I am finally getting the time to sit down to blog about our amazing trip to Maui, HI.

I have decided to spread this over a few blogs because it is so much to cover!

First blog will concern planning!

Joe and I always take a trip in May, it is our thing! 

Well after Greece last year, we thought that was going to be our last big trip for a while. 

However, after much consideration on what we wanted to do for both our 30th birthdays and our 3rd anniversary, we decided to forgo the parties or dinners and just take a trip!

We settled on Hawaii because it was on our bucket list. 

I set the ground rule- only 1 island for 7 day. 

I then let my hubby pick the island. 

You may ask why only 1 island? 

After Greece and London, which were both amazing, but busy, all we wanted to do was relax! 

Joe picked Maui and the process started. 

First looking into lodging. 

Joe and I both wrote down what we wanted:

Place with a kitchen- we knew that Maui was expensive and wanted to try to eat in for a lot of our meals!

Place with workout facilities (Yes we workout when we vacation!)

Place with a pool

Place on the beach- if I am going to Maui, I want to be on the beach!

Parking for our rental car

Balcony

So I started looking into the normal resorts and my jaw hit the floor. 

For the cheap rooms it was $450-600 a night! OMG, we can't afford this! 

That is when my dear old friend TripAdvior helped. 

I found a hotel, The Honua Kai which I loved. 

It had everything  we wanted and was on a great part of the island, near by to some of the best beaches which was important to Joe, but the cheapest room being 475 a night was way out of our budget.

($475 x 7= 3325).

So I typed the hotel into trip advisor and to my luck I found out that while it was a hotel, it also had condos which people actually rent! 

After reading a couple reviews on different condos and ruling out that we only need a one bedroom. 

I emailed one of the condo owners and could not be happier.  He wrote back stating that the charge was $225 a night (included taxes), so half the price of the hotel.  We still got to use all the amenities but would not get daily housekeeping, which I was totally fine with. 

So we booked our room at the Honau Kai for 7 nights. 

Where there cheaper places we could have stayed- Yes.  

But for what we got, a deluxe kitchen, gorgeous room, and the amenities available in the condo such as chairs for the beach, umbrella, cooler for our hike, extra towels, guide books, movies, free wifi, parking, 3 pools, 2 gyms, concierge service- we felt the price was worth it. 

At the same time I was also pricing tickets for airlines, again super expensive. 

Seriously, I am going to Hawaii, not Europe. 

Prices on United, American, etc were $1200 per person! 

Again I was starting to think this trip just might not happen but then I extended my search and found that Alaskan Airlines flies to Maui by way of Seattle from DCA- total ticket price $710 per person.  Sold! When I presented this to Joe I basically said- we can have a layover in Seattle and afford to go to Hawaii or go thru LA and have to break the bank (ie not go).

This was a no brainer for us because it basically made the trip that much more affordable.

Total Airline Budget:

Airfare:  710 X2 = 1420

Baggage fee 20 x 2 (1 bag going, 1 bag coming back)= 40

1460

So for $3,000 we had our tickets purchased and hotel/condo reserved!

This was actually right on our budget! 

This may sounds like a lot to some people but Hawaii is expensive and airfare is ridiculous now!
This also might be expensive for some people but when I look into getting a house in NC or VA beach for a week it would over $2000 so Hawaii for a little bit more was worth it.
Joe and I also plan to but $150 away each month for vacations so we had it completely paid for, which was a bonus. 

I was also smart enough to space these purchases out so we payed them over a span of months. 
This is how we pay for all of our vacations and to be honest is probably why we can afford to do this- it helps to play way ahead and make a spread sheet for each trip with all the expensives, dates paid, uncoming payments, contact information, etc

But the entire vacation was paid for two months prior to leaving for it!

Which is always an amazing feeling to me!

Next up..  Traveling Alaskan!