AW: Hawaii Trip

brij2006 · February 2016

We got back early Sunday morning from our trip to Hawaii. Amazing! Wow! Breathtaking! H and I found ourselves just pulling over to the side of the road and taking in the view, many times.

We started off in Honolulu for 2 days. The full day we were there, we went did a tour that included Pearl Harbor and a circle drive of the island. Pearl Harbor was very humbling and we were both glad we added that island and stop to our itinerary. The rest of Honolulu was "meh." It reminded us a lot of Vegas, except you can't drink on the streets.

Then we took an inner-island flight to Maui and picked up a convertible for the week. It was wonderful! Drove all the way around the entire island (even the parts they try to scare you away from). The back side of Road to Hana was nothing like everyone describes. It was truly a beautiful experience, with the exception of white knuckling it a few times. We found ourselves pulling over to take it all in, many times.

It was the perfect blend of adventure for me and relaxation for my husband. We went kayaking to see the whales (saw a ton of them), did a helicopter tour of the island, a lot of hiking to waterfalls, saw the sunrise at Haleakala Crater, gorged on seafood and fresh fruit, and got to watch the professionals surfing on 50ft waves.

MM wise, this was definitely an expensive trip. I haven't ran the exact numbers yet from my receipts, but I know we came in under budget. However, breakfast was usually $50 for the 2 of us, and we did have 1 nice dinner at $275 (worth every penny). We're foodies though, so half of our plans were centered around where we could get amazing food.

Here are some pictures from my phone. There's the north side mountains, back side of Road to Hana, us at the Luau, a Blowhole, sunrise at Haleakala Crater above the clouds, and a memorial at Pearl Harbor.
All the waterfall pictures are on my big camera, which isn't at work with me.

short+sassy · February 2016

I'm so glad you all enjoyed the trip so much! Sounds amazing. You all look great and right at home with your flower leis.

I love the food in Hawaii and miss being able to get at least a resemblance of it in CA. Just the best fresh fruit and juices everywhere. And so much of the food is specific just to Hawaii.

I've been to Pearl Harbor and agree with it being a humbling experience, but definitely a place people should go if they are on Oahu.

hoffse · February 2016

Really beautiful and sounds like you guys had a great trip! Did your H mind all the adventure? IIRC you said he liked more relaxing vacations.

Neither H nor I have been to Hawaii yet, and we've talked about doing it for a babymoon (hate the term, love the concept) if/when that happens. It's kind of a long flight for us, but about the same as Europe from the east coast. Would Maui be a good destination for that? Seems like it could work well given the weather, health insurance considerations, and lack of Zika right now.

brij2006 · February 2016

hoffse said:

Really beautiful and sounds like you guys had a great trip! Did your H mind all the adventure? IIRC you said he liked more relaxing vacations.

Neither H nor I have been to Hawaii yet, and we've talked about doing it for a babymoon (hate the term, love the concept) if/when that happens. It's kind of a long flight for us, but about the same as Europe from the east coast. Would Maui be a good destination for that? Seems like it could work well given the weather, health insurance considerations, and lack of Zika right now.

He did surprisingly well. Kayaking was comical. He plays basketball for exercise and works on his feet all day, but he's definitely not a very active person otherwise. So the effort needed for that, he wasn't very happy with me. But other than that, he actually was the one looking up hiking trails and trying to find where the best waterfalls were to hike to. We did 1 day of vegging on the beach, and we both only lasted a couple hours till we were ready to go somewhere. There was just so much to see and within such a short distance, that we found it more relaxing to go for a drive and stop off for lunch than lay on the beach and get sunburnt. The convertible also helped with that.

Maui would be a good babymoon place. But that would be a very long flight while pregnant. There was 1 woman on the plane that was 7 months pregnant. We flew from Chicago and it was a hefty 8 hours. She was miserable after about 5 and kept joking that Hawaii better be worth the cankles. However, the weather would be superb for a baby moon, and the alcoholic drinks are very expensive no matter what you order. So not being able to drink while there, wouldn't be a big deal IMO and I'm a moderate drinker. It also has the perfect blend of relaxation and activity. So you could make it whatever you want, depending on how you feel that day.

