Le Monde Entier [#604]
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Le Monde Entier [#604]

I’m fairly conflicted about where I want to spend my honeymoon. And may I preface this with no, I am not engaged. However, as a travel agent (and in a long-term relationship) who regularly plans holidays and honeymoons, I of course think about my own. It’s a complicated decision between beach haven, flop and drop, to the action/adventure accomplished kind of getaway. Our honeymoon really shouldn’t be any different from any other holiday we’ve taken together – apart from those lovely perks like champagne and chocolates on arrival and maybe a free transfer! – but there always seems to be a lot of pressure to make it so. Here are my top three honeymoon destinations for myself at the moment. Hopefully it will give some of you some inspiration as well!
Borneo
Borneo has always been at the top of my list for its one main attraction – the orangutans. It’s actually the third largest island in the world, the largest island in Asia and has one of the oldest rainforests. It is also made up of three countries – Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, with 76 per cent of it being classed Indonesian territory.
The rainforest is over 140 million years old, and this is where you can find the orangutan in one of its only natural habitats left.
There are also heaps of other amazing animals like the rhinoceros and Sumatran elephant, and a ridiculous amount of fish species. You can take tours to see the orangutans and places like Camp Leakey allow you to see them come in and eat every day.
One of the coolest things I found though was the stingless jelly fish lake, an incredible lake where millions of jelly fish who have lost their stingers migrate and move across eating algae every day – and you can buy passes to go swimming.
Alaska/Canada
I cannot wait to go and do the Rocky Mountaineer across Canada, but I would love to do it in the Gold Leaf class cabin, so waiting until the honeymoon is probably the only time I’ll be able to justify spending that kind of money! The Rocky Mountaineer is a stunning train ride you can take through Canada, with many different routes and pricing levels. You get 360 views in glass-domed cabins, stay some nights on board and some nights in hotel accommodation across the road, and have chefs of board to cook you all of your 5* meals (think eggs scrambled with smoked salmon, topped with kelp caviar and lemon chive crème fraîche for breakfast).
We’d then be able to go on and explore Alaska some more, which has always interested me with their natives, customs and cultures.
World touring
My third option would be a bit of a ‘Jennifer Hawkins’-style honeymoon, with a little bit of everything included. She started with the actual wedding in Bali (which I would skip), but went on to do Paris and the Maldives on the way home.
I would love to go and explore a new European country I’d never been to (maybe some sailing around Greece, or take a trip to Finland) and then come home by some beautiful exotic ‘overwater cabins’ kind of island for some relaxation and treating. The Maldives are incredibly stunning, as is Bora Bora.
Three very different honeymoon destinations, all of which I think I’ll eventually get to do – but with a baby on the way, I have a feeling child friendly is going to be a key element to every holiday, so being able to do something on our honeymoon that we wouldn’t be able to with baby in tow will be high on the priority list!
By Madelin Baldwin