HI and sorry about disappearing! For a whole week!
I just realized my last post was last Friday, which is a very long time for me to go with no blog posts. I had told myself I wasn’t allowed to write any regular posts until I finished my Smokies recaps, but I still have 2 left to go and don’t want to abandon you all any further. 🙂
This was just kind of a “week”- nothing bad or anything, don’t worry, but just felt a little frazzled. Actually I’ve been mildly frazzled since we got home from the Smokies almost 2 weeks ago now.
A few things:
1) Work
I got home from vacation Sunday night (3/31) and then had to dive right into a 48 hour workweek instead of 40 last week. Due to a little “‘vacation hour miscalculation snafu” (my fault, but that if left unaltered would result in me being detrimentally short one day when it comes to our June Hawaii trip), I had to somehow cut 8 vacation hours from spring break.
I asked my boss if I could just submit vacation time for Monday-Thursday for spring break, and then still be off Friday but make up those hours the following week. She said that was fine, but that meant working 8 hours Monday + 4 ten hour days the rest of the week. (So 32 hours Week 1 and 48 hours Week 2= 80 hours worked for the pay period).
(I mean…I’m salaried. It’s not like I’m punching a time card here. But still, especially since I got special permission to do this, I wanted to make sure I was putting in enough facetime and working the extra I said I would.)
Working 10 instead of 8 doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it kind of is. Our days already have a pretty delicate balance to work out right with timing, drop-offs, activities, Charlie care, etc. It wasn’t super easy, especially coming off a week away.
2) Bathroom
Simultaneously, my parents were here for several days over the last couple weeks. The never-ending on again, off again bathroom remodel finally has the finish line in sight!! WOOOOHOOO!!!
But it’s not there quite yet. So we still have my dad coming in and out, I had a countertop installer here not one day, but two days this week (due to a mistake on their end requiring an urgent re-make of our top…), I still have piles of tools around my house, and the boys are still sharing my bathroom. 🙃
(*Did you know that walking down one flight of stairs to use the guest bathroom is just too far when you have very old, 14 year old legs?? 🙄)
**Also, three loud cheers for my dad, because this bathroom project turned into a PROJECT and he has to be even more sick of it than I am. Yet his diligence and perfectionism never wavers. 🥰
3) Schedule Stuff
Last week also kicked off all things Spring. Spring swim season (A), high school tennis (E), soccer (both), school volleyball (A)…. My google calendar looks like the blue and green highlighters threw up all over the screen.
Basically things do not actually work when you pile a bunch of different sports schedules on top of each other- you cannot logistically be in multiple places at once.
We knew this; it’s “fine”.
But there has been a lot of Schedule-Tetris playing. (“Ok, I’ll do VB on Monday but skip it Thursday and go to swim but then skip swim Wednesday and do soccer that day…etc.”).
Asher really wanted to play school volleyball as its his last year at that school with all those friends. It’s very low key and he won’t play it in high school next year. However, he was already committed to soccer and swim this spring. So it kind of just is what it is. We knew it’d be ugly but it’s really just a ~month of it all overlapping.
On a plus side, Ethan is loving high school tennis! He’s had one match so far and his doubles teams won. 🙂
4) Hawaii
This week I also suddenly looked at the calendar and realized…OMG. We leave for Hawaii next month. (Okay, barely- we leave on May 31st. 😅 But still! The fact that it’s technically in the next calendar month made me do a double take.)
I felt a sudden urge to get the rest of the bigger planning rocks squared away. I definitely felt a little behind where I normally am at this point before a trip.
So, I cleared a few time blocks to dive into that this week, and it just generally took up a lot of any excess mental space this week.
The hotels I booked months and months ago now. Ivan got the flights. But we still needed rental cars on both islands, the flight from Oahu to Kauai, and the biggest looming piece was just figuring out if there were any “must do” activities or advance reservations needed.
This whole process has been both fun, and also… perplexing.
Hawaii is so expensive.
This is making the planning process a little more complex than usual, because it simply is out of our budget to do “ALL the things”. Basically every activity and excursion offered is very high priced. So, I’ve been trying to learn about all the options, weed through them and narrow down, and then discuss with the family and figure out what things are priorities.
I have also spent too long this week pondering…. who are these people that go to Hawaii and do all of these things? And stay at these outrageous hotels? Also, Hawaii is very far away unless you live in like, California. Just the flights there are pretty $$!
Okay, in fairness, we are going for 15 nights. That’s a long time. I am sure many people just go for a week, which naturally cuts costs.
But still- looking at the price of our “moderate” hotel… it’s still significantly more than I ever pay for lodging on trips. Just taxes and fees in Hawaii seem exorbitant. And our hotel barely scratches the surface of what one “could” pay in Hawaii. (Note: when searching lodging there, do not go by what the advertised room price is!! Once it calculates in the fees and tax and all the other charges, it won’t be anywhere near what the first screen said.)
I really try to not compare myself to others, but it’s hard when I’ll see something like this in my Hawaii Travel Planning Facebook group:
“Hello! We’re a family with 4 kids (ranging 10-17) traveling to Hawaii this summer for 2 weeks. We’re staying at X hotel (insert some fancy schmancy resort that for 6 people has to cost THOUSANDS). Can you please review our itinerary and give any tips? We have booked a helicopter ride, a private full day catamaran snorkeling tour, a luau, ATV rides, ziplining, mountain tubing, (continue listing more expensive things here), and also have reservations at X, Y, and Z extremely expensive oceanfront restaurants.”
