :) (And Mr. NEVER has!)

Anonymous said...

I hope everything works out.

My fiance lived in Australia for a semester in college and loved it. I want to go one day!

redwhitebride said...

i hope your plans work out!

we're heading to indonesia for HM too. will stay 2 weeks there and 1 week in singapore.

Em said...

Ohh I hope, I hope everything works out. Your honeymoon sounds amazing! I would hate for you and Mr. Fix It to not take this trip of a lifetime. I know this may not sound very PC, but are you expecting to get any money as wedding presents? You could always use some of that toward the honeymoon (ie, use a credit card and pay it off with wedding gift money.) I'm sure it will work out in the end somehow :) Sending good vibes your way!

Gaynor {Our Day by Design} said...

Sorry to hear about your money troubles, hope it sorts itself out so you can have the honeymoon you planned.

I have never been to Bali but have been to Oz. Brisbane is a lovely chilled city and there are so many nice places nearby so hope you get to go!

We are going to Sri Lanka for a week then the Maldives for a week.

little luxury list said...

Sorry to hear that Stacey and sending good vibes your way.

At the end, there will be unforeseen expenses and it's up to you to prioritize those expenses. When that happened to us, we thought, well it sucked to have random costs, but it's just money that can be made back.

We haven't taken our honeymoon yet because of all the moving around. We'll be in Asia again so Bali is definitely a strong contender as is Australia/New Zeland. So cool that Mr. Fix-it surfs!

Vanessa said...

I really hope it all works out! We live in England and will be heading off to San Francisco and Hawaii! It's a huge trip for us and we are blowing the budget. Yes, we could have been more careful but we're buying a house and will really have to be careful with money after that, so this is our last blowout treat!
Do keep us updated - your plans sounds amazing and I hope you get to go!

Mariposa said...

I hope everything works out for you both and that he gets some good jobs soon. I know how stressful not having work can be. I love the new plan and how cool is that; you got such a great deal on the airline tickets. I would love to go to either one of those places!!

Mrs T said...

Those airfares are a BARGAIN! And that honeymoon sounds amazing. Bali is insanely cheap - to stay, to eat, to shop. Oz can be a little pricey for hotels.

If you're having drama shoot me a message. Mr B is a travel agent and may be able to hook you up with hotels in both places. We stayed at some beautiful places in Bali that I am sure you would like. Let me know. We could work it out. He gets some great rates on hotels!

I know how stressful money stuff can be. We will be paying our wedding/honeymoon off for at least the next four months. Not fun!

honey my heart said...

sounds like such a wonderful plan :)

Katie said...

Wow - that trip sounds amazing! I am so amazed that so many ladies out here in blog land are taking extremely long honeymoons...how do you do it?!?! Ours is only scheduled to be 5 days...

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