Our Favorite Honeymoon Destinations

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One of the first things a bride or groom probably fantasizes about is the honeymoon, because where you stay is just about as important as celebrating those first special moments together.

Have you ever heard your friends tell you of a trip that went incredibly wrong, how their room wasn’t what they saw on the internet, or worse yet there was no beach at the resort? We’ve all heard nightmares about a vacation gone wrong and your honeymoon is certainly not the time for that to happen.

When my husband and I were planning our honeymoon with our local travel planner, we had a few things in mind.  My husband was in the military, so he had some travel abroad already under his belt. I had moved quite a bit around the states, so I was really looking for something outside the US.  We both liked to travel and we both decided we wanted a warm location.  For me, one of things was being able to see and do as much as possible in one trip and ultimately our planner steered us away from a single island stay to a Southern Caribbean cruise.  With my husband planning on going back to school, we knew it would be some time before we would get to travel again.  Her guidance was perfect and we visited 6 beautiful islands during our honeymoon.

Many things will all come into play when picking your ideal destination like: weather, time of year, your activity desires, your desire for culture, and your food desires.

The best way to make sure you pick the destination that matches your personality is to work with a travel planner.  To help you discover your perfect place, we’d like to share our top Incredible Favorite Honeymoon Escapes.


French Polynesia– More widely known as Tahiti or Bora Bora, which happen to be islands that make up French Polynesia. It’s best known for being the birth place of the Over Water Bungalows with incredible shades of blue waters.
Perfect year round destination
Can do a multi-island stay and build the experience
Choose to cruise the islands
Water lovers paradise
Enjoy Polynesian culture
Shop for pearls
Quiet evenings

Hawaii- A South Pacific destination, but part of the United States. Popular destination thanks to film and television industry using the lush islands in their backdrop. And of course, the famed Pearl Harbor.
Perfect year round destination
Can do a multi-island stay to visit the various island personalities
Choose to do a cruise; NCL’s Norwegian Pride is our favorite
Surfers paradise
Plenty of land, water, and air activities
Enjoy Polynesian culture
Night life on the island of Hawaii
No passport required

Mexico- Part of North America offering resorts both on its east and west coast lines. By far, the area from Cancun south, known as the Riviera Maya has been a favorite spot for couples looking for romance.
All-Inclusive resort options and traditional resort stays
Mayan culture
Nightlife
Cruises stop at several of the Mexican city ports
Now offers over-water bungalows at select resort
A variety of activities to explore land and water

St. Lucia- Located in the Caribbean, this island offers a look and feel in
landscape to Hawaii and the South Pacific with its ancient volcano and notable Piton Mountains.
Experience the Caribbean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean
Enjoy authentic culture
Choose All-Inclusive and Boutique properties
A variety of activities to explore land and water

Jamaica- Located in the Caribbean, this lush tropical island offers a variety of experiences depending on which part you choose to stay.
Great “no worry” Jamaican vibe
Nightlife
Water and land activities
All-Inclusive and Boutique options
Public and private beaches
Most cruise lines do stop at either Montego Bay or Ocho Rios

Costa Rica- Located in Central America and more for your adventurer than your beach goer, but has both to offer.
Lush landscape with rainforest, volcanoes, and interesting wildlife
Black sand beaches due to active volcano region
All-inclusive and boutique resort options
Perfect for the eco tourist
Coffee plantations

These are just some of our top favorite places for you to consider. There are so many to choose from and not every destination suits every couple. Working with a travel planner can help sort out the destination that will become your dream honeymoon.

 


Lisa Rossmeissl is the owner of Boomerang Escapes, a home-based agency located in Old Bridge, New Jersey with agents in TN, MS, and WI. 

She has been a professional travel consultant since 2008 and specializes in Australia and the South Pacific. Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, and Cook Islands are among the specialist certificates she holds.  Her agency’s focus is on creating custom itineraries with their client’s wants, desires, and budgets in mind.  She and her planners believe in getting to know the traveler to ensure they have a vacation to remember.  With each planner specializing in a different market area, Boomerang Escapes can offer a wide variety of leisure vacation planning.

Lisa RossmeisslOur Favorite Honeymoon Destinations
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My Top 3 Travel Thrills to Date

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Let me let you in on a little secret. One you might find hard to believe if you follow my social media. I’m a “scaredy cat.”  Yes, I know you may have seen me do some wild things, but the fact is I am terrified of the dark, heights, spiders, deep water, close spaces, and the list could go on. Seriously, I am the girl, now woman, who still doesn’t like to hang a body part over the edge of the bed. Just sayin’.  What’s so crazy, is that somehow or someway when I travel, I push beyond any fear I’ve ever had (at least up to this point).
I’ve been told many a time, “Oh, you don’t have to do it.”, yet when you have traveled so far for something that may be once in a lifetime, you some how manage to pull those “big girl panties” up high and go for it.  I’ve never regretted a single one of the things I’ve listed below. They were truly top thrills.

