Aloha!
I recently got back from 6 days in Oahu, Hawaii (plus 2 days of travel). Let me tell you, ballin’ on a budget is NOT easy in Hawaii!! Everything has to be imported so pretty much everything is way more expensive than it is here on the “mainland“. I knew this going into it, but then fully realized it when I got there. I have been to Hawaii a bunch of times before when i was a small child, but obviously kids don’t pay attention to the cost of things. Adult Savannah FULLY knows how much things cost and wasn’t excited about that part of it.
Honestly, because it was so expensive and I was already stressed about some work/life things happening, I had a hard time relaxing and enjoying the vacation fully. I’ve never really had this happen and it was disappointing to be in a bad mood while you’re in a beautiful place trying to have a good time.
Day 1:
We left Dallas around 3pm, had a layover in LA for like 30 minutes, then got to Honolulu around 11pm Hawaii time. The flights were fine, but be warned that since it’s not considered international they will not feed you on either flight. Bring snacks!
We decided to try Turo for our rental car this time and it was actually a really good experience. Normally with rental cars you have to somehow get to the rental car place, wait for them to finally get to you, then they don’t have the car ready or the kind you paid for, then they try to get you to buy all of this insurance on top of it and it ends up being a nightmare. With Turo everything is done on the app beforehand and you make your pickup arrangements directly with the person renting the car. It’s basically like AirBnb, but for cars. (not an ad!)
We got picked up from the airport by our Turo then dropped the girl at her house with the agreement that when the trip was over we would meet her back at the house and she would drive us to the airport. My only complaint was that her house was about 45 minutes out of the way, but it still ended up being a good deal overall. We had a Nissan Versa which was the perfect size for our needs as well as being great on gas.
We dropped her off and then headed to Waikiki to find our AirBnb. It was fairly easy to find, even in the dark (since by then it was after midnight). It was just a few blocks from the beach and right in the heart of the action. It was really easy to walk to ABC stores, restaurants, and tons of things to do. Hotels in Hawaii are REALLY expensive so AirBnbs can be a great option. Most of them looked fairly sketchy so I was very lucky to find one as nice as the one I had.
A local did tell me that the government in Hawaii is trying to get rid of AirBnb because lots of people are buying up property to rent out for that instead of letting locals rent to actually live there. The result is that now a studio apartment could be as high as $1,500 a month…. ridiculous. While I sympathize with their inability to have affordable housing, I don’t think that the government should be able to tell people what they can and can’t do with their homes. It’s a tricky situation.
Day 2:
We slept in a bit since the time change was hitting us hard and we didn’t get in until super late Dallas time. Once we woke up and got our bearings we headed out to find some coffee and brunch.
We ended up at Island Vintage Coffee Company in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. It was easily the best coffee we had the entire trip so if you’re going to be in Honolulu (or see one somewhere else on the islands) make sure to stop and give it a try! Our favorite was the Island Latte; hot or cold are both good, but hot is better if you can handle hot coffee mixed with the warm weather. We also go an Acai bowl to split which was also delicious. The wait can be pretty long so just be prepared, but it’s totally worth it.
We walked around Waikiki a bit, saw the Duke statue, visited a Japanese food hall, had some poke, and then headed to the beach to enjoy the afternoon. Going in August is really the perfect time in my opinion to go to Hawaii. Kids are back in school so fewer families are on vacation, which means normally crowded Waikiki Beach is now just nicely busy. The water was PERFECT. I even put my head in the water (which for those of you with blonde hair you know how rare that is! #greenhairbeware)
I could have bobbed around in the ocean for hoursssss. It was exactly what I needed after having some fairly large life stress the past few months. Bobbing around in the water reminded me of when I used to live in Orange County, CA when I was little and my dad and I would go out into the water and bob around forever. He would let me sit on his shoulders and when waves would come we would yell “UP AND OVERRRRR”. #nostalgia
After the beach we showered and headed basically right back to where we had been to see the free Hula show that the Grand Hyatt Hotel puts on. We sneaked our way to front row seats and had a great time watching all of the dancers and listening to an authentic Hawaiian group play music. I even got called up on the stage and was given a special Lei! I managed to make it back home with it all in tact and it’s now hanging proudly on my bookshelf in my office. We walked around the city some more and got Round 2 of Poke plus some Garlic Shrimp then called it a night.
To be continued…..
-Savvy