Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Tonya Goes To Hawaii - The Back Story and the Planning Begins

It has always been a dream of my mother's to go to Hawaii. She must have seen movies and pictures as a child and always imagined herself sitting on a beach under a palm tree while the sun shines and the surfers surf. Not a bad dream to have, right?

The only problem was my father didn't really have a desire to go, so her dream of seeing the 50th State was pushed to the back burner. But as time has gone by and no one was getting any younger or healthier, my father announced one day last July that they were going Hawaii for Christmas and that I was coming along so that mom would have someone to do things with. (His idea of a vacation is to sit on a lounge chair and read a book in between naps.) Hmmmm. A free trip to Hawaii or spend Christmas by myself. That is a tough decision. I AM GOING TO HAWAII!!!

Now the tough decisions have to be made. Should we island hop or cruise? How long should we go for? What do we actually want to see while we are there? Will this be an adventure trip or a relaxing trip? What is the weather like in Hawaii over Christmas? Is it warm enough to swim? How many vowels does the Hawaiian language have? Should we rent a car while we are there? Will Mom eat Spam while we are there? Where will Brody Baby spend his holiday? The choices are endless!!!

The first thing Mom and I did (because Dad is not the planner on this adventure - only the payer) was to buy a couple of guide books. After reading said guide books, we were almost as confused as before. But eventually we sorted out that we should cruise and treat the ship as a floating hotel since this would be our first time in Hawaii. So I emailed our handy dandy travel agent (Tracy Whipple at travelonadream.com) and booked the cruise. One decision done!

The next decision is to decide when to arrive in Hawaii and when to leave. Mom decided that we should arrive 2 days early and spend 3 days after the cruise. But where should we stay? Since Dad spent his 20 years in the Army, we checked out if Hale Koa (the military resort on Waikiki) was available. Low and behold it was available pre-cruise but not available post-cruise. Hmmmm, one more decision to make!!! Wait a minute!!! Disney Vacation Club just opened up Aulani!!! So I find a friend with points to rent and we make a reservation. Two decisions done!

Now, how are we going to get there? Fly of course - but getting my mother to make a decision on flights is a chore. (Sorry Mom but it is true. But I still love you.) Mom still thinks that it is 1995 and that the price of flights will keep dropping until two weeks before the flight. I know this isn't true but she never believes me. Tsk tsk tsk. And then Dad insists that he wants a direct flight from Atlanta and we will drive to Atlanta. (This always sounds good until you are on your way home and have to drive over 2 hours after a long trip.) So I do the only sensible thing and set up a few kayak.com alerts on flights so I can watch the pricing. Finally I find what I think are decent flights at a good price and get everyone on board with the plan. Three decisions done!

Three decisions down and a hundred more to go. Stay tuned!!!

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