The Long Road To Our Hawaiian Vacation

Before I dive in to blog about our vacation, let me talk a little bit first about how we decided to go to Hawaii and explain why it took so dang long for us to get there.

Lots of people want to visit Hawaii at some point in their lives - I mean it's paradise, right? But Hawaii actually wasn't on the top of my list as a place to vacation until a few years ago. Doug was working at a large company that invited employees once a year to go on extravagant trips who succeeded in sales. Doug was "killing it" that particular year and was on track to earn that trip - a trip to Hawaii. I honestly can't even remember which particular island the trip was to now, but it was kind of a big deal to get invited. Bri was still quite young, but she was old enough to be able to go if we chose to take her along. Kids on these kinds of trips aren't really encouraged, but I wasn't ready to leave her for an extended period of time at that time. We were going to make it work.

According to the rules to earn the trip, the rules that had always been in place, Doug earned that trip. Well, until the company (for lack of a better word) "screwed" him out of it. For some reason, they decided to surprisingly change the rules as they tabulated the results that year. Maybe because too many people would have earned the trip? I'm not sure. Doug ended up just missing the cut because of that last minute, unfair rule change. We were pretty angry. And let's just say, Doug didn't stay at that company too much longer.

We had been talking to Bri about Hawaii and she had been pretty excited about the possibility of going on that trip. We had to break the news to her that it wasn't going to happen. She got over it, but she still talked about "the trip daddy didn't get" for years.

Doug and I agreed maybe it was for the best. If we had gone on that trip, it would have been on his company's terms and not ours. We decided when we did go, it would be completely on our terms.

It's an expensive trip (to say the least), so we wanted to wait until we could go the way we wanted to. We wanted Bri to be a bit older. Doug accepted a job with a start-up company and he traveled a ton, so it wasn't the right time for us to go for quite a while.

Then I got so sick. Sick physically and sick emotionally (big time anxiety issues) - for several years. The thought of a plane ride that long and being that far away from home was completely overwhelming for me. And I had already been to China and brought home a baby - so how crazy is that logic? That is what anxiety can do to a person.

I cannot tell you how many people I saw go to and from Hawaii over those years I was sick. People going on MY trip to Hawaii before me (lol!). It was frustrating to say the least.

Doug and I started really kicking around the idea to go last year. I still wasn't sure when to go. We couldn't figure out if we should go on a school break or wait until summer break. We didn't know which island to pick. We kept pushing it back.

Finally, we made the decision to go right when Bri got out of school, so we weren't constrained to the limits of a week long vacation. When Bri got home, we wanted to her have time to get over her jet lag (and us get over ours!).

Doug and I asked people all over the place their opinions on which island to go to, what we should do, where should we stay, should we island hop - pretty much everything.

I am the kind of traveler who likes to go to one place and get the most out of it. I think that may be why I am not the biggest fan of cruises because of the limited time you get in one place (and also because I do get motion sickness on boats). I'm also not a huge "road trip" person - hopping from place to place. Moving from hotel to hotel. I'm more of a "let's go to this one place and explore the heck out of it for a while" kind of person.

So, Doug and I decided (after much thought, discussion and research) on Maui. Just Maui. We have nothing against the other Hawaiian islands because I know they are all beautiful. Maui just spoke to us. We researched the places to go and see on that island. Even with 7 full days (plus two flying days), we still didn't get to see everything we hoped. But we definitely saw enough of Maui to feel like our trip was a huge success.

I told Doug that even just two years ago, I couldn't have gone on this trip. I wasn't ready physically or emotionally. So, this trip was a BIG deal for me. I wasn't just going on vacation - I was proving to myself that I could still actually do it. I know that may sound silly, but anxiety is a huge beast that tells you that you can't do things. I have uttered more "what ifs" over the years than you can even imagine. You have to try to ignore what anxiety is telling you - but it is damn hard sometimes. And because this trip was far away, expensive and a long time coming, there was added pressure for me for things to go well. I wanted everyone to stay healthy (I've had a number of bad experiences going on trips and then getting sick), and I wanted to get there and back in one piece. The trip to Hawaii itself for me was anxiety inducing.

And on a little side note, I am so happy and proud that Doug finally got his well-deserved "company" trip this year to Thailand. He freaking earned that trip! It was a long time coming let me tell you! (And if you read this whole post - you will all understand why I didn't join him in Thailand.)

So, that is the long road to our Hawaiian vacation. Believe me, I know how blessed I am that we got to go on this amazing trip. And I am so grateful that it went so well. Yes there were hiccups - as all trips have, but overall, the experience was more than I could have ever asked for. From the amazing hotel to the beautiful sites to the delicious food, it was spectacular.

And I did it. Which means I can do even bigger things now (hopefully).

Here I go...now on to our sensational trip to Maui...