What.
For a little perspective, just for fun I looked up how much it would cost for this imaginary family to stay at Aulani, the Disney resort on Oahu. (I have no idea where this falls on the $ spectrum of fancy hotels in Hawaii- it’s just one I knew the name of.)
Here was my quote for one week in a 2 bedroom oceanfront villa with my imaginary 4 children:
$17,709. SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.
And you didn’t even set foot on an airplane yet, or eat anything, or rent a car, or do anything. (The helicopter tours I looked into average $400/ person, starting. Um. Well, we won’t be doing that…)
OH! And did I mention this quote is only for one measly week?? Many people seem to, like us, want to do longer 2 week trips to Hawaii, just given the distance and multiple islands.
Anyway, this is just mind boggling to me. I’m so not on that playing field. LOL.
Just makes me scratch my head so hard. Like, seriously, who are these people and what do they DO for a living?! They’re not Registered Nurses, that’s what. HAHA. 😂😂
Ok wait, bear with me a second longer, I can’t let this go yet. I need to do some math.
If my imaginary family went for 2 weeks, it could seriously look like this:
*Lodging $35,000 (wtf). (2 bedroom villa, see above x2 weeks)
*Flights…. let’s say at least $1500/ person= $9,000. (Or way more if they are first classers? Could be up to $15k?) Even in coach could easily be more depending on location (maybe they’re European…).
*Rental cars… ~$2k+?
*Activities… I don’t know, but let’s say they do “only” 6 activities over the 2 weeks at $175 each x3, $400 each x1 and $250 each x2. That’d be $8-10,000, easy. I think this could quickly go way higher, too.
*Food: Then you gotta eat…and food in Hawaii sounds expensive. I don’t even really know how to estimate this, but let’s say, using $500/day (probably very very conservative with 4 kids + 2 adults especially if eating most meals out + snacks and/or going to fancy restaurants) x14 days = $7,000. Maybe more like $10,000?! I don’t even know.
This is currently sitting at a minimum of $63,000. And I am sure is excluding a lot… no gratuities, spa treatments, souvenirs, beach chair rentals, boogie boards, gasoline, inter-island flights…
Are there really regular people out there who spend well upwards of $75,000 on a single vacation? 😲😲😲
(Don’t worry, our trip will not being costing anywhere near that, but it still feels very high compared to normal, for us “regular folks”.)
Anyway, whoa. I really went off the deep end here. I guess this has just kind of been gnawing at me all week and I let it all out here. I just can’t wrap my head around having money like that, I guess. Thinking about it too much suddenly made me feel weirdly… lacking, or something. Or poor?! Which is utterly ridiculous.
But you know what? We will still have an amazing time! We won’t do all those excursions, but we’ll do a few. We won’t be at the highest end resort, but…that’s not even my scene, anyway. We’ll swim, and “beach”, and snorkel, and hike, and lounge on our balcony and look at beautiful things and explore. And, it is not lost on me how incredibly lucky we are to even be traveling like we do at all. I’m sure from many other’s perspectives, we are the ones spending in excess on travel. It’s all relative!
Please, chime in. I’d be so curious to hear what other people think about travel + costs + just… all of this (waves hand at all the above).
Daily Gratitude:
I’m grateful for a new fun tea I tried this week! From talk of big $$ to the sweet little things in life. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
Hawaii looks incredibly beautiful and VERY expensive…I honestly don’t know what people with that kind of money do… Doctors? Lawyers? A family that makes half a million, 3/4 of a million a year? Maybe? I feel the exact way.. Here I am, chastising myself for spending $80 on a lunch at a Paris restaurant, meanwhile there are people who eat breakfast, lunch AND dinner out in Paris. LOL I openly admit that I am jealous of such sums of money… But then when I look the other way: now many people can go to Paris, period. So I guess, better than some, worse then others.
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Absolutely true- “better than some, worse than others”. I fully recognize that some people couldn’t even do a fraction of what WE do, so I do feel a little… whiny… I guess, complaining. But it seems to be such a wide spectrum that it can be rather mind boggling!
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Thanks for the post Kae. I love reading your blog. You are not alone in questioning the costs for Hawaii trips, and trips in general. Flying kids and families these days gives me huge anxiety but there’s really no other way to get to an island.
During this most recent spring break I split meals with my teenage daughter, partly because neither one of us can eat a full meal with the portions the restaurants distribute, and partly because eating out during vacation really adds up. I really wonder how people do it with multiple vacations during the year. My guess is that some flights are offset by parents’ miles on their credit cards, but we are not in that category.
Our kids do a lot of sports activities that require us to travel for competitions and tournaments, and I use my points from credit cards and hotels for that. Next year we will re-evaluate how much sports travel we want to do, as this year it was so much that we couldn’t do as much vacation travel as we wanted to. As good as it is to spend one-on-one time with children individually, I’d really rather budget time and resources to trips we can take as a family.
