Always Choose Hawaii

She let me hold her hand!

I had two options. I could either meal prep my food for the following week or I could book a flight to Hawaii and run away.

In January MJ mentioned that he'd be going to Oahu for work. I was open to the possibility of going along with him, but it would be very short notice. I tried to mentally process it, but couldn't do a thing until I knew it was really happening. One week he told me it would happen the following week. Then it got pushed back. I told him to let me know when he booked his flight, and not to pressure me. Many people would jump at the chance for a mostly all expenses paid trip to Hawaii under any circumstances, but maybe I'm not most people. Last minute ANYTHING makes me anxious. Packing makes me anxious. Missing work without advance notice makes me anxious. Spending hundreds of dollars spontaneously makes me anxious. I would come along, but only if the ticket prices were reasonable and I felt comfortable with my ability to pull it off.

He booked his flight, hotel reservation, and rental car on Monday. I booked my flight on Tuesday. We were on our way to Hawaii that Sunday, just five days after booking my flight. Normally I like to take a week to pack, but I did it in just a few days and the world did not end. Good to know.

I've never been to Hawaii during their "winter" so I really wasn't sure what to expect. My younger sister lives in Oahu, and that's the main reason I really wanted to go along. I told myself that even if it rains the entire time, it's worth it as long as I get to spend time with my sister and niece. We've already been three times to Oahu, once to Kauai, and once to Maui, so I wasn't sure when we'd be vacationing there again. I didn't want to pass up this opportunity to see them.

We were there for five nights, and it was different than other vacations because I spent a chunk of it on my own. The day we arrived, we checked into our hotel and then went out to get something to eat. It started pouring right after we made it back to our hotel. Hard. We could hear the wind and the rain whipping outside our balcony for the rest of the night.

We stayed at Hyatt Place which is perfectly situated a block from the beach and in the middle of all the shops and restaurants. We usually stay in the Hawaiian Village at the other end, so it was neat to experience a new location. I settled into a bit of a routine where I had the morning to myself to wake up whenever I pleased and head down to the hotel lobby for the free continental breakfast. They had some pretty good selections including eggs, meat and fruit. I'd sit and enjoy my breakfast, and linger over coffee while I read my book, surfed the internet, and did a little bit of writing. Around 12-1pm my brother in law would drop my sister and niece off at the hotel. MJ worked full days, but we got to eat dinner together every night.

On Monday the weather wasn't so great, so our only activities involved eating. We went to lunch and then hung out at the hotel. When MJ got off work, we went out to dinner and then hung out at the hotel some more.

On Tuesday we hiked Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail, which is about 2.5 miles round trip. It took us about 1 hour and 40 minutes to go all the way to the top and back. It was the perfect toddler friendly, trail for us to do together. The views along the entire trail are stunning. That night my brother in law joined us for dinner. I had Wednesday to myself which was an interesting experience, because it so rarely happens on vacation. I run errands by myself all the time, but in general I don't just hang out alone with myself by myself. I spent the day at the beach reading and it was really nice. I alternated between snacking, and gazing out at the water. Hawaii is absolutely beautiful. It's just a wonderful place to be alone or otherwise.

Thursday was our last full day there, and we spent it at the beach. MJ had a half work day, so we all got to enjoy the day together. My little niece is just the cutest thing. According to her, if we practice enough we can fly and in her spare time she enjoys hunting for treasure. She was just content as could be digging in the sand and eating snacks. The water is definitely cooler in the winter, but it's still way warmer than California beaches, and a million times more beautiful. Once you get in it feels pretty warm after, and we had such a nice time basking in the sun and splashing around in that clear aqua water. We really lucked out with the weather. Aside from Monday, it was good the rest of the days.

It was such a good trip. MJ travels quite a bit for work, and it was nice not to have to be left behind this time. We even managed to switch our seats around at check in both ways so we got to sit together. He'll probably have to go back to Oahu, and of course I won't be able to go every time, but I'm so glad I was able to make it work this time.

Moral of the story. Choose Hawaii.

I'm also going to include a few pictures from a wedding we went to in November that never made it on the blog. We attended my cousin's beautiful wedding in San Jose. Let me tell you it was fabulous. This was my second time staying in an AirBNB, but the first time booking one myself. We found a house for all of us to stay in together that was near enough to the airport and all the other wedding activities, that we could uber around as needed. We were in walking distance of the post wedding brunch and were able to keep our luggage at the house until we headed to the airport. It worked out really good. We got to spend a lot more time together than if we'd been in a hotel and saved some money too. It's hard getting us all together since we live in different states, but we do what we can.