Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world. Amsterdam was already on the top of my travel list because I wanted to visit the Anne Frank House  and see  the famous tulips . Unfortunately, the tulips only bloom for approximately 8 weeks in the spring, and I missed them the first time I visited by a few weeks, but I made it back the following year in time!

In 2017, I visited Europe for the very first time. Because it was my first time in Europe and I didn't know the next time I'd be back, I decided to make the most of it by staying for 2 weeks:  1 week in Portugal with two of my girlfriends, then meeting up with my then-boyfriend (now husband!) for a 2nd week in London, Rome, and Paris.  I joke that the 2nd week was such a stereotypical basic girl Eurotrip itinerary -- but I thought they'd be a good intro for my first time to Europe, and I'm so glad I visited all of them!  Seeing the Eiffel Tower was a magical experience, and I loved all of the food -- escargots, bread, champagne, cheese, chocolate. I also appreciated the opportunity to take day trips, especially to Normandy. And my boyfriend loved Paris so much that less than a year later, he proposed in front of the Eiffel Tower. :-) 

For my very first trip to Mexico, we booked 5 nights at the all-inclusive resort Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya . Some of our good friends have been to this resort several times now and were heading back for another trip, so we decided to join them -- and I'm so glad we did! Since we didn't leave the resort except for our scuba-diving trip, this travel recap will serve mostly as a review of the  Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya . Overall, I highly recommend it -- and I can see now why our friends, and so many others, continue to return to the resort! 

Auckland is in the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) of New Zealand, and not only is it charming in its own right, there are so many amazing day trips you can take in pretty much every direction. Auckland was our final stop on our honeymoon, but I could have happily sent my whole honeymoon here. Warning... I thought Queenstown would remain my most photo-heavy post, but Auckland tops it because of all of my Hobbiton photos! :-) So sorry in advance for a photo-heavy post! 

Queenstown is, hands down, one of the most incredible places I have ever been in my life. My husband semi-seriously asks me on a weekly basis if we can move there. This is by far my heaviest photo post so far, and I had to force myself not to include even more photos. I couldn't believe how stunning it was! 

Sydney was the third and final destination of our honeymoon in Australia. I wasn't expecting to love the city so much, but Sydney ended up being my favorite part of our time in Australia! 

Just one of the things Australia is famous for is the Great Barrier Reef, so we knew we couldn't miss an opportunity to see it! We considered this the "beach" portion of our honeymoon, as it was the warmest location and our resort was across the street from the beach.  We flew from Melbourne to Cairns, and it was a very easy trip (about 3.5 hours). It was the second of our three stops in Australia, and it was so relaxing that when it was time to leave, we almost considered canceling our next portion (in Sydney) and staying! 

When my then-fiancé and I were trying to decide upon a honeymoon destination, we knew our honeymoon would likely be the longest vacation we'd ever take, so we wanted to take advantage of that when it came to travel time. That's why we chose Australia and New Zealand, since a day of travel both ways wouldn't cut too  much into it. And it helped that our honeymoon was in January, which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere! So we booked our first flight to  Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria and a foodie city with lots of street art and options for several easy nearby day trips.