Unconventional Honeymoons

A Couple’s Guide To Getaways From The Everyday

by Rebecca Wild Nelson, December 27, 2006

So you’re getting married in the Hudson Valley. Venturing a guess, this probably means that you have questioned the use of the word “marriage” altogether, considering instead words like “union,” “partnership,” or the ever-intimate “team.” You might have planned a cozy ceremony in a monastery, a Quaker meeting house, or with a local mayor making a nationwide political statement. But after your organic reception, potluck talking circle, or macrobiotic food fight, you may feel that those EuroDisney tickets suddenly don’t seem as fitting for your honeymoon as you had expected. Don’t worry. This unconventional honeymoon guide steers clear of Club Med, Six Flags, and the Europe of snow-globe Eiffel Towers and Mona Lisa tote bags, instead offering romantic ideas as unconventional as you and your teammate are. Sitting in a Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G You may at first be disappointed to know that although the tree forts at the Hostel in the Forest in coastal Georgia are built alongside the upper branches of trees; they do not actually sit in the trees like they would in your Swiss Family Robinson dream. But the Hostel in the Forest tends to break most expectations. Community dinners, open campfires, a pond to canoe on, a labyrinth, a swimming hole complete with a rope swing, endless paths to wander on, a community garden, a meditation center, and a library full of great books are some of the things the Hostel in the Forest offers. The focus at the hostel is not on profit but on self-knowledge, community, environmental consciousness, and education toward nature-based living. Dinners begin with all current members of the hostel holding hands and sharing a few words of thanks or an observation they had during their days. Couples visiting the hostel often stay in a special tree-fort honeymoon suite. Book the suite comfortably in advance, as the hostel caps the number of guests admitted in order to keep its woods both intimate and peaceful. (912) 264-9738; www.foresthostel.com. Volunteer Vacations It has become increasingly uncommon to look at traveling as an opportunity to give back to, as well as to learn about, another place. Volunteer work is an unexpected adventure to choose for a honeymoon, whether you want to offset some of the flagrant consumption you may have done during your wedding or want to avoid the role of a tourist, instead immersing yourself deeply in another culture with your partner. Speak to some people who have worked in New Orleans to get an idea of its volunteer culture. The city, although facing corruption and tragedy, has been filled with forward-thinking politics since Katrina and Rita. The activism, anti-racist action, permaculture gardens and farming, sustainable housing, and energy development point to enormous potential for the creation of revolutionary urban planning. Habitat for Humanity is working on building a musician’s village in which 81 Habitat-built homes will be made for displaced New Orleans musicians. Common Ground, one of the first organizations present in the relief effort, works on social empowerment issues as well as home-gutting and restoration. Volunteering can bring you to a deeper experience of almost any foreign country that you want to travel to, as well. United Planet specializes in volunteer work internationally, and runs shorter programs that run 1–12 weeks, with several choices on every continent. www.habitat-nola.org; www.commongroundrelief.org; www.unitedplanet.org.