Happy Thursday!
Are you ready for a Travel Tips Thursday post? One of my favorite tips involves my overall style of travel: which is laid-back and typically budget-friendly.
This goes without saying, but we all know five star resorts are absolute heaven. The amenities, the beautiful grounds, the service, the food, who wouldn’t want to travel to these kinds of resorts all the time? I’m still waiting to win the lottery, but until then, that kind of travel is not always in the cards. For me, I have decided that a few vacations each year is much more important than to live it up for one week in a posh resort.
The perfect alternative for us is renting a condo when we travel. You’d be surprised but most condos include all of the standard amenities of a typical hotel, from a pool to an exercise room, and the grounds of the “resort” are usually well landscaped. My favorite part of renting a condo is having a kitchen to cook breakfast or dinner, so we can try to save a little money on food expenses. While in Kona we stayed in a condo that had this view:
With a view like that, who wouldn’t want to wake up and eat breakfast out on the lanai every single day?
What about you? Where do you usually stay on vacation?
Pictures and Plane Tickets 
I love renting condos too! I’ve done it in Cannes and Maui, and we just booked one for next month in Waikiki. Speaking of- any tips for Oahu? I’ve been but it was a decade ago and my parents did all the planning.
Hi gorgeous Rachel!
Waikiki! That’s going to be a blast. A travel buddy and I were just talking last week about how Oahu is her favorite island because it’s so diverse. I love the laid back North Shore style and she’s all about the nightlife in Waikiki (and having the OPTION to go up to the quieter North Shore when she wants to). I really liked Pearl Harbor if you’re wanting to learn a little bit about the history of the island, and of course, you have to stop by Haleiwa. Are you renting a car? (PS, I can’t WAIT to read about your trip!)
Hi! Yes, I remember liking Pearl Harbor too and I’m actually going to meet my boyfriend out there and he’s a Naval Officer who’s in port there, so I’ll definitely be returning there. We will have a car and I hope to spend some time on the north shore. Any restaurant/shack/beach/whatever recommendations would be great! He’s never been to a luau- can you recommend one of those?
It’s been YEARS since I’ve been to O’ahu but I remember there were a bunch of food trucks on the North Shore that were great. Goofy’s in Waikiki comes highly recommended (although I’ve never been there myself–It’s on my list for next time though).
Have you tried the Loco Moco on any of your trips to Hawaii? If you haven’t, TRY IT. We did last time and actually kind of liked it. 🙂
I’ve heard nothing but AMAZING things about the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau. My friend who loves O’ahu said to spend the money and UPGRADE at that luau, it is worth every penny.
There’s always SKYDIVING on the North Shore or swimming with sharks (in a shark cage of course). Those two things are at the top of my “to-do” list when I finally get back to O’ahu.
Lately, I have been using AirBandB to save money on longer trips. This summer we’re renting a house on the California coast from there. All the amenities we need included and room for our dogs!
Hey! I will definitely have to check out AirBandB… Renting a house on the California coast, that sounds AMAZING 🙂 especially if you can bring your dogs along. 🙂
you are absolutely right! during our honey moon we used air b&b all the way. We thought this will save us some pennies, as you know, Hawaii is an expensive place 🙂 and it was great, we met so many lovely people and stayed in the most amazing paces plus saw a real Hawaiian life, the way that Hawaiians live, which you wouldn’t see if you stayed in a hotel 🙂
Seems like you had a nice accommodation and the view is stunning! 🙂
That’s one of my favorite things about traveling… learning about and seeing the culture and the “real way of life.” It’s so interesting! Another reader just mentioned Air B&B as well… this is something I’m going to have to check out! I guess I need to plan another trip 😉 😉 Thank you! 🙂
Great post. Still miss that beautiful view.
I miss it too… I knew that the entire resort had amazing views, but little did I know we would be living almost over the ocean 🙂 can we go back?? soon…!