Written by: Brenna

As most of you know, I’ve been pretty MIA due to the fact that I was riding the fast train to #marriagetown, but I’m back and ready to give y’all the scoop! Today, I want to fill you in on some things I wish I would have remembered for our honeymoon and some things I learned on our honeymoon. I made the mistake of packing the day before we left and didn’t make a list… Which is totally not me at all, but I was still all in the wedding clouds.

Make a packing list

The R&R girls are all about making lists. We have lists about lists. It’s a little weird but it keeps us in line. I think it’s important to lay out what you’re going to pack on paper so you can have a visual of what you’ll need for each day. I like to organize it by the day. Here’s one for you to use on your next trip.

Click the picture and save for future use! Don’t you just love a good template to keep you organized?

Don’t over pack

You’ve probably heard this a million times, but here we are again and you’re probably like “okay maybe these people are right”. If you’re going to a tropical resort, chances are you’ll be at the pool or beach most of your days and there’s no need to pack a bunch of outfits other than what you’ll wear to dinner. You need plenty of bikinis and one or two cover ups for the day. JT and I were gone for five days and went out to dinner three of those nights. The other two, we ordered in because we were tired or it was raining. Plus, if you don’t over pack that means there’s more room in your suitcase to stuff seashells, sea glass, sand and other trinkets you find!

Here are some of my findings from one of our walks on the beach!

Make sure to get the proper currency

I didn’t think about getting Pesos from my bank before we left so I did it at the airport when we made it to Mexico. If you didn’t already know, that’s a horrible idea because the rate at the sketchy airport currency exchange is a total rip off. So let my mistake help you out so you’re not getting 14.50 pesos for 1.00 dollar instead of 19.00 pesos for a dang dollar. I KNOW. It’s highway robbery. Luckily, we stayed at an all inclusive resort and really only wanted the money so we could use it for tips. However, I will be more prepared for our next trip.

Venture out and meet people

Unless you’re traveling with friends, I highly recommend visiting with the people you keep seeing at the bar or pool every day. We met some really cool people this past week and laughed a lot more than we would have if we didn’t meet them. Our favorite couple was from British Columbia who had been married for almost twenty years and offered up some solid advice and good stories. They also had been to the resort before and gave us good tips and tricks about getting the most out of our stay. Things we would have never known otherwise. Plus, now we are Facebook friends and I will 100% be reaching out to them whenever we start to plan our trip to Canada. I’m pretty extroverted though, so if you’re like “Hell no I’m not sticking myself out there”, my advice would be to just people watch and listen from afar. Something I also did and highly suggest.

Splurge a little and do some excursions

You just got married! You’re on a once in a lifetime honeymoon! Dip into your “Fun Fund” and live a little! You won’t regret it. JT and I agreed on parasailing and swimming with dolphins which was literally the coolest thing I’ve done in very long time. It’s not every day you get to do these things, unless you’ve won the lottery and don’t have to work for the man anymore. Let’s be real though if you did, you probably wouldn’t be reading our post grad loser blog. Unless you did and you just really like us. Which is also cool too.

Don’t plan out every single day

You just spent many months planning out an entire wedding, the last thing you want to plan is a week crammed packed with activities! Sure pick a day or two for excursions or activities around the resort, but also keep a few days open for sleeping in, poolside naps and eating all the snacks. This is your time to recharge and be with your honey!

Download a book… or two

I made sure to download two books so I wouldn’t get bored while laying in the sun and I’m so glad I did! My choices were, Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton and Something in The Water by Catherine Steadman. I read both by the pool and I recommend Something in The Water. If that’s not your deal then maybe consider packing a deck of cards or be prepared to take all the naps.

Aloe is your friend

So don’t be like me and forget to pack it for your poor husband who’s bald and wears a hat every single day. Luckily, there were aloe plants all over the resort so I found one and broke off a piece for poor JT’s burned noggin! They definitely had bottles of it at the resort gift shop but there was no need to buy it when I knew there were plants everywhere. Live off the land a little.

So there you have it! A little of what I learned from our Honeymoon! Did I forget anything? If you think so, let me know in the comments for others to learn from! I will be back soon with a Wedding Recap! Thanks for sticking with us! Did you know we are almost a year into our blogging shenanigans?