UNITED STATES—I am not quite sure what most couples usually do during their honeymoon since I have never had one. I remember, a long time ago, I saw an online survey asking people where they want to go or what they want to do for their honeymoon. A lot of people chose the option “Visit Paris and kiss under the Eiffel Tower”. I clicked on the “To do something special with your partner” even though I didn’t have a partner at that time. But, the word “special” definitely caught my attention.
Still, I don’t know what will be the “special thing” I will do with my partner for our honeymoon in the future; however, Joseph and Ada, a couple from Southern California, showed me what a “special” honeymoon could be.
The couple got married in September 2019. Then they prepared for a trip through the Contiguous United States. They were planning to visit the 48 states and Washington D.C. during 2020. Instead of calling it a “honeymoon”, the couple named it a “honey year”. They planned to stay in each state for a week or two and film the places they visit, then make it a traveling documentary. Even before they set out for the journey, both them enjoyed the hobby of filming and editing for several years.
The couple created a Youtube channel called “Bai ri meng xiang jia” which means “The Day Dreamers” in English. They update the channel every two weeks by posting new videos. “The Day Dreamers” is also the name for their series of traveling documentaries. As Joseph explained, traveling around America had been both his and Ada’s dream for many years. And it seems incredible to see that it’s happening. I think it is also a special way for the couple to celebrate their marriage by making their “day dream” come true.
In early January, 2020, the two started their adventure with a recreational vehicle (RV) and some daily necessities, as well as some savings and filming tools including a camera drone. Joseph and Ada don’t choose the popular roads which the travelers usually go through. Instead, they usually decide to drive through the small and unique paths which give people different perspectives of America.
I got to know many genres of music by watching “The Day Dreamers”. Background music is a big feature for Joseph and Ada’s documentaries. I grew up listening to pop-music. Back in the day, if anybody asked me who my favorite country music singer was, I would say, “John Denver” since that was the only country singer’s name on my mind; however, I know more than just him now. Some of their background music has been added to my frequent listening list.
Driving on a small path with beautiful landscape scenes and listening to good music has been on my to-do list; however, I need to learn how to drive first.
To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of traveling documentaries or vlogs, or those sort of traveling films at all; however, “waiting for The Day Dreamers to be updated” has become my hobby now.
I still think about what else could be “special” for couples. To me, “special” means, many years later, while recalling the experience, I will still be super excited to tell people about it.