Travel is a transforming experience.  It is the perfect opportunity to step outside your comfort zone.  Here are my top 3 thrills to date. I’ve had many more experiences that have tested me, but these three really pushed past those initial limiting fears.  I am sure my list will keep growing as my travels continue.

Cliff Jumping in Mexico– I’ve listed this first because it was my first time truly letting go and stepping outside and doing something truly terrifying to me. We were on family vacation, the rest of the family had already jumped and were going up again. My oldest daughter, looked at me and said, “Mom, you’ve got to do it. You will only regret it if you let this opportunity pass you by.” So, with daughter’s words in my ears I made my way to the top of the cliff and took that leap of faith. I screamed a few of them on the way down too.  I had never felt my heart racing so hard, but once back in the water and moving on to other adventures that day I was truly exhilarated.

 

Swimming with Sharks in Tahiti-Ok, I grew up in the era of the move “Jaws”, need I say more. What I didn’t know the day we were going out was that we were actually going out ocean deep. I thought we were going to be standing in shallow water with them swimming about us, but no. It was a bit of a rocky day too with weather moving in for our swim. We arrived to where the shark were and the boat captain anchored. I immediately freaked out when I realized we’d be swimming in somewhat rough waters with the shark. Of course, they said I didn’t have to go, but off the boat I went giving my camera to someone else because I knew I could not take photos and swim with them at the same time. My nerves were wreck. I could hear the breathing in my head from the snorkel gear and there below me were the shark. All I could do once back on board the boat was grin from ear to ear. Again, I felt truly alive and I had accomplished tackling another fear.

Bungee Jumping in New Zealand-It was part of my son’s 18th birthday and high school graduation gift. He is a natural dare devil and high adventure seeker. Of course we had to include New Zealand in his itinerary as the country is well-known as being the adventure capital of the world.  Our jump took place off the Auckland Bridge in Auckland.  It was terrifying not only from the standpoint of climbing and heights, but of trusting the staff and equipment you’d be dangling from. And I must say, watching my son go over the edge was nearly as terrifying as my own jump.  I can say this was truly an act of love for me and what got me to push through the fears. For as frightening as it was, there was this moment in time where everything stopped. No sound, no movement, just pure blue waters below me. It was the most surreal feeling I’ve ever had. Though I doubt I’ll ever be able to get myself to jump again it was truly a moment I will never forget or regret. I think that moment could be what heaven might feel like.

I could share more stories of adventures on my travels that have push me limits, but these really capture the essence of what “living on the edge” is all about. What getting out of your comfort zone can do.   I encourage everyone to find some way to push themselves. It doesn’t have to be as drastic as the jump, but it should be something unexpected. Something that really challenges you. Trust me, you will have fun and you will grow!

 


Lisa Rossmeissl is the owner of Boomerang Escapes, a home-based agency located in Old Bridge, New Jersey with agents in TN, MS, and WI. 

She has been a professional travel consultant since 2008 and specializes in Australia and the South Pacific. Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, and Cook Islands are among the specialist certificates she holds.  Her agency’s focus is on creating custom itineraries with their client’s wants, desires, and budgets in mind.  She and her planners believe in getting to know the traveler to ensure they have a vacation to remember.  With each planner specializing in a different market area, Boomerang Escapes can offer a wide variety of leisure vacation planning.

Lisa RossmeisslMy Top 3 Travel Thrills to Date
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Don’t Skip the Insurance

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Speaking of Mother Nature. This past month we have seen exactly what Mother Nature can do and how unpredictable and destructive weather can be.  We had major areas of the South and the Caribbean devastated by Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Isaac. I found myself asking my clients more then ever, “do you want travel insurance”?  Are you someone who declines travel insurance?

Let me tell you why you should not decline the insurance.  For the small amount of extra money, it will cost to add insurance to coverage to your trip, you will find it is well worth its weight in gold.  We use and recommend at Boomerang Escapes, Travel Guard Insurance. My recommendation is the Travel Gold with the cancel for any reason add on. We find it to be the best comprehensive coverage for our clients and ourselves. If you add the policy on at the time of your down payment for the trip or within 14 days of said deposit, it also has a pre-existing clause.  I and the staff at the agency are not travel insurance agents, so I will not go into major details on coverages. However, I send you a quote directly from their website that provides you all the coverage details and I do give you the 800 number they provide, so you can speak with an insurance expert on the coverage specifics. They have a 24/7 line during travel as well, so no worries if the unexpected happens.