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Thanks for the nice comment!! 🙂 We also often split meals when it makes sense- or we’ll do like a smaller appetizer to share + one entree between me and Ivan, for example. In part because it can cut the cost, but also because I just don’t always want/ need to eat that much! The sports travel is a very real thing too! I hear you. We have some travel for sports too but not even as much as some people we know who seem to be FLYING all over for sports tournaments. That’s a whole other level! We end up with usually a good handful of nights in hotels over the course of the year for sports which still really does add up. I like it in moderation since as you say, the 1:1 time and memories are fun. But within reason- I also don’t want to have to limit family travel as a result…
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I think people posting those kind of itineraries just have a completely different lifestyle or level of affluence. I can’t fathom spending that much on a trip. We don’t spend much on vacations right now because it is just not worth it with our kids at their ages. I also think I am just easier to please or more easily delighted! Which is a good way to be, I think. I know there is this whole ‘you can’t take it with you’ frame of mind but I also think about how my grandma is 100 so we might need our savings to last that long… And then there is the whole idea of the utility of money. I don’t think I would feel good spending that much on a single trip. It was hard enough to pay for our own wedding which probably cost us around $25k and that was a huge, memorable day!
When we went to Hawaii, we went for 9 days I think and we actually only did 1 excursion which was a snorkeling excursion. Otherwise we just hiked or did other things that didn’t cost money. The hikes we did and the snorkeling on our beach were 10/10 type of experiences that didn’t cost us much besides snorkeling gear for the week. So hopefully you will find that you don’t really need to do all the excursions! As an aside, we do know of 2 families whose parents took their entire families to Hawaii and paid for the whole thing. For one family they all went for 2 weeks. Another family goes to Hawaii as a family every 1-2 years. I cannot fathom that kind of expense!! But even if someone would offer us a week trip to Hawaii for our family of 4 we would pass… which I am sure would blow some peoples minds but I can’t imagine taking taco to Hawaii with the 5 hour time change and the expense and then to be dealing with meltdowns and night wakings and everything. I’d be like – no thanks, can we get a rain check for 10 years from now? 😉
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That’s also a great point about even if you COULD spend that much on a trip, that you wouldn’t want to just out of principle. I also agree that it just seems sort of obscene! And ridiculous/ unnecessary. I think that’s why I tend to opt for more middle grade things versus all out luxury (well, besides that it just costs too much for us!), but I just struggle with the mere idea of paying SO much for a crazy fancy hotel when I feel like…. it’s just not actually worth it! Like, I’m probably not actually getting anything that much greater or better for that increased price. I feel like I’m usually able to find a sweet spot on our trips where I’m not paying as much as those top tier places yet still have very comfortable, nice places- not like we get junky places or anything at all. I tend to prioritize some sort of pleasant view and/or hotel amenities that we will enjoy like a hot tub, great location, etc. versus just “luxury” for the sake of “luxury”, if that makes sense. That said, to each their own! I guess if someone has that kind of money and wants to blow it like that… I suppose that’s up to them! We don’t spend tons of time in our hotels on most trips anyway though, so to spend $2500 a night on lodging would be absolutely ludicrous for us! hahaha.
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I have thoughts on Hawaii vacations! So – background, I have only been to Hawaii once, in 2004 for MAYBE 5-6 nights, I honestly can’t remember. My husband (boyfriend at the time) and I visited for spring break of our senior year in college, because his sister was living there at the time – her boyfriend (now husband) was in the Navy so they lived on Oahu in Hawaii Kai, a kind of suburban neighborhood in Honolulu, and we slept on a futon in a house that included 5 navy men, plus my SIL. LOL. Not exactly the typical Hawaii trip for sure. That being said, I have honestly….. no desire to go back. I KNOW there are some very unique things to do in Hawaii, and I’m CERTAIN that going back and visiting like….Maui, or Kauai or whatever would obviously be a very different experience. I cannot get over flying 8-9 hours (often overnight), dealing with jetlag, etc, when you could go to Costa Rica, Belize, or Mexico instead for WAY CHEAPER, and also a much shorter travel day coming from almost anywhere in the US. As someone who just went to Costa Rica, please convince me!! (or not – I’ll just save my money lol)
Second – a major way that I know a lot of people get to Hawaii much more affordably is……. POINTS!!!!! It’s really common for people to figure out how to utilize credit cards to get a Southwest airlines companion pass (meaning you can add on another person to your flight for free), and then fly to Hawaii that way. If you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points (which you can get from a lot of Chase cards, but you do need a Sapphire version to do this) you can transfer those points to Hyatt hotels, of which there are many in Hawaii and stay there using points. For example, my friend is currently at the Grand Hyatt Kauai (or something like that) where the rooms there go for $1500/night+++, but are 35,000 points. (points can be cashed out for 1 cent per point typically – so you are getting a $1500 value for using $350 worth of points). I could go on and on about this and I know that’s not how MOST are probably doing Hawaii, but it is a SUPER common points-people trip.
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Yes, you’re totally right about the points thing. I have read in my Hawaii facebook groups I’m in that lots of people seem to get Hyatt stays with points, etc. We are NOT currently doing much of anything with points/ miles/ etc. We really should probably start trying to figure that game out a bit better. I mean, we have credit cards with good rewards that we usually eventually cash out for cash (and will do that now to help cover some of these expenses) but it’s not like we’re getting free stays or free flights exactly, either.
