We bought our first home a few months after finding out we were expecting, so when it came time to think about a babymoon, we were knee-deep in house expenses. We wanted to get away together one last time before becoming parents, but money was tight. We decided we could afford a babymoon, but only if we stuck to budget, so we babymooned on Hilton Head Island (HHI). We had a wonderful time! Here were some of the things we considered that helped make our trip a success:

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BEFORE YOU GO:

– Consider travel cost and distance. Although flying would have widened our choices considerably, we decided to drive to our destination as a way to cut costs and because of our (probably irrational) anxiety about international travel during pregnancy. We wanted to spend a minimal amount of time on the road. We decided that 400 miles one-way was our maximum, then used the Free Map Tools website to figure out how far we could get.

– Mood. Decide what sort of mood you want your destination to encourage. We wanted a relaxing break in a lovely environment; we didn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of wacky college students partying on the beach (we did plenty of that in our former lives!). Our objective was to find somewhere between party central and family-friendly snoozeville; a place with good restaurants, not all of them with a Jimmy Buffett cover band playing in the background or puzzles on the backs of the menus.  At the same time I was quite pregnant! I couldn’t drink alcohol or fit into a slinky cocktail dress. I wanted a place where I would not feel out of place sporting a baby bump and sipping a non-alcoholic daiquiri.  And of course, the place we settled on needed a variety of activities and restaurants that fit our strict budget.

– Type of Lodging. We usually rent a condo when we go to the beach with family and friends.  But I didn’t want to spend precious babymoon time doing dishes or washing towels; I was to the point in pregnancy where those sorts of chores were miserable. We also figured that on future vacations we would be limited to condos. So we decided on a hotel.  We got a room for a steal on Hotwire.  Although Hotwire didn’t display the hotel name on the listings, we were able to use Better Bidding to figure out which ones they were offering.

– Ensure your comfort.  By the time we took our babymoon I needed four pillows to sleep! Remember pregnancy-related creature comforts when you select your location.  We chose a hotel that was close to the center of town so that we could walk everywhere and ditch our car for the week; it was definitely a highlight of our trip. But if I had been further along in my pregnancy I might not have been so mobile!

ONCE YOU’RE THERE:

– Don’t be limited by your budget.  Your budget will not determine how fun, interesting, or relaxing your babymoon will be.  If you are flexible and clever you can find fun and memorable alternatives to the usual expensive vacation activities. I signed up for the HHI Groupon mailing list a few weeks before our trip just in case anything useful popped up.  We made a list of highly-rated, budget-friendly restaurants to try before we left; most of them were more of the “charming bistro” or “quirky hole-in-the-wall” variety than swank, but all exceeded our expectations.  We couldn’t eat like royalty all week long; we usually spent on one meal and saved for the others.  On days when we splurged on brunch or lunch (PLEASE don’t wake up in time for breakfast on your babymoon!), we got creative for dinner.  One night I packed a picnic and another evening we picked up cheap takeout and brought it to the beach. The sun was setting over the ocean and the beach was empty; all the other vacationers were out to dinner. We enjoyed the best table-side view on the island!

– Do stuff you won’t do with kids.  We got up every morning, grabbed coffee at a seaside cafe, and took a long stroll down the shore. We spent every afternoon playing freestyle beach bocce ball. We did simple, inexpensive things that are much harder to accomplish with baby in tow. Loaf around beachy stores. Eat dinner at the bar instead of waiting for a table.  Go to a gallery and stare at a painting for twenty straight minutes.

– Make sure to avoid preggo-unfriendly places. The only mistake we made the whole trip was ending up at a bar geared toward college students.   From the outside it looked like a perfectly normal tavern, but inside was a frat party! I felt a little awkward, so after a round of drinks (er, make mine a virgin!), we headed out.

– Have a back-up-plan for bad weather. We made a list before we left and raided the lobby for brochures and travel guides once we got there.  When it rained on our first morning we already had a list of the ten best island brunch spots at our fingertips (thanks, smartphone!). Don’t waste precious time looking for something to do when bad weather inevitably hits!

– Do something spontaneous. Spontaneity goes out the window once you have kidlets. Take advantage of your flexibility while you still have it! On a particularly hot, hazy day we drove to nearby Savannah for an afternoon; it was definitely the highlight of our vacation!

Did you take a babymoon? How did you budget for it? Would you have done anything differently if you could do it all over again?