Keeping a Honeymoon Journal

On our honeymoon, I kept a journal of our experiences. Each day I’d write about what we did and saw. I included names of restaurants, beaches and parks and I described people we met while we were out. I tried to put as much detail into each entry so that when we read them back we’d remember the little things that might normally be forgotten. The journal isn’t anything fancy—it’s actually only a word document on the laptop we traveled with. But I’m so glad that I kept it. I found the journal a few days ago while I was searching for something else and really enjoyed reading it back. I hadn’t forgotten much about our trip, but having such detailed accounts of our days really helped bring our vacation back to life. And on a chilly, errr freezing cold December day, it was exactly the escape I needed. Here’s an excerpt from the day we took surfing lessons in Maui.

“Today was our honeymoon special surfing lesson. I was a little nervous, but mostly excited. Keith told me the lesson came with champagne, so how hard could this be? We started out with a great breakfast at Longhi’s. It was a pretty, black and white café right on the water. Keith had delicious mac-nut pancakes and I had a quiche. It was the fuel we needed to surf!

So we arrived at the spot, which was literally a dirt road off a somewhat major highway. Hmm. We applied SPF 30 while we waited for a sign or something. I wasn’t sure. Eventually a woman pulled over, she was the photographer. (What?!) She handed us a bottle of champagne. It was warm and we had no glasses—guess we’re drinking it after! Then she led us down to the beach to meet our instructor, Sharkie. When I heard Sharkie would be teaching us to surf I imagined a typical Hawaiian “dude” Who said things like, “Cowabunga” and used the word “knarly” to describe everything. I was wrong. Sharkie looked like a surfer, he was pretty mellow and relaxed with long salty blond hair. But he didn’t say, “Cowabunga.” Oh well. We asked Sharkie right away, what makes a good surfer. I thought he’d say balance (check), agility (check) and flexibility (check). He said patience and acceptance. Maybe we won’t be so great at this. Sharkie took about 10 minutes to teach us all the moves on the beach. Most were similar to yoga, which I kind of know how to do. Then we hit the waves, or the small ripples in the water that were passing for waves that day. (See photo above.) That’s where Sharkie says acceptance comes in. We were going to give it a try after all, so acceptance (check).

We paddled around a little and chatted with the Shark Man. Then all of the sudden, he’d be like, “go, now, paddle!” and I’d paddle, but I wouldn’t get anywhere and then I’d feel the wave take me, but it was really Sharkie pushing me into the wave. And then I’d practice my yoga move stand up technique, and I was surfing. Keith was really good, he has a nice wide stand that impressed Sharkie. We both got up on our first try and I’m pretty sure we both fell on our second. After the third we were feeling pretty good, but the waves had died out.”

See that. Not only did I give you an awesome tip for your Honeymoon, I also gave you a rad little surfing lesson, too! Now you’re more than prepared for your next beach vacation with your honey.

Has anyone every kept a log or journal from one of their vacations? Will you try it on your next trip?