That’s interesting that you don’t have a desire to go back to Hawaii! I wonder what I’ll end up thinking. I feel like people either LOVE Hawaii and become obsessed and want to go back every year, or are kind of oddly “meh” about it. I agree it’s definitely easier to get to Mexico, Costa Rica, etc and there are also such amazingly beautiful places there, too! You HAVE TO GO TO COSTA RICA ERIN. I absolutely loved it there. I am actually nervous that Hawaii is somehow not going to live up to Costa Rica for me because I just loved that trip so much!!
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I hope you get emails with new comments so you see this, but I thought you’d find it funny that just a little over one year after posting that comment, I have booked a trip to Hawaii for March 2026 hahahaha. BUT, it’s all on points! So I actually do think that will change my mindset IMMENSELY. I do actually think I might have preferred to go to Costa Rica (was just re-reading your CR vs Hawaii post) but for us, there wasn’t a great way to get there/stay there on points so it actually would have been astronomically expensive for all 5 of us to go to CR, whereas Maui will be only what we will spend on tours/food (which isn’t nothing!!!!!) and we will actually get a lot of food included with our resort too so that will help! We’re there 7 nights which is kind of a shorter Hawaii trip given the travel time but I’m now really excited to try again after my first not so thrilling experience back in college 🙂
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YES I got notice of this on my WordPress app! This is awesome!!!! Ugh I need to figure out this points thing better! We still basically just cash out cc rewards periodically, which can be quite a lot, but still, we’ve never like, gotten totally free lodging. And there are a bunch of you guys, so you probably needed two rooms?? Wow!! That will be amazing! And you can just save CR for another time! That was a pricey trip overall for us, too. Also- about Hawaii vs CR – the boys truly loved both! Recently Ethan said Hawaii was his favorite trip ever. I was like whoa whoa whoa, no, you literally told me CR was, right after we went to Hawaii- I have documentation on my blog!! 🤣 He was like ok they were both great but now I think I liked Hawaii a little better. (He loved Waikiki though and the “big city meets beach” vibe, specifically.)
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I lived on Oahu for a summer during college. I had an internship with a government organization. Living there was eye wateringly expensive. A 1/2 gallon of milk was $5 in 1998! I also have no interest in returning to Hawaii especially since it would require a 12 hour flight from where we live. There are so many other places I would like to see in my life.
We are a two income family (doctor and lawyer) of 6 and we travel a lot. We would not typically spend $75,000 on a vacation. We typically use miles for fligths and sometimes for hotels too. We stay in a lot of rental houses and apartments and eat some meals in.
We are spending a lot on a trip to Africa next year. But this is something that has been on my bucket list for decades, we have been planning and saving for it and feel like it is really a once in a lifetime experience. We will probably never spend that much on a vacation ever again.
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Thanks for these insights, Gillian!! So interesting. It’s just so confusing to me who these people are who actually would spend like that. Maybe some people travel less frequently but then really go all out on a single trip per year or every couple years? But we still would never spend $75,000 even on ALL of our travels combined for a full year. (And I’d have no desire to spend that much, even if I could! Seems excessive/ unnecessary when I feel like we travel pretty frequently and have wonderful trips and don’t spend anywhere near that.)
I can see splurging on your African safari trip though. That will be so amazing! I hope you post on a lot on IG so I can see your pictures!! A friend of mine did that last year and the pictures were out of this world. Truly seemed like a once in a lifetime experience. Maybe you can send me some details at some point as I’d love to do that someday too. 🙂
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OMG Hawaii is definitely eye-poppingly expensive no matter how you slice it. We have gone to Hawaii twice and what we spent on food and lodging was definitely more than what we have spent on any other vacations (and like you, we are not on the west coast, so the flights are long and $$$–although for one of the trips we were able to pay for the flights with points). And in my experience Kauai in particular is especially pricey (compared to Oahu). But I will say that we spent almost zero dollars on excursions and things like that. Partly I think that’s because that’s generally our travel style anyway (especially my husband’s), partly it’s because our kids were younger than yours are now (it’s not like we could go ziplining or things like that because they were too little). But also, because Hawaii has beaches and hiking that are seriously the best anywhere, we just found that we could have an absolutely fabulous time swimming, snorkeling, and hiking on our own, traveling around the island and exploring different beaches and hiking spots. To me, that is the best part of Hawaii and I know you guys will do a lot of that too so many of the things you’ll probably find the most fun will be almost free.
I do have to say my biggest WOW moment money-wise in Hawaii was actually at the grocery store. The last time we went was five years ago and we went with two other families (crammed 6 adults and 5 kids into an Airbnb meant for 6 people…lol…the ways you try to save money in Hawaii). We split cooking responsibilities for dinners then went out to eat the last night for dinner. The night we were in charge of dinner we went to the grocery store and spent FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS to buy food for the dinner we were making (plus some other staple stuff for breakfasts/snacks, but still). Crazy! Food is just so expensive there given the transportation costs of shipping so much stuff in from off-island.
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EEEKK about the grocery bill!!! That’s crazy!! I am hoping we can do some quicker/fast foody type things for some breakfasts or lunches (like, I’m seriously not opposed to grabbing something at a gas station…) and then just limiting real meals out to like a lunch or dinner per day. Also hoping to maybe do some snacky picnic meals like bars, sandwiches etc if we can sometimes. We won’t have a kitchen in Oahu but will in Kauai.
