After another amazing year had drawn to a close, I pondered the ways that I could start 2014 on high note. My wife was officially at the half-way point in her law school career and we both felt that we needed to get away from the city for a while to decompress and relax. Given our desire to avoid anything crowded and our need for serenity, there was only one place to go; Big Bend National Park! Neither of us had been to Big Bend before so we didn't know exactly what to expect but everything and everyone described it as one of the most remote and peaceful environments in the world. A massive...

Early on in the planning stages of our nuptials, Sarah and I agreed that she would be primarily in charge of the wedding day and that I would have complete creative control over the honeymoon. I certaintly had no quarrels with this arrangement and quickly found myself scouring the web, seeking out the perfect destination for our newlywed retreat. The options seemed limitless and ranged from private huts over the tropical waters of Bora Bora to romantic evenings in the streets of Paris, but everything seemed to be pointing to one place: Hawaii! Having never been to Hawaii before,...