If you want something more on the relaxing side, the island of Kauai is less populated and has very similar offerings. We have already said whenever we go back, we'll probably go there. Maui isn't as populated as Oahu, but it still seemed to be a pretty busy island.

hoffse · February 2016

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not sure how I would do on a flight like that given that I've never been pregnant before. I know I can manage flights of that length normally. We'll have to see what happens. We're probably going to TTC this fall, and who knows how long it will take.

H and I were originally thinking Caribbean because of the distance, but with Zika that's off the table if we are pregnant a year from now.

We have family in CA, so we also talked about doing a stopover there for a couple days to break up the flight if we go to HI.

vlagrl29 · February 2016

Glad you had a great time. We had a blast there on our honeymoon. I too felt like you did about honolulu. I'm glad we saw pearl harbor but I was just having the best time ever in Kauai. We are going back for our 10 year anniversary in less than 4 years. We felt very MM about it. We did it for 3k. We saved money by renting a beach house and making our own breakfast and even lunch. We did splurge for great seafood obviously.

vlagrl29 · February 2016

I would not do a baby moon that required that much flying time. Though my pregnancy was horrible so I always stayed close to home. For us it was 9 hours total of travel time.

hoffse · February 2016

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

als1982 · February 2016

Love this! Funny enough, H brought up a trip to Hawaii last night!! I actually went in 2014 with my mom. We spent four days on Oahu on a quiet side of the island, four days in Maui and then 2 back on Oahu but near Waikiki. Each stop was awesome. Different but beautiful. Thanks for sharing your photos!!

als1982 · February 2016

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I enjoyed HawaiI and think everyone should go once, but I'm personally of the opinion that for the cost and travel time, if you're wanting a beach, I'd go to Florida, Mexico or the Caribbean. It's hard for me to grapple with spending 9 hours on a plane an still be in the US. ETA: And this is from someone whose longest flight lasted just over 14 hours (Sydney to LA plus an additional three to get home to Kansas City).

hoffse · February 2016

als1982 said:

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I enjoyed HawaiI and think everyone should go once, but I'm personally of the opinion that for the cost and travel time, if you're wanting a beach, I'd go to Florida, Mexico or the Caribbean. It's hard for me to grapple with spending 9 hours on a plane an still be in the US.

Yeah I hear you - that's why we usually do Europe, because it's the same distance.

We just aren't going to do Zika areas next winter while TTC. That's why we're looking at alternatives.

I'm sort of drawn to the Big Island because I want to see a volcano in action. Possibly not the best choice of activities while pregnant though, lol

vlagrl29 · February 2016

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I didn't think it was a big deal. We did red eye coming back and I won't do that again because I can't sleep on planes. It took me a couple days to get use to the time change. I'm a wimp when it comes to that. We travelled from KC - Denver - Honolulu to and from. Denver to Honlulu was 7 hours and it was such a big plane you forgot you were in the air - no turbulence.

Next time I think we will go to Kauai again and the big Island. I love Kauai - its where we would love to retire.

als1982 · February 2016

hoffse said:

als1982 said:

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I enjoyed HawaiI and think everyone should go once, but I'm personally of the opinion that for the cost and travel time, if you're wanting a beach, I'd go to Florida, Mexico or the Caribbean. It's hard for me to grapple with spending 9 hours on a plane an still be in the US.

Yeah I hear you - that's why we usually do Europe, because it's the same distance.

We just aren't going to do Zika areas next winter while TTC. That's why we're looking at alternatives.

I'm sort of drawn to the Big Island because I want to see a volcano in action. Possibly not the best choice of activities while pregnant though, lol

Have you thought about the Canary Islands? That's probably closer for you in reality. That's now what we're thinking. A few days in Spain or Portugal and then a resort there. We've been to Tenerife and Lanzarote and loved both - so unique!!

hoffse · February 2016

als1982 said:

hoffse said:

als1982 said:

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I enjoyed HawaiI and think everyone should go once, but I'm personally of the opinion that for the cost and travel time, if you're wanting a beach, I'd go to Florida, Mexico or the Caribbean. It's hard for me to grapple with spending 9 hours on a plane an still be in the US.