I have been torn about the excursions things. I feel like the boys are at good ages to do some of those things, so I want to do “some” but definitely not “all”. Problem is, even “some” adds up really fast. So far I have now booked a UTV tour on Oahu and luau, and a mountain tubing excursion on Kauai (and planning an airplane tour- was going to do a Napali boat tour but since I posted this the other day I did more research and learned that soooo many people get seasick on those tours! So going to do a small plane tour instead which is cheaper than the helicopter rides). I think we’ll have to pay for some hike entrances too like Diamond Head etc but shouldn’t be too bad. I agree that there seems to be soooo much to do just with beach hopping, driving around, etc. I think having a couple anchor items on each island will be plenty and will be enough for the boys to have some exciting things to look forward to, but balance with just swimming, snorkeling, boogie boarding etc
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Interesting discussion about vacation expense. I went to Hawaii in 2013 and don’t call it to be super expensive. We didn’t do much excursion as Sofia was just 10 months old. Things may have changed. Regarding how much one spend in vacation, it depends on their income and their values. I do prefer to spend more on lodging than meals because I care more comfort for sleeping than food. I’m sure others would prefer the reverse. May 31st is so close. Really looking forward to read your posts while traveling.
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Yeah, it must be different now since it sounds like “everyone” says how expensive Hawaii is now!! I think prices are up just everywhere across the board, but sounds like especially post pandemic the prices in Hawaii really took a huge hike up.
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I feel like there are two kinds of recaps for Hawaii trips. It’s either “I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars” or “I did it all on credit card points so it was free and by the way all of my trips are on credit cards points”…listen I’ve been dabbling in the world of credit card points as a hobby and I see the path to ONE very nice free trip but if someone is doing it on the regular, they’re spending a lot of money to get those points. But anyway, you’ll have a great time and I’m looking forward to the trip recap.
I love having my trip recaps to look back on, but they are hard to write. For some reason I’ve got writer’s block with my March trip so it’s STILL sitting in draft.
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The whole credit card travel world seems so overwhelming to me and anything financial is just not really my jam… lol. However, it does seem intriguing. But also, it seems impossible that people could get MULTIPLE “free” trips per year. Like, yeah, maybe you save up and can get one really good deal, but then it seems like it would take a while to reaccumulate the points etc?
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this does make me want to be miserly with my Chase points until next year because I do want to go to Hawaii in 2026 and will definitely not be spending $75K. Ha!
I think people who take vacations at that level have family wealth or enormous salaries (like think $1.5M/yr or more). Or it’s like someone decided to blow some of a lump sum inheritance or real estate victory …
Not judging because I suppose people should do whatever they want with a windfall, but i think I’d rather take multiple trips for that amount of $$$!
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EXACTLY. I would never want to spend so much on a single trip! It just would not even make sense in my head. Haha. Like I would know that I could be having just as nice of a time spending a bit less and then being able to do MORE trips. I do sometimes wonder if there’s family wealth and/or like a big lump sum available… or maybe people who specially save up for a big event/anniversary/ milestone and then go hog wild.
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I am very excited for your Hawaii trip. I’ve only been there once (on a work trip) and want to go back so badly. I’ll be living vicariously through you.
And hopefully this won’t come off the wrong way, but if you’re wondering how other people afford these lavish vacations… remember that to other people it looks like you’re on vacation/big trips a lot! Maybe you’re not doing ALL THE THINGS and staying in the most fancy hotels, but you’re still get to travel and see a lot of cool things 😉 Just keep that in mind!
On a different note, I love that you have the flexibility to make up some hours at work. I work a 4-10 schedule and I agree, 10-hour days are long (but I am so used to it now that I never want to give it up and I like having the flexibility to move ours to my “off day”, if necessary!).
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Yes yes!! You’re so right and I don’t take that the wrong way at all. I 100% agree with you- and in fact I was a little nervous to even write this post since I realize we already probably travel more than many people do! So I definitely don’t want to come across like complaining or “oh poor me” or anything at all. One of my son’s friend’s family just went to Hawaii recently and I think they did 6 nights total there. We were chatting and they asked how many nights we’d be there and when I said 15 the dad’s eyes almost popped out of his head. So I do realize that we’re already probably doing/spending more than many people might choose to or be able to on this trip. I think that’s what gets me so confused- like, I feel like this is already so much/ pushing our upper limits for a vacation that we’re going to spend, and yet it also doesn’t seem like we’re spending anywhere near what the top limit COULD be for Hawaii! (like my example above…). Just blows my mind that some people apparently have soooo much money to spend on a vacation.
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I loved my trip to Hawaii, and didn’t feel like the cost of the hotel and flights were *that* much more than other trips (but we only stayed for a week, and we really cheaped out on our room with regard to size and view). We didn’t do too many excursions either: one snorkeling trip and a luau, and just enjoyed the beach and pools at our resort. Like many people are pointing out though, the the cost of food was insane. After we spent almost $200 for four people to eat hot dogs and hamburgers, we realized we had to do much more research about where to eat, and that included a lot of fast food breakfast/lunches.
