Babymoon over New Years

vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 08:37

Hello folks,

I have for you a first world problem. Mrs Vietbargain is pregnant (yay) and is now hell-bent on the idea of a "babymoon" (I know right? Who would come up with such a ridiculous thing).

Anyways, we have ~two weeks to travel around xmas/new years, she'll be about 28-28 weeks pregnant by then.

Some destinations we have tossed up:
- Singapore: clean and we've never been. It's a contender
- Hawaii: we were there 12 months ago though, would be doing lots of shopping and beaches (but I'd rather goto Bondi)
- Malaysia: cheaper alternative, also never been
- Japan: been to Tokyo only, but might be cold? Mrs Vietbargain won't be able to goto spas/onsens though
- Maldives: have considered, but I'll need a new mortgage
- Fiji, Vanuatu, Hamilton: fine for beaches but no thanks! Looking for something less "pedestrian" if you get my gist

Here are our preferences:
- no zika risk
- fly up to 12 hours
- instagrammable

Now I turn the ozbargain community for advice: where do we go?

Travel

Comments

  • BargainCowboy on 28/09/2017 - 08:55
    +1

    Singapore is amazing, but how many days do you wish to spend there? It's suitable for up to a week I would say, but not much more than that. Have you been to HKG? It's pedestrian enough I would say, but also has some beautiful beaches. Cheap, short flights, cheap food and transportation. Only accommodation is on the expensive side, but nothing compared to Hawaii or Japan.

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 09:39

      We have about 12 days to play with. Even if it's 7 days that's fine too, we just want to get out of town

      HK, yes we've been a few years ago, but that is also an option. Cheers!

  • John Kimble on 28/09/2017 - 09:01
    +1

    Congrats! Our baby moon was a weekend in Mittagong for calmbirth :/

    I would go Singapore or Malaysia out of those options.

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 09:39
      +1

      Cheers. We love the southern highlands. Bowral is a favourite

      • John Kimble on 28/09/2017 - 09:51
        +1

        Highly recommend calmbirth actually. Should get some money back from private health insurance too, but check first.

  • altomic on 28/09/2017 - 09:02
    +1

    congratulations.

    be aware that some countries may not allow Mrs Vietbargain into the country that far along.

    when Mrs Altomic and I returned from living in Japan 12 years ago, and she was in a similar condition, we couldn't stop over in Malaysia due to her pregnancy (may have changed since then)

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 09:40

      Did not think about this, but will definitely check

  • Heybargain on 28/09/2017 - 09:41

    We went to Seoul for ours. We had a choice to go to Malaysia at the time but figured zika wasn’t worth it at the time.
    Tokyo won’t be extremely cold, but she’ll be warm anyway with the bub.
    Also not sure if you’re concerned about eating street food while she’s pregnant but that might eliminate a few options.

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 10:01
      +2

      Dang… I could have street food for the both of us right?

      Considered South Korea, but was slight concerned about rocket man up north

  • stratbargain on 28/09/2017 - 09:49
    +5

    "Instagramable"… sigh

    Why not take the $5,000+ you would spend on a week or two away during the peak period and stick it in a term deposit for your kid and give it to them when they turn 18…

    You could post pictures of the term deposit balance on facebook/insta over the next few years for extended likes from your friends…

    EDIT: I should note, I'm kind of joking

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 09:55

      Haha yeah term deposit or just leave the $$$ in the offset to be more tax beneficial?

      Take Instagram comment with a grain of salt, as much as I would love to save the hard earned cash, it will be our last big holiday with just the two of us for the foreseeable future. #yolo right?

      • stratbargain on 28/09/2017 - 10:16

        :)

        I'm sure I'll be reminded of my post when we have our first and my wife starts carrying on about how all of our friends have been on babymoons and we have to do it too.

        Best of luck!

  • Archi on 28/09/2017 - 10:19

    i would check with some airlines.. they don't allow you to fly that far into the pregnancy, and if they do there is a indemnity waver that you sign before boarding…

    i would consider the food you are able to eat as well and the temperature…

    japan will be cold having a suitable clothing might be a challenge for the pregnant wife. lots of raw food and cooked options… but if your wife like the raw food and cant eat any of it its a big temptation.

    SE asia will be great but it would be pretty hot and sweaty for the pregnant wife. and one of the draws of SE asia is the hawker and food stalls. if you are strict on food option… the cleanliness of the food you may well need to consider…

    out of all your choices,,,

    Singapore or Hawaii, i think are the best options.

    we went Malaysia, specifically kota kinabalu and KL for our first baby moon… 4.5 years ago.
    and we went to LA and vegas for the babymoon 2 years ago.

  • Halo375 on 28/09/2017 - 11:07
    +1

    You can travel at 28 weeks but your airline will ask for a doctor's note every time you approach the aircraft. Note if there is any reciprocal health care agreement with each country - if something went wrong and your baby was born prematurely you could be saddled with a huge amount of debt. Travel insurance doesn't really cover a lot in relation to pregnancy and will cost you quite a bit. At 28 weeks your wife will be starting to get quite tired - walking and physical activities will be a bit of a struggle for her.

    I'd stay at home and celebrate somewhere locally - my experience? Wife was 26 weeks pregnant when we spent 3 weeks in Europe two months ago. It is incredibly stressful travelling with someone heavily pregnant.

  • Thiefsie on 28/09/2017 - 11:09
    +1

    Stay out of KL/Malaysia. It's a pretty dirty place that wouldn't be great for Pregnancy. Can't guarantee food.
    Singapore is pretty great, but you'll get bored after a week.
    Hawaii don't know.
    Japan, excellent. That would be my pick. Lots of raw fish, otherwise vege options up the wazoo.
    Maldives, not worth the cost.
    Fiji, Vanuatu, etc. Boring, same as any resort, maybe can't guarantee the food.

