Back in 2018, I took a trip to Honolulu on the island of O’Ahu in Hawaii. It was not the first time I had been to Hawaii. Back when I was a kid, my birth family went to Maui, I was about 14 years old. Flying fish and the luau was my favorite part of the experience. Well that and getting to see Speed 2 in a movie theater that had a thatched roof. I found out I was going to Honolulu in Q1 of 2018, to get deals, the family had to book in advance. The main trip took place later that year in November. We flew out of SFO (San Francisco International). Flight time was about 5 hours and 40 min and to kick off, we all had mimosas on the flight.

*View of the lagoon at the Hilton Hawaiian*

We all stayed in Waikiki Bay south of the airport. I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian while the rest of the family stayed at a hotel further down the bay, I believe it was the Sheraton. Unfortunately for them, it was 1 of 5 hotels in the area at the time that was being picketed by union workers. It’s hard to enjoy a tropical paradise when you have to pick up water, toilet paper, towels, and more in the halls as their is no wait or cleaning staff. For that reason alone, I had a much better overall experience.

Traveling in a large group, family or not, always has it’s complications. This particular trip, there was 9 of us total. Planned activities, schedules, opinions, those who compromise, and those who don’t. Never a dull moment for better or worse.

*Photo’s from the Kuhio Beach Park and the Hilton*

Just for fun we all went to dinner at the Yard House. Fun fact, 1 of 6 Yard Hose locations in the US I have been to, but who’s counting.

The main purpose of the trip was not time with family; my brother was proposing to his now wife. Family time was something you squeezed among all the scheduled items. Leading up to the main event, I went shopping at the International Market Place and got a green jumpsuit from Anthropology I wore to the engagement dinner. It started at a hotel and then went to a nice sushi restaurant.

One of the typical things you do when traveling to one of the Hawaiian islands is go to a Luau. In Maui, I remember my teenage brother being ever excited about the hula dancers. As I was learning how to hula myself at the time, I was also excited, just for a different reason. I remember being forced to try poi, I was not a fan, very child hood paste vibes, by brother however, ate enough for the whole table.

In Honolulu, there are many many places you can see a luau. In fact there are many places you can go right on Waikiki beach that have great reviews. My family however, decided to take a different approach, one that put us on a bus that shuttled us 30+ min away to our luau destination. They had a gift shop, I paid extra to hold a parrot and have our picture taken, but overall there was nothing extra special about this luau than something I’m sure we could have experienced closer to the hotel.

During the trip, I would have loved to go to the Pearl Harbor Museum but it was closed for updates at the time. One of the days, I got to spend time down by the pool with my dad who happily took a nap. Another day, between scheduled events, I also made a lei at the Hilton, one of the many activities they offer onsite. The very last day, I spent lots of time by the pool getting all the vitamin D I could take.

DIY Craft Idea. I have heard a lot of people who bring back sand when traveling to beaches and since I knew in advanced something BIG was going to happen on the trip, I brought a ziplock with me to bring some home. Now I will say, a number of people looked at me oddly when I was on the beach and busted out a ziplock, lol. After we got back, Christmas was right around the corner and I got an idea for an ornament.

I took little glass vials and metal tags you can find at any craft store along with the typical luau shell necklaces we also got in Honolulu. On the tags I used metal stamps to stamp out Ohana on the front, which to anyone who has never been to Hawaii or seen Lilo and Stitch means family in Hawaiian. On the back 2018, the year we took the trip. Then I glued the tag to the lid so it would’t get tossed around when screwed down.

To assemble, I put a bit of the sand and the shells in the bottom and the screwed the lid with the custom tag. I added a Christmas ornament hook and it’s as simple as that. I had enough supplies to make one for all of the people who went on the trip and then some. It was a nice quick DIY gift that I still hang on my tree each year.

Including this tip, I’ve now been to 2 of the 7 islands; Maui and O’ahu. My goal is to go to all 50 states and travel new parts of the world and I’ve already been blessed to check off Hawaii twice. However, if I ever have the opportunity to go back to Hawaii again, I would love to explore Kauai, known as the Garden Isle, but it would be great to get the change to go back to O’ahu, anytime, any day.

Cheers,

Honolulu, HI

Morro Bay, CA