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Hahaha about the food- I would feel the same way! We are planning to do similar. Balance quicker/ cheaper stuff with some nicer meals sprinkled in. For excursions for now we’re planning a UTV tour and luau on Oahu, and a mountain tubing trip and small airplane tour on Kauai. Even just those 4 activities really add up fast. I have no doubt we’ll have a blast just exploring the islands, too. Also, I do think that one “could” spend significantly less in Hawaii if you really wanted to. Like our Oahu hotel we could have gotten the littlest room with no view at all and saved money for sure. Or gotten a VRBO studio apartment style, etc. But I wanted to balance the cost vs still “nice”.. so we upgraded to places with nicer views and stuff but still not in that luxury upper level range either. Our lodging still feels quite pricey even at the moderate level!!
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Yes, I absolutely can’t imagine having that much money to spend on a vacation. Also, (put another way) if I had that much money- I can’t even fathom what these people must make in a year- I can’t imagine plunking down $75K on one vacation. I mean… what if the weather is bad or someone gets sick? Anyway, like several people have pointed out, it’s all relative. I’m sure you guys will have an AMAZING time. Oh, and I’d rather go for two weeks, stay at more reasonable places and skip the helicopter ride, than go all-out like that on a one-week trip. It’s nice to go for a longer time so you have time to relax AND see all the sights.
I can see why you didn’t blog last week- it sounds like it was a busy one. Yes, ten hour days would feel very different from eight hours. With that, and the continuing bathroom renovation, and the boys’ activities, I would feel frazzled too! I hope you get some time to relax this weekend.
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YES about what if someone gets sick or the weather is a bust?! That’s just way too many eggs to put in one basket. This past week in Kauai I saw online that they had some big flash flood storm and the rivers and water all turned brown/ contaminated for a few days and no one could swim at any of the beaches, etc. I mean, what a huge bummer!! Hoping it’s all cleared out by June (sounds like it just takes a few days usually when this happens), but still- what if those were the days you were there?! Would be so disappointing if you spent $75,000 and then had 3 days of a huge rainstorm or something. 😬
And yep- we are generally Team Stay Longer and Experience More vs Stay Shorter and a Crazy Expensive Place. I just feel like it’s wayyyy more bang for my buck with the first option!
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Hawaii is SO expensive! We have gone to Maui many times now, and I really noticed the increase the last time we went (2023) as compared to the time before that (2016). I mean, what hasn’t gotten more expensive, but really, Maui is SUCH an expensive place. Well, it’s an island. I guess that’s why. Also it’s paradise.
We have always stayed in a condo in South Kihei which is reasonable, I think, price wise. We also eat a lot of meals in the condo, which helps with cost. We have never done a helicopter ride or anything like that. Generally we spent all our time at the beach, boogie boarding or swimming, or at the pool. We drove the road to Hana once, and went up the volcano, but these were all things we did on our own, i.e., we didn’t pay for it. So while expensive, I think it’s still reasonable.
My husband has a friend who goes to Maui for a month every year and he stays in one of the very expensive hotels in Wailea, and he and his wife are total foodies so they eat out a lot, and I think their last vacation was something like $40000 for the month, which seems insane to me, but well, it’s not me, I don’t know their finances, none of my business. But still!
FWIW I have never gone to a luau or anything like that, and we always have a great, low-key time.
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I could definitely see doing a more low key Hawaii trip IF we go back for future visits. But I get stuck in my head because since we’ve never been there, a big part of me wants to sort of “see it all/ do it all”, too… bc what if I never go back? And also, my parents are coming along and I feel like it’s not that likely they’ll ever go back (just because we are not really big on repeat destinations and generally prefer to explore new places.). So it’s a bit of a conundrum. 🙂
We are going to do a luau… I just feel like it’s one of those “things” I kind of want to do just once! lol. And I think a small plane ride since on Kauai you can only see the Napali coast either from air or boat. (Was planning boat, but also super expensive and I researched it this weekend and it sounds like sooooo mnay people get horribly seasick!! It’s really rough on that side of the island. Puking in a bucket for $200? No thanks.)
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We are going to Maui in June and are staying at a VRBO condo for ~$400/night, which includes all the taxes and fees and everything. The hotels were insanely expensive and this way we will have a kitchen for breakfast foods and a way to store/eat leftovers from other meals. Our airfare was not too bad, but we are traveling from California so that helps, price-wise and jet lag-wise.
We don’t do the expensive add-ons, generally, no zip-lining or helicopters, they just are too expensive. Our trip to the big island, my husband and daughter did the night swim with mantas and I think to them it was worth every penny. My son and I stayed warm eating pizza at the hotel. 🙂
I will say, don’t expect the warm waters of the Atlantic, I’ve found Hawaii a bit “cold” but so beautiful.
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This is a big concern of mine too!! We often go to Panama City Beach, Florida in August many years and we all loooooove that warm warm water. I am actually really worried that the weather in general is going to feel too cool for my liking (I LOVED the heat in Costa Rica since it meant super nice warm nights….I seriously often get cold at beach destinations at night even when it’s technically still pretty warm out), and I’m worried the Pacific water is going to feel so cold to us! But yes- it looks gorgeous and I think is definitely worth seeing at least once. 🙂 Have a wonderful time on Maui!! I debated hard between Maui and Kauai but something about Kauai just spoke to me! 🙂
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I travel frequently to Hawaii as I live in the Vancouver BC area and it’s such an easy flight. Definitely recommend staying in a place with a kitchen and shopping at Costco. Restaurants are outrageously expensive and not worth it in my opinion. I have only ever been on 1 helicopter tour and it was in Kauai. Once in a lifetime experience and so beautiful but I only had to pay for myself. Snorkling can be found right off many beaches – I have never gone on a boat tour as I get seasick. Go hiking up Diamond Head in Oahu. Food trucks are plentiful and cheaper than a restaurant.
