Create married cards...

As you and your honey travel round the world you'll be meeting new friends and creating international friendships. Chances are that some of these couples will remain lifelong pals. Instead of exchanging e-mail addresses on bits of paper or handing out business cards, why not design a travel card that typifies the two of you? Include your telephone number, e-mail addresses and the city/country you live in. (Exact address can be exchanged later on in the relationship when you know each other better). Add some funky graphics and anything else you feel represents the two of you and Journeywoman guarantees they'll be a great hit.

Start an "Our Home Shopping Notebook"...

As you travel round the world you will be enticed by a cornucopia of shopping opportunities -- an international bazaar of fabulous items that you might want to bring back home. To do this properly, Journeywoman suggests that you begin a notebook containing all the info and data the two of you will need to make wise purchases for your living space. Note the dimensions of the rooms in your home, the size of your bed and your dining room table, include color samples of walls, swatches of material already being used in your home, etc. Now as you travel through rural India you can buy a wonderful hand-embroidered tablecloth or a small exquisite carpet in Turkey without worrying about whether it will fit or be suitable. Pack a tape measure, too, and you're just about ready for savvy honeymoon shopping. P.S. To educate yourself further about shopping around the world, check out an interesting and helpful new website called: http://www.ishoparoundtheworld.com/ We also recommend another article at the Journeywoman website called: Don't Shop Until You Drop for shopping tips worldwide.

Begin a collection with your sweetie...

As single travellers both you and your fiancee probably had rituals of your own as you travelled. Perhaps, for you, it meant seeking out cookbooks along the way; for him it was collecting antique toys. While those rituals shouldn't necessarily stop, it's great fun to begin an "our's" collection as well. It adds spice and another dimension to your travels together. I know one couple who collects black and white photography for their home whenever they journey, another gathers tiny but very ornate boxes and yet another duo (with a great sense of humour), saves the airsickness bags from each airline that they fly with.

Capture your experiences in photos...

Take pictures! If you are a photography aficionado, you don't need this prompting. However, there are many couples who insist that they don't want to experience their honeymoon via a camera lens. Journeywoman can't argue with that but we suggest you take at least "one roll of film in a throw-away camera" on this special trip. This way you're not preoccupied with getting the perfect shot, you don't have to worry about carrying heavy photography equipment or becoming the target of thieves who want your camera. Instead you will have a small, manageable pictorial record of this very special journey. Trust me, it will come in handy when your children or grandchildren require "show and tell " items for school. And around your 25th Anniversary when nostalgia kicks in, don't be surprised if you take out the old honeymoon photos and have a wonderful night of reminiscing.

Happy honeymooning everybody!

International words on marriage...

Even a good marriage is a time of trial.
Russian

Marriage like cooking calls for forethought.
Greek

Marriages are made in heaven.
English

Marriages are not as they are made but as they turn out.
English

Marriage without faith is like a teapot without a tray.
Moroccan

More belongs to marriage than four bare legs in bed.
English

Marry and grow tame.
Spanish

Always say no and you will never be married.
French