"Very commonly the honeymoon takes the form of a trip. This affords a change in environment and removal from old associations. It has importance also in that it affords restful quiet. All this should be helpful in making memorable and pleasant the important transition from courtship to marriage, from the exciting or hectic anteroom to the deeper and more real joys of married life."



The honeymoon trip, so much a part of today's marriage, is of fairly recent origin. In planning such a trip, newlyweds should keep in mind that they are beginning a long journey through life together. A honeymoon, therefore, is no time for strenuous traveling and sight-seeing, especially if the time at their disposal is short. It should be long enough to escape the horseplay of their friends and short enough so that they will not become bored with each other. Because of the strain and tension during the days preceding their wedding, newlyweds should seek a place of rest and quiet. Getting off on the right foot in marriage is important.

In making honeymoon plans, the couple should not only eliminate fatiguing sight-seeing, they should face up squarely to the problem of finances. To avoid financial difficulties, it is well for them to form a budget at the outset. Overspending on a honeymoon is no way to start a marriage.

Making use of the matter of the sacrament and the contract of marriage also has its problems. Newlyweds will have no difficulty here if they remember that sex adjustment takes time, patience, respect, and consideration for the other person's feelings and attitudes. Haste, lack of the most tender consideration, ignorance of each other's sex nature, and an absence of complete trust in each other can shatter the happiness of the honeymoon, if not the happiness of marriage itself. That is why it is all important for those about to marry to consult an intelligent Catholic doctor and priest to learn the positive side of chastity in marriage.

In planning a honeymoon trip, newlyweds should keep in mind that they are beginning a long Journey through life together.

Some newlyweds spend their honeymoon in the privacy and comfort of their own apartment or home. They do this to eliminate the problems of fatigue and finances that so frequently take their toll of those beginning married life. There is something to say for this type of honeymoon. Providing adequate privacy is assured, money the couple save which otherwise would have been spent on traveling and hotel accommodations can now be spent on home or apartment furnishings. It has frequently happened that honeymooners have returned home only to wish that they had not made such an expensive wedding trip. Before embarking on the road of life together, a smart couple should weigh well both types of honeymoon.