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Thanks for the tips! Definitely planning to do Diamond Head. I looked into the boat trips up Napali Coast on Kauai and was originally planning that for sure as it looks amazing. BUT, then I poured over reviews and found that soooo many people get seasick. Ultimately decided it’s not a chance I’m willing to take. Yuck, sounds awful. So we’re going to do a small airplane tour. It’s much more economical for our group of 6 (we can do a private charter for just our group) and although it won’t get quite as close as the helicopter, it seems safer and cheaper and I think will be still amazing.
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It has been a few years since we went to Hawai’i–I’m sure I would have more sticker shock now–but here’s what we did do to make it affordable on grad student-esque salaries. 1) companion fare deal for the flight (so, basically, 2 for 1 travel), 2) stay in a small condo with a kitchen so that we could 3) go to Costco and buy all our breakfast food and a couple of meals as well as most of the coffee/alcohol we consumed–beverages add up! 4) get off of the main strip in Oahu and eat local! plate lunch is sooo good. 5) I think we did one snorkel tour off a boat on oahu on one trip and rented kayaks once for a couple of hours on the other, and otherwise we just checked out the beaches and tried some little hikes on our own and that was plenty fun.
If you’re committed to a hotel, you might still be able to do some breakfasts or lunches out of your room if there’s a minifridge (yogurt, hummus, sandwiches) to cut costs a little bit?
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All excellent tips! Definitely going to try to do breakfast/lunches in our room or the condo when able. Unfortunately we won’t have a kitchen on Oahu (just a mini fridge I think). But I think we can get by with some basic staples for at least breakfasts/ snacks like you said. Definitely don’t want to be buying 3 meals a day out.
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This topic is near and dear to my heart! We’ve visited Hawaii every year of the 25 years we’ve been married, with just a few exceptions for years with a newborn and for 2020. Traveling from Virginia just outside DC makes for a long haul and big time difference, plus of course a big expense. But my husband’s parents (and grandparents) were born and raised in Hawaii, so for many years we stayed with them. In more recent years since his parents moved to the mainland to live near us, we now stay in a non-fancy but still quite pricey hotel on Oahu (2 adjoining rooms for our family of 4 or a 2-BR suite) and vrbo/airbnb when we visit the outer islands.
I guess because Oahu is where my husband and now my teen girls have so many childhood memories and it’s become our family’s “happy place,” we’ve become a little numb to the cost and just budget accordingly. Though we’ve definitely noticed a price hike post-covid! Traveling there is a priority for us so we make it happen. We do generally live below our means and don’t book extravagant things in Hawaii — fly coach (sometimes using miles), don’t stay at resorts, book a small rental car, eat takeout sushi or grocery store sandwiches for lunch on the beach, etc. And have never taken a helicopter ride! We usually book a couple of activities but otherwise just enjoy the natural beauty and beaches, hiking, etc.
Kae, I’m not sure how to email you directly, but if you can email me I will send some specific recommendations for restaurants and activities on Oahu and general tips. We don’t go to Kauai as often, but we were just there in December and I can share recommendations of what our family of four, including our 15- and 17-year olds, enjoyed. I’ve been meaning to figure out how to email you directly anyway to respond to your sweet comment about our daughter heading to U-W in September. But, like you, I’ve been trying to catch up after being gone for spring break and then extra busy at work!
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I was tentatively thinking Hawaii next spring break but this is making me reconsider/realize I need to plan in advance. I’d love to hear any of your recommendations Kara (especially where you stay) so Kae if you get them, can you pass along?
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Haha Megan, good idea! I will say I was a little surprised/ taken aback once we really got into the deeper planning how expensive things are. It’s my fault for not digging in a bit more in advance… maybe should have planned a little shorter and/or differently, but by the time I really realized it I had already spent too much time and effort to change it. It will be awesome and I think I’ll be really glad we have the time we have. Once you get into planning you’ll find there is SO MUCH to see and do on all the islands. Like I think I could stay a month and not have time to see or do it all. Will absolutely pass along any recs!! Which island(s) are you considering?
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Ohh that’s so cool that it’s your “special place”!! Love that. I like your budget tips too. We’ll definitely do some of that. I think we can make it work without spending a fortune on every meal for sure. I know it just adds up in general anytime we’re traveling for a full 2 weeks! Even “fast food” is expensive nowadays, too.
I will email you!! 🙂 My email address should be listed on my main blog page though you maybe have to be on a desktop version in order to see the little sidebar. 🙂
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Hawaii is one of those DREAM destinations for me, but I’m always taken aback by just the cost of the flight. Flying from Florida to Hawaii is EXPENSIVE, and then there’s the hotel/Airbnb, FOOD, excursions, etc. It would be a very expensive trip and on the flip side, I can get to a cruise port by driving for a few hours at most and then go on a cruise that is MUCH less expensive – food/activities covered in the price, etc. One day I will make it to Hawaii, but I will not be dropping tens of thousands of dollars to do that. Haha.
