Apparently People Are Taking Honeymoons and Not Inviting Their Spouses

You’ve planned the wedding together, walked down the aisle together, and said your vows together. Now, there’s only one thing left to do: go on separate honeymoons. According to a new report in The New York Times, anyway.

According to the paper, traveling alone—as in, without your new spouse—for your honeymoon is actually a trend. In fact, the practice is apparently so trendy, they’ve given it two nicknames: “solomoons” and “unimoons.”

“Neither of us wanted to be where the other one was,” Irene O’Brien, who recently wed Mel Maclaine, told the Times. “We each came back to Dublin full of stories, buzzing of our trips and truly delighted to see each other again to share the memories: It was the perfect imperfect honeymoon.”

According to Jessica Carbino, an online dating expert and a sociologist for the dating app Bumble, this is all a part of the evolving idea of what marriage means.

“Frankly, the idea of separate honeymoons may signal the continued evolution of marriage,” she told the Times. “Given the recognition that for most couples today, marriage and partnership is considered all-consuming, with the partner needing to fulfill every role—physical, spiritual, emotional and sexual—perhaps separate vacations is a recognition among some couples that all expectations cannot be met by a single person.”

However, not everyone is on board with the idea of separate trips to kick off a marriage.

“Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but I think it should be marked,” Helen Fisher, a senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, which conducts research on relationships, told the Times. “You are at a new stage in your life when you marry, and you are missing out on triggering the three most valuable brain systems for a lasting relationship.”

And Fisher isn’t alone in her criticism. After the piece was published, social media lit up with people laughing off the idea of “unimoons.”

“Solomoon and unimoon are stupid cursed words don’t ever make them a thing,” another user added.

“THIS IS NOT A THING. I will accept babymoons because I understand life gets out of control with young children but I will NOT accept a ‘unimoon,’” another wrote.

Perhaps it’s just the name “unimoon” that people find so infuriating. So, let’s give it a new one: vacation. Because that’s what this is. It’s just called taking a vacation. And that’s OK too, but to all you “unimooners” out there, we hate to break it to you, but marrying someone you don’t want to invite on your own honeymoon might not be the best idea.

But, if you’re in the market for a solo vacation here are a few worthy of your travel dollars. And, if you’re looking for an old-fashioned honeymoon for two, we suggest you check out a few of these spots.

Sorry, New York Times, but you’re not going to make “fetch” happen today.