Our honeymoon is almost here!!!!!!!!!!!

(My apologies for all of the exclamation points, but I just can't help myself.)

Lu and I approach traveling in different ways. True to our personality types, Lu gets more excited about the "vision" of a vacation -- lazing on the beach, hiking through parks, sipping fruity drinks. Meanwhile, I can't relax until there's some sort of plan in place. I'm fine with being spontaneous and flexible, but I believe that a little research up front can help you make the most of your time and money.

In fact, a few years ago, before our first big vacation, we got into a pretty heated argument about planning. We were getting organized for a trip to Mexico, and Lu wanted to help. I said something like, "Don't worry about it, babe. I've done all the work anyway. It's easier if I handle this part, too."

This totally offended Lu because, in his mind, he had helped. I pointed out that all he had done was said that he wanted to go somewhere warm with a beach, and he took the week of our vacation off from work. He said, "Exactly! So don't act like I haven't done anything."

All of the planners reading this can see how this conversation quickly went downhill!

I told him about all of the research I'd done on various countries, the best resorts, reading reviews, comparing prices, searching for flights, arranging shuttles, booking and negotiating tours, checking out health/travel/safety issues, and even buying all of our little travel-sized items. He responded that I hadn't included him in anything. I came back with examples of when he was too busy or uninterested to be bothered with the "small stuff."

Back and forth we went until he admitted that he'd never planned a big trip on his own, and he didn't know the best way to help. I conceded that I had charged full speed ahead, and I should have been more patient with him along the way.

Since then, Lu has learned how to TripAdvisor and BookIt with the best of 'em. We're more equal when it comes to choosing a destination, hotels, and planning tours. I still have to nudge him a little when it's time to make final decisions, but he has a greater input overall.

One area that's still "mine" is the details. We're staying at boutique hotels during Costa Rica's high travel season, so we made our honeymoon reservations several months ago. Since then, we've figured out details -- transportation, tours, vaccinations, packing, etc.

Over the weekend, I put all of the details in one place. More specifically, I created an itinerary with dates, times, locations, and contact information for every part of our trip. I also printed out a coupon for parking at the airport, confirmations for all of our stops, credit card receipts for everything pre-paid, copies of our passports/credit cards/IDs, and a list of backup drivers and transportation services.

I also called our credit card companies and banks to let them know that we'd be out of the country, put my rings in our safe-deposit box at the bank (don't want to risk them falling off in the ocean or jungle), taken out the appropriate amount of cash -- small bills only, and packed Maggie's bag for the kennel.

I am as ready as I can get.

Some people think this is way too much. They'd argue that I'll never need half of the stuff I have, and all of this preparation takes the "fun" out of the vacation. For me, it actually helps to put my mind at ease. After all, anything could happen.

While I can't exactly plan ahead for "anything," my motto is to expect the best but prepare for the worst. A driver might not show up on time -- or at all. We could accidentally leave our cash in a safe, or a monkey could steal our passport (true story). I'd rather spend a few hours putting a back up plan in place than wasting a few days trying to figure out what to do to fix a relatively simple situation.