A PISCES PLANS HER HONEYMOON

(Every week, astrologer Joyce Keller uses her planetary powers to give you great star advice!)

Q: WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO TRAVEL?

I am a Pisces and my fiancé is an Aquarius, and we are planning to go to Aruba for our honeymoon on July 21, 2003. Is that a good time for us to travel? In general, are there certain times of the year when the movements in the heavens aren?t so great for travel?

A: DEAR PISCES,

First off, congratulations on your upcoming marriage! By looking at your charts, I can see that you and your fiancé are very compatible. You sound like a great match — you're headed for a long, delightful marriage. The date of your honeymoon departure is a fine time to travel. Nothing negative is aspecting either one of you at that time, so your voyage should be safe and pleasant, with few or no delays.

As for times when travel is generally not recommended, whenever Mercury is in retrograde, it almost always causes delays and rerouting of travel plans and itineraries. It?s best to travel when there are few — and preferably no — retrograde planets. Retrograde movement means the planet appears to be moving backward through the heavens, even though it isn?t really doing so. Mercury?s ostensible backward motion affects us on Earth with annoying obstacles and glitches that cause unforeseen changes in travel plans. Communications and mail delivery are also affected, with letters and messages often getting lost or being misunderstood. Fortunately, you and your mate managed to choose a time when Mercury is going straight as an arrow. The times when Mercury will be retrograde in the near future are:

2002
September 14 to October 6

2003
January 2 to January 23
April 26 to May 20
August 28 to September 20

2004
December 17 to January 6, 2004

Good luck to you both, and enjoy your honeymoon!