[sterlingice]

Not certain we're doing it, but we're kicking around the idea of Hawaii in June. I've got some Marriott certs expiring and United flights there aren't awful right now from Houston ($600pp). The Marriott certs are good for cat 5 hotels, of which there are 2: one in Honolulu and one on the big island. There's a bit of appeal that all travelers either have to be vaccinated or negative test within 24 hours.

Also, bringing our 6yo. However, much like when we took him to Toronto/Niagara in 2019- we're taking the trip for us and he's pretty patient and willing to do most stuff as long as dad and mom are there. For example, we drove to New Mexico and had a 2 week vacation last year and he enjoyed Carlsbad, White Sands (especially the sledding), Roswell, bike ride in Albuquerque, Bandolier, Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, and Capulin. He was chill for the 13 hour driving day from Houston to Carlsbad (with some stops). He also is good for about 6 miles walking (though less at elevation). So he's a pretty patient kid and pretty flexible kid, as long as we give him something to do and some attention. The whole point of this paragraph is just because I swear if you tell someone you have a kid, they suggest all the kiddie stuff and so you miss a lot of the better things.

Was brainstorming ideas with a friend of mine who was at U of H for 3 years. I don't know if we're going to be able to make it back for many years so I want to try and hit the "must sees". We're not just going to sit on a beach for 5 days so "what is the best beach" is fine, but we're probably only going to do the beach a couple of days and it looks like there are a lot of good beaches. Things like snorkeling or swimming with the rays or turtles - that's be pretty cool. Oahu seems like there are a number of things that are unique and worth going to (Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, Iolani Palace, etc), even if it's not "classic Hawaii" like some of the other islands are. We're big on outdoors stuff, especially as we're still talking COVID, but we're not the camping sorts. If you give us a 3 hour hike to and from some cool waterfall or to see some cool animals/plants, that's in our wheelhouse - you notice the giant list of National Parks from the New Mexico list. Or some experience we can't see elsewhere - like I bet I'd enjoy one of the beach days, chilling and watching folks surf for an hour.

We're looking at about 10~12 days. I think that means we're looking at 2 islands in that time - 3 would be pushing it. The Courtyard on Kona looks quite good and a leading candidate for where I could use those Marriott certs. In that case, we'd be doing Oahu and the Big Island. In a weird way, it seems like Maui and the Big Island have similar things. Kauai is the only thing that really gives me pause there as there sound like there are a number of cool, unique things. But, I don't really see a way to really squeeze 3 islands into our timeframe. Thoughts? Advice? Not even sure we're doing this, but my wife is pushing pretty hard for this and it kindof fits what we're looking for.

SI