I have had people who have had to change their plans at the last minute and those who have opt’d to purchase the insurance have been very happy to have that peace of mind.  Should something happen the claims process is quite simple, and we are here to help you through it as well as the trained staff at Travel Guard. Travel Guard is not the only travel insurance provider available, along with their competitors, almost all the suppliers offer a version of insurance, but I have found in my experience that the coverage that is offered through the suppliers is no where as comprehensive as the coverage through Travel Guard.  With travel insurance you have peace of mind 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  You have worked hard to earn the time and save the money for you vacation, don’t let the unexpected ruin it.


Andrea Ward is an independent travel consultant of Boomerang Escapes, who is based in Wisconsin.

She has been planning vacation escapes for the company since 2013 and specializes in Caribbean Destinations. Her primary focus is on the all-inclusive vacation experience for adult or family getaways for individuals and small groups. Sandals and AMResorts are among the specialist certificates she holds.


Lisa Rossmeissl is the owner of Boomerang Escapes, a home-based agency located in Old Bridge, New Jersey with agents in TN, MS, and WI. 

She has been a professional travel consultant since 2008 and specializes in Australia and the South Pacific. Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, and Cook Islands are among the specialist certificates she holds.  Her agency’s focus is on creating custom itineraries with their client’s wants, desires, and budgets in mind.  She and her planners believe in getting to know the traveler to ensure they have a vacation to remember.  With each planner specializing in a different market area, Boomerang Escapes can offer a wide variety of leisure vacation planning.

Andrea WardDon’t Skip the Insurance
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Passport for Your Palate-Creamy Zucchini Soup

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South Australia is your one stop-destination for world-class wine, unbeatable gourmet food, spectacular natural scenery and unique wildlife. This summer, I was fortunate to visit Adelaide, South Australia’s capital and Australia’s best boutique city.  During my time there I was fortunate to be able to get out on a wine tour to explore the rolling hills and beautiful country side that surround it.
One of the stops along our trail was Longview Vineyard.  Longview is located just outside the historic township of Macclesfield and is a stunning family-owned Adelaide Hills single vineyard with the feel of an old world estate, but still clearly Australian.  It is located in am most beautiful setting giving you stunning views across the rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Perfect in winter or summer season, the estate is designed for events and boasts a new tasting room and eatery that I was more then willing to give a go.  Truly what is better than wine, food, and good friends to share it with.Luckily for us, the tour included lunch at this stop and my travel buddies and I are still talking about the food and wine we had that day. In particular, we can’t stop thinking about the absolutely delectable mouth-watering zucchini soup the cook made of us.  We were so taken with the soup, we had the host bring her out so as we might get the secrets to her incredible creamy soup that had no cream in it at all.

Since being back in the states, several of us have taken our hand at replicating the beautiful green liquid we were served.  Here is a culmination of our efforts in a recipe for you to try.  I am still tweaking myself and in this version, I’ve actually included a bit of broccoli.  I am told by my good travel agency owner friend, Amal, whose husband is a chef, that the secret lies in the sauté of the vegetables in a 2 to 1 ratio mix of butter to olive oil, with butter being half the ratio.  Give it a go and let me know what spin you put on it.

Creamy Zucchini Soup
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 large zucchini, chopped
1/2-1 cup broccoli florets, cut in small pieces (optional)
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth/stock
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Wash and prepare your vegetables.
Heat oil in large pot and sauté over a low to medium heat until the onion and garlic are translucent.
Add in the zucchini and broccoli; stir for a few minutes.
Add the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Season to taste.
Once cooked, use a stick blender and blend the soup to form a smooth texture.

Garnish with fresh shaved parmesan and basil infused olive oil. (optional)
Serve with a toasted crostini.

Makes about 4 servings.

Longview Vineyard is located along South Australia’s Epicurean Way. The Epicurean Way is a 4 day drive food and wine trip that seamlessly links together the four iconic wine regions of Mclaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Barossa, and Clare Valley. It is a perfect inclusion in an Australian itinerary for those who travel with their taste buds.


Lisa Rossmeissl is the owner of Boomerang Escapes, a home-based agency located in Old Bridge, New Jersey with agents in TN, MS, and WI. 

She has been a professional travel consultant since 2008 and specializes in Australia and the South Pacific. Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, and Cook Islands are among the specialist certificates she holds.  Her agency’s focus is on creating custom itineraries with their client’s wants, desires, and budgets in mind.  She and her planners believe in getting to know the traveler to ensure they have a vacation to remember.  With each planner specializing in a different market area, Boomerang Escapes can offer a wide variety of leisure vacation planning.

Lisa RossmeisslPassport for Your Palate-Creamy Zucchini Soup
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