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Oh you are so lucky to live near a cruise port!! I think if you can exclude the flights and not go on all the $$ excursions and/or do lots of drinking or other add ons, a cruise could be an affordable way to travel for sure if you’re near the port! Hawaii is just complicated from the get go since it’s so far away! I think for that reason I wouldn’t want to go there all the time like some people seem to…the jet lag, long flight, etc….. But I hope it’s amazing and if we never go back, at least I’ll have seen it once.
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Travelling can be SO expensive and discussing how much things cost can be FRAUGHT. I know some people who travel with friends but one set is more frugal than the other and I cannot imagine.
We do things on the cheap, but as others have pointed out, using rewards/points makes a big difference. We also approach travel like I approach meal planning. I don’t say: I want to make a chicken dish this week and go get chicken, I see chicken is on sale and say “I want to make a chicken dish this week.” We chose Barcelona mostly because it was so much cheaper than all the other options were were considering (we only had a small cash outlay because most things were on points).
I only know the Canadian options (and Aeroplan is basically IT!), but there are loads of ways to get oodles of points in the States. It might be worth checking that out? I feel like lots of people talk about a Chase Sapphire card? But I know my husband said if he lived in the US the closest equivalent to Aeroplan (Air Canada/Star Alliance), is SouthWest and that is what airline he would pursue frequent flyer programs with.
I feel like Hawaii could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, though. You love travelling. This is your “thing” and you do it often and well! I hope the trip is fantastic ❤
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That is a very smart way to travel- picking based on good deals. I will say, I struggle with this. I don’t really have any special “deals” or miles or anything to use so we honestly do usually just pick the destination and go from there. I feel like if it were just me and Ivan with flexible travel dates I’d love to just log on, find a discounted flight somewhere…anywhere… and go! But we can’t do that with the kids, and I often feel sort of conflicted wanting to make the trips “special” or extra “memorable” since they’re our big family trips. (i.e. I worry some about not being able to get tickets or entrance to big ticket places if we were to book last minute to wherever was on sale.) I am sure I overthink some of that though. Agree we are now sort of approaching this Hawaii trip as once-in-a-lifetime experience mindset, within reason. 😉
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I am also feeling mildly frazzled AND playing Schedule Tetris, so I feel you on both of those! My kid is currently in three activities, and ALL OF THEM take place on the same days (with an additional day for sports competitions). Why????? I could probably try to play around with the timing of Activity 2, but only after Activity 1 ends for the year, which isn’t until the beginning of May. But the end result is that we will be leaving Activity 1 early every week and arriving late to Activity 3 every week and that kinds of stinks but it’s the best I can do.
I was FASCINATED by your breakdown of this imaginary trip to Hawaii! Travel is so expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My husband wants to go to a resort-y type place for his next birthday, but the room rate alone is so exorbitant I cannot even wrap my mind around it. He is much better about saying “the cost is the cost” and just biting the bullet (when the trip is expensive but still doable — I am not doing any $75K vacations either), but I have such a hard time! I would almost rather stay home!
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Ahhh the activity overlap can drive you nuts, right?!! It’s so complicated. I hope you get through this end of school period in one piece, Suzanne. LOL.
OOH and exciting about your hubby’s b-day! Where will you go?? I guess if you have the money/ are able to just say “the cost is the cost”, GO FOR IT! It will be amazing! But yes, some resort places are just insanely expensive and it can be hard for me to justify (or, um, afford. lol!). I think we generally travel well but moderately (relatively speaking- like discussed above, what we might feel is moderate is excessive for some, still, and also might seem cheap to others!).
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I’ve been to Kauai multiple times and happy to provide any tips/answer questions! Hawaii is CRAZY EXPENSIVE. it’s not just you. We live in CA and decided to stop going because of this. Mexico/other central american countries is just as beautiful and way less expensive. We just got back from Panama and highly recommend!
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That makes total sense! And you’re right- Mexico/ Central America is GORGEOUS and definitely has to be cheaper than Hawaii. Ivan even got annoyed in Costa Rica because it was significantly more expensive for many things just due to being high tourist demand. He would say, “We have this same thing in Mexico for cheaper….” But most tourists don’t visit some of the areas that we might be able to in Mexico. I’d love to hear more about your Panama trip! That’d be a great idea for a future trip! Email me some details sometime if you don’t mind!
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Kae, you could spend a lot, but I don’t think you need to!! I have only been to Maui and it has been quite a while since I went, but we got a condo before airbnb was a thing, when you used to rent people’s vacation condos! Then the rest of our trip went like this: arrive, get car, go straight to Costco. This way we would have a lunch or dinner out maybe every day or two, then the rest could be food we made/brought with us, even if we were going out on an outing.
As for excursions, personally I don’t mind just hanging at the beach, but I also did the Haleakala sunrise (free), snorkling from the beach (free, our condo had gear) and lots of hiking, waterfall gazing, swimming and wandering. Maybe your family needs more activities, but I still think there are tons of free things to do too. Alternatively, I don’t know if they still do this, but we sat through a timeshare pitch and got a free activity that way!
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