Dear Kate,

We wanted to thank you for helping make our honeymoon the adventure of a lifetime. Because we wanted to share photos of your gifts, we decided against sending more traditional thank-you cards; instead, below is a picture gallery of what your contributions made possible!

<nerdy statement> A decade's worth of psychological research suggests that experiences make us happier than material possessions. </nerdy statement> Because we're fortunate enough to share a home with the appliances and furniture we need (IKEA furniture, but hey), we opted for a less traditional spin on wedding registries. It was our hope that a Honeyfund would offer a month's worth of incredible experiences—from dinners to sightseeing, from train tickets to hotel rooms—that we could directly attribute to the loved ones who made those experiences possible. We even carried a spreadsheet with us everywhere we went that indicated who had sponsored each activity, which helped guide us through each day.

Please enjoy the photos and captions below! If you'd like to see more pictures of our honeymoon travels, you can view the full gallery here.

Thank you again for your generosity and friendship, and for making this first chapter of our marriage possible.

Love from,

What you sponsored: Train tickets to Vienna

Thanks to you, we made it to Vienna! Looking at a map, as easy as it might look to get from Switzerland into Austria, the Alps make it almost impossible to get from one to the other by train. We ended up taking a train to Bern, another train to Zurich, another train to Munich, and yet another train back down to Salzburg and over to Vienna. It was a long trip, but a comfortable one--we had the prettiest train we rode throughout the entire honeymoon, and even managed to catch some sleep in the early hours of the day. Below are a few photos of this journey!

This particular train ride was an early one: We left Interlaken before the rest of the town had even woke up (not even kidding--we walked for 30 minutes through the center of town and didn't see a single person or open shop), which meant the moment we got on the train, we both passed out. Ryan was kind enough to capture this gem.

Not to worry--I got him back.

These little wafer cookie things are dangerously good. The Eurail hands them out with coffee, so we first tried them on the train ride into Switzerland. When we found a grocery store in Interlaken, we scouted out the same cookies to bring with us on train trips. I think this entire box was gone in two days.

Looking all happy, and there's a reason: This was the nicest train we rode on our honeymoon, particularly in the first class cars. (When you get a Eurail pass, you get an upgrade to first class.) You can see the tall, arched windows on either side, and the ceiling was high enough for Ryan to stand up straight. We spent most of the ride writing blog posts and going through photos, until...

...this tiny human came over with a wheeled dinosaur toy. We took turns spending the rest of the train ride playing with her, which mostly comprised handing over our iPads and drawing apps.

The Beard & Curl

Kate Cross

Dear Kate,

Love from,

What you sponsored: Train tickets to Vienna