Yeah I hear you - that's why we usually do Europe, because it's the same distance.

We just aren't going to do Zika areas next winter while TTC. That's why we're looking at alternatives.

I'm sort of drawn to the Big Island because I want to see a volcano in action. Possibly not the best choice of activities while pregnant though, lol

Have you thought about the Canary Islands? That's probably closer for you in reality. That's now what we're thinking. A few days in Spain or Portugal and then a resort there. We've been to Tenerife and Lanzarote and loved both - so unique!!

Interesting idea - I've thought it about it briefly, but haven't discussed with H. I will need to do some digging!

I would really love to finally see Spain, but it would need to be spring before the weather there is comfortable. I think the Canary Islands are further south though.

Off to research!

brij2006 · February 2016

That's a hard one. Hawaii is truly beautiful and is a place that has its own things to offer.

It really depends on what you're looking for. If you want to just lay by the beach and veg out, then I would say save the money and go Caribbean. Much quicker flight and cheaper option.

If you want it to be a last hoorah of travel for just the 2 of you, then I would say to rent a fun car (Jeep, Mustang, convertible, whatever floats your boat) and experience one of the islands.

By what I've taken from you, you guys aren't much for beach laying and doing nothing. So then I would say Caribbean may not be your style unless you're willing to pay for excursions to have experiences. Which in that case, you may end up being to the price of Hawaii.

One thing I will add. We priced out Antigua, St Lucia, Costa Rica, and Hawaii for winter. I was shocked by the lack of price difference. Granted the Caribbean options were all-inclusive resorts. So we still had to pay for our food and other incidentals with Hawaii. But Hawaii and Costa Rica were only a $500 difference and those were the 2 we had it narrowed down to. We knew, for the price, Hawaii was going to give us much more of an experience.

Do some more research about the Big Island. It may be a good option as well, or you could always island hop. It didn't add much to our trip as far as cost, to go from 1 place to the next.

short+sassy · February 2016

brij2006 said:

That's a hard one. Hawaii is truly beautiful and is a place that has its own things to offer.
It really depends on what you're looking for. If you want to just lay by the beach and veg out, then I would say save the money and go Caribbean. Much quicker flight and cheaper option.
If you want it to be a last hoorah of travel for just the 2 of you, then I would say to rent a fun car (Jeep, Mustang, convertible, whatever floats your boat) and experience one of the islands.

By what I've taken from you, you guys aren't much for beach laying and doing nothing. So then I would say Caribbean may not be your style unless you're willing to pay for excursions to have experiences. Which in that case, you may end up being to the price of Hawaii.

One thing I will add. We priced out Antigua, St Lucia, Costa Rica, and Hawaii for winter. I was shocked by the lack of price difference. Granted the Caribbean options were all-inclusive resorts. So we still had to pay for our food and other incidentals with Hawaii. But Hawaii and Costa Rica were only a $500 difference and those were the 2 we had it narrowed down to. We knew, for the price, Hawaii was going to give us much more of an experience.

Do some more research about the Big Island. It may be a good option as well, or you could always island hop. It didn't add much to our trip as far as cost, to go from 1 place to the next.

On a different trip subject, my H was driving me nuts with this. I am starting to get serious about planning our trip to Europe this year and my first hurdle is where to go! There are so many places I want to go and I've started pricing out different travel packages.

So I asked for his input a couple nights ago and his response was "I just want somewhere warm and with a nice beach." It was one of those moments where I struggled mightily to stay calm and keep a straight face. What I wanted to say, "Are you kidding me?!? We can drive to the Gulf Coast of FL any weekend and spend a few hundred bucks. We are not spending thousands to go to Europe and then hang out on the beach. Argh!!!"

What I actually said was...okay, basically that...but without the exclamation points and "are you kidding me" line, lol.