    We decided to save money, and in hindsight (currently at 36 weeks), your mama isn't wanting to do much from about 26-30 weeks onwards, let alone fly.
    Local would be the way I'd go if I had time.

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 14:07

      First of all, congrats!

      Leaning towards Japan now, especially after the article that @john kimble posted too

    • John Kimble on 28/09/2017 - 14:12

      Raw fish isn't advised for pregnant women here in Australia, I thought?

      Probably different in Japan?

      • Thiefsie on 28/09/2017 - 14:35

        Yeh I meant to watch out for it as so much of their diet is based on it, but otherwise they have great vegetable options.

  • boomramada on 28/09/2017 - 11:23

    Stay away from overseas travel.
    Pregnancy consists of lots of uncertain variables, you don't want to add extra.

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 13:12

      Haha, just saw this on smh

  • Love a bargain on 28/09/2017 - 13:39

    Wherever you go, make sure you're covered by reciprocal medical arrangement or travel insurance with sufficient pregnancy related health cover (if such thing exists). You don't want to become one of those people who rack up a huge medical bill while holidaying overseas and have to crowd fund their hospital bill.

    https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/medica…

    Have you considered NZ?

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 13:44

      Was just in south island for a week in for the snow! NZ was great, but not on the cards!

      Thanks, great tip. Will definitely looks into insurances!

  • Ryanek on 28/09/2017 - 14:15

    We did South Islands in New Zealand! I wanted to go to a place that would not stress the pregnant wife.

  • tsunamisurfer on 28/09/2017 - 15:35
    +1

    Please be careful as some travel insurance policies will not cover pregnancies.

    Read PDS's carefully.

  • Dont Care on 28/09/2017 - 18:37
    +1

    You would be nuts to want to travel with a pregnant wife 30 weeks into a pregnancy. What the hell do you hope to achieve from this

    • pyramid on 28/09/2017 - 18:38

      One more baby ?

      • John Kimble on 28/09/2017 - 18:44
        +2

        Unless it's with another woman, that's impossible, champ.

    • vietbargain on 28/09/2017 - 22:28

      Happy wife happy life

  • brissg on 29/09/2017 - 08:26
    +2

    I had flown to SE when I was 28-week pregnant and totally not recommend it.
    First, I had to push my medical appointments to 2 week earlier to get all the blood tests and other tests required around 27-28 week time, and had to run around in 2 short days to arrange for Diabetic Kits because I found out I had Gestational Diabetes, which is quite common than you thought. Better check with your obstetrician NOW before planning anything.
    Second, 9 hours flight is a piece of cake for anyone but a heavily pregnant woman, cramped feet, continuous need going to the loo… unless you travel in business class.
    Last, food hygiene would be a big issue. It would be a torture for the mother-to-be to be continuously exposed to temptation but wouldn't dare to risk the health of your unborn child.
    In short, a long flight holiday might or might not be an ideal holiday for your situation, but go somewhere cool and quiet would benefit your Mrs a lot, especially in the crazy hot weather during Xmas time. Thinking back, I would love my husband to death if he arranged something as a cruise or an all-inclusive resort where I would have plenty of rest time, multichoice of food, and most important, don't have to think about cooking, cleaning, washing… On the other hand, if this is your first child, your Mrs and yourself would be so excited and will become shopaholic for your baby. Think of a good shopping destination with similar style and standard to Australia's.
    Anyway, congratulations and enjoy your coming fatherhood!

    • vietbargain on 29/09/2017 - 08:37

      Thanks for you reply! This is great for the uneducated.

      Our obstetrician has mentioned at the moment since she hasn't seen any red flags that we're OK to fly up to 32 weeks. Apart from the standard earlier pregnancy tests, we haven't done any extra bloods that you mentioned. Will definitely meet with the dr and discuss it all before we book anything.

      Japan or Hawaii are top contenders atm

      • brissg on 29/09/2017 - 08:56

        I didn't have any problem in my 1st pregnancy and my OB was OK for us to arrange the trip (when I was about 10 week), but found out about the GD 2 days before departing and it was a big stress for me with trips going to OB to get description and booklet, seeing Dietician at hospital, seeing Pharmacist for NDSS registering and still pay a small fortune for buying test strips in full price (it took 3 working days to be in the system for subsidised price). Pregnancy is quite unpredictable even for a very healthy person, but don't worry, your Mrs could have a total unstressful and healthy pregnancy. Prepare a plan B, be happy and enjoy every minute of that!

        • John Kimble on 29/09/2017 - 09:02

          I think they make you do the GD test a lot sooner these days. 20 weeks?

          Make sure to bring food to eat as soon as the test is done…my wife was starving afterwards an got super hangry!

          Edit: My wife was tested earlier as she was high risk.

          https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtrea…

        • Heybargain on 30/09/2017 - 07:45

          @John Kimble: they do. And if you’re in a higher risk category you’ll do a second.
          The first time for my wife was all clear. Second test found she had it. Which really sucked and affected the pregnancy after that.

  • esq on 05/10/2017 - 15:04
    +1

    Japan or honkers, Japan is much cleaner and probably the better choice. Don't get me wrong, HK is clean, but nowhere is clean to the level of Japan, especially given their absence of bins.

    Also HK gets a Christmas holiday so it would be crowded as hell. Japan is not that level of crowded so long as you are not in Tokyo or Osaka.

  • aibargain on 24/11/2017 - 11:10
    +1

    Qualia or Hayman in the Whitsundays
    No Zika
    Safer, closer (not necessarily cheaper at all)
    Travel insurance generally won't cover if too far pregnant for overseas

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