Hawaii?

Well, if you move to the Big Island the real estate prices are actually really reasonable. You've probably picked up that I'm in IT too. Tons of jobs in the hospitality market, but it seems to be kind of shitty employers. I'm a higher ed guy, so unless something opens up at UH there, it probably isn't going to work out for me.

All this being said, if you're wanting a beach and Hawaii isn't a must-do, we went here in September:

http://delsolphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Jeanne+Mike_W_SS_0003.jpg

Excellence Riviera Cancun. Was easily my favorite vacation of all time. Our goal was to stay at the resort and do absolutely nothing. Mission accomplished. There's tons of stuff to do if you insist on leaving, but our goal was to drink and eat our faces off.

They have a full open bar in your room restocked daily. 7 (?) sit-down gourmet restaurants with no reservations required. Sometimes we ate two dinners a night. This was $2600 for two people direct out of Richmond. You're mentioning family, so this might not be an option since it's adults-only.

If you knew me personally, you'd know I hate going to the same place twice, and I would go to Excellence every year if I could. It was that good.

That site looks breath-taking!!!

Just was in Kauai, HI in October. We wanted to go to a bunch of different islands, but only really had 8-10 days and were told that would probably be too short to really enjoy more than one.

So we settled on Kauai, "The Garden Isle," and wow was it incredible. If you do end up going to Kauai, I can only really comment on what I ended up doing.

1) Do the ATV tour. I did Kipu ranch ATV tour and it was absolutely breathtaking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQd7TeHXaPU

2) Hike the Na Pali cost. I mean where else are you going to get this view?

http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/sites/default/files/field/image/06072.jpg

3) Go to Hanalei Bay. Great waves and surfing if you are into it. You can rent a long board from one of the local towns and they are pretty easy to get up on. Be careful tho, I busted my nose up pretty bad- those waves are no joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdWxfnXLOA8


Finally, to answer your question; Yes I would absolutely go back. I got engaged while I was out there, and we plan on making it back in the next few years. If you need any ideas for good places in Kauai to see or restaurants to eat PM me and I'll send you over our itinerary.

Final note: This is the picture I took from where I watched the Redskins Ravens game this year (7am local time) Not a bad place to celebrate a win.
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet (http://imgur.com/a/59ti4)

If I moved to Hawaii, I would love to have a view where on one side of the house is ocean front, and then on the other side is the mountainous view! Hawaii seems to be the only place I know of where you can actually have this type of view. Best of both worlds! My wife is a huge snow lover. I know on the Big Island, you can go up the mountain where all the snow is, and then go back down the mountain and then sun-bath out next to the ocean. Best of both worlds!

Would love to know how the Big Island is. That's the only one we haven't been to, but people seem to love it.

I have some family on the big island, snokerling in a laguana was the coolest thing I did there. We would stay with my aunt and uncle who had a tiny house far from the beaches and cool things to do so I didnt really get to experience the big island as a teenager. When my aunt or uncle got off work, they would take us to waterfalls, etc. All the things you expect from Hawaii.

Kauai was awesome bc I got to do touristy stuff like picking fresh guave off the vine (amazing), horseback riding and lauas.

Snorkeling in a laguna, guave and lauas are a must imo.

It's funny though. As much of a beach person as I claim to be, I can't swim a lick, which tends to eat into the ability to do a lot of snorkeling lol!

Definitely want to go someday, that 12 hour flight though... think I'd break it up and stay in San Fran for a night or two

Definitely want to go someday, that 12 hour flight though... think I'd break it up and stay in San Fran for a night or two

I live on the east coast as well (like a lot of 'skins fans here), so yeah, that long flight is not something I'd be looking forward to. I think you have the right idea MTK! Spend a little time in Cali and then head over to Hawaii.

We usually would connect in Denver. Makes it a LOT more tolerable. Have done a direct from BWI and it's just torture even knowing you're going somewhere awesome.

We usually would connect in Denver. Makes it a LOT more tolerable. Have done a direct from BWI and it's just torture even knowing you're going somewhere awesome.

Which airline do you normally use for Hawaii trips?

The cheapest one. :D

But being real, if I had to go back again (her grandma has since moved to Las Vegas to be in assisted living near my sister-inlaw) I'd go first class. I could tolerate the long flight if I had some room to lay back and stretch out. Both my in-laws are pilots for Southwest based in Vegas and they obviously swear by them. If you want to get drunk on a plane, do Southwest. Personally, I like me some Delta.