I'll be starting my own thread to get some feedback, once I narrow it down to a few itineraries.

brij2006 · February 2016

short+sassy said:

brij2006 said:

That's a hard one. Hawaii is truly beautiful and is a place that has its own things to offer.
It really depends on what you're looking for. If you want to just lay by the beach and veg out, then I would say save the money and go Caribbean. Much quicker flight and cheaper option.
If you want it to be a last hoorah of travel for just the 2 of you, then I would say to rent a fun car (Jeep, Mustang, convertible, whatever floats your boat) and experience one of the islands.

By what I've taken from you, you guys aren't much for beach laying and doing nothing. So then I would say Caribbean may not be your style unless you're willing to pay for excursions to have experiences. Which in that case, you may end up being to the price of Hawaii.

One thing I will add. We priced out Antigua, St Lucia, Costa Rica, and Hawaii for winter. I was shocked by the lack of price difference. Granted the Caribbean options were all-inclusive resorts. So we still had to pay for our food and other incidentals with Hawaii. But Hawaii and Costa Rica were only a $500 difference and those were the 2 we had it narrowed down to. We knew, for the price, Hawaii was going to give us much more of an experience.

Do some more research about the Big Island. It may be a good option as well, or you could always island hop. It didn't add much to our trip as far as cost, to go from 1 place to the next.

On a different trip subject, my H was driving me nuts with this. I am starting to get serious about planning our trip to Europe this year and my first hurdle is where to go! There are so many places I want to go and I've started pricing out different travel packages.
So I asked for his input a couple nights ago and his response was "I just want somewhere warm and with a nice beach." It was one of those moments where I struggled mightily to stay calm and keep a straight face. What I wanted to say, "Are you kidding me?!? We can drive to the Gulf Coast of FL any weekend and spend a few hundred bucks. We are not spending thousands to go to Europe and then hang out on the beach. Argh!!!"
What I actually said was...okay, basically that...but without the exclamation points and "are you kidding me" line, lol.
I'll be starting my own thread to get some feedback, once I narrow it down to a few itineraries.

Haha. That was my H with this trip. I swear the only way he was for it was because he knew we were getting a Mustang convertible to drive around. He really surprised me though. For being a guy who wants to just lay there and do nothing on vacation, he really wanted to see and experience a lot of stuff.

I think what helped a lot for me, was discussing a balance of relaxation and adventure, before we even went. I told him my "must do's." He really didn't listen to them until we got there (he had pretty much nothing to do with the planning), but he knew that the first 2 days we had set plans, then 1 day of nothing, plans again, then nothing for 4 more days. He even asked me when we got to the first hotel, "so what are we doing this week?" I kind of wanted to say some smart comments, but instead I told him what our plans were so far yet put an emphasis on the days that we had "nothing" planned.

maple2 · February 2016

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I flew to and from Kenya while in the 2nd trimester, and I didn't find it to be a problem. I had a relatively easy pregnancy, though, so whether that long of a flight will work for you will depend on a lot of things. In general, I'd suggest a long flight during the 2nd trimester. Morning sickness and queasiness are a usually a bigger problem during the 1st trimester and general discomfort due to being enormous are 3rd trimester problems. 2nd trimester is the sweet spot for many people. (Obviously I'm talking in averages and individual experiences can vary considerably.)

JoanE2012 · February 2016

Glad you had a good time! Maui is my favorite so far.

I love Hawaii though, and I don't find Florida or Mexico even remotely similar. For me, it is worth the 11 hour flight from NJ and I don't find it bad at all - though not sure I'd say the same if I were pregnant! The cost is more manageable to us too because we redeem airline miles for the flight and book hotel and car through Costco (and we usually get free breakfast and resort credit through the Costco package). I can't wait to go back again!

vlagrl29 · February 2016

Our trip for 7 nights in St Lucia at a resort was 6k - way more expensive than our trip to hawaii.

jtmh2012 · February 2016

hoffse said:

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not sure how I would do on a flight like that given that I've never been pregnant before. I know I can manage flights of that length normally. We'll have to see what happens. We're probably going to TTC this fall, and who knows how long it will take.

I don't remember if you're one for cruises, but if you have the vacation time, there are some nice cruises from California to Hawaii and back. Would take longer, but you wouldn't be stuck on a plane.

jtmh2012 · February 2016

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad.

I'm jealous. We're on the east coast and I'm looking at 12.5 hours to Rome with one connection.

hoffse · February 2016

jtmh2012 said:

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad.

I'm jealous. We're on the east coast and I'm looking at 12.5 hours to Rome with one connection.

Where from? We can get a direct flight out of ATL, but it's still 9.5 hours. Rome is further east. We are taking my parents there this summer, and my mom is a bad flyer. I haven't broken the news to her yet...

brij2006 · February 2016

jtmh2012 said:

hoffse said:

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not sure how I would do on a flight like that given that I've never been pregnant before. I know I can manage flights of that length normally. We'll have to see what happens. We're probably going to TTC this fall, and who knows how long it will take.
I don't remember if you're one for cruises, but if you have the vacation time, there are some nice cruises from California to Hawaii and back. Would take longer, but you wouldn't be stuck on a plane.

Depending on the cruise line, most of them don't want you to be 25 weeks along, at any point during the trip. So for a baby moon, you would have to travel pretty early into the pregnancy in order to do a cruise. It sucks, but makes sense.

jessica490 · February 2016

Welcome back! Great pictures and glad you had a great time!! I went to Kauai back back in 2007 for my cousins wedding (family lives there so it was luckily a cheap trip for me- I just met H at that time). I have blowhole and plenty of waterfalls pics too! They are amazing! We also went kayaking. It was just an amazing time. While it took 2 airport stops to get there from CT, it was worth seeing it. Would H and I ever go back there? Not sure about that...but who knows!

formerlyGDaisy09 · February 2016

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I would not have wanted to sit on a plane for 8-9 hours at any point in my pregnancy, I had a lot of joint/muscle discomfort and I would have probably been in tears by the time I got off the plane, and I probably would have needed a day or two on each end of the trip to recover. we drove to a wedding 5 hours away when I was 23 weeks (right around when they say to plan babymoons), we stopped almost every hour so I could get out and walk around, my back, legs, and lady bits were sore for days afterwards, and it took almost a whole week before I felt half-way rested. And I only gained about 20 lbs my whole pregnancy, so I wasn't even remotely near average size.

So maybe don't book any long babymoon (agreed that term is awful) trips until you know how your pregnancy is going? I also would not have wanted to be on a trip where I felt like I needed to go and explore everything, while I'm definitely someone who enjoys more active vacations, I would not have enjoyed one during my pregnancy, I had too many off days. sitting on a beach would have definitely been a safer bet, but I had so many food aversions I don't think I would have risked a trip to the caribbean.

I'm normally a good traveler, a quick nap and shower at my destination and I'm ready to go.

vlagrl29 · February 2016

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I would not have wanted to sit on a plane for 8-9 hours at any point in my pregnancy, I had a lot of joint/muscle discomfort and I would have probably been in tears by the time I got off the plane, and I probably would have needed a day or two on each end of the trip to recover. we drove to a wedding 5 hours away when I was 23 weeks (right around when they say to plan babymoons), we stopped almost every hour so I could get out and walk around, my back, legs, and lady bits were sore for days afterwards, and it took almost a whole week before I felt half-way rested. And I only gained about 20 lbs my whole pregnancy, so I wasn't even remotely near average size.
So maybe don't book any long babymoon (agreed that term is awful) trips until you know how your pregnancy is going? I also would not have wanted to be on a trip where I felt like I needed to go and explore everything, while I'm definitely someone who enjoys more active vacations, I would not have enjoyed one during my pregnancy, I had too many off days. sitting on a beach would have definitely been a safer bet, but I had so many food aversions I don't think I would have risked a trip to the caribbean.

I'm normally a good traveler, a quick nap and shower at my destination and I'm ready to go.

I wish I had only gained 20 pounds

70 lb gain here - Hope it doesn't happen again.

brij2006 · February 2016

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I would not have wanted to sit on a plane for 8-9 hours at any point in my pregnancy, I had a lot of joint/muscle discomfort and I would have probably been in tears by the time I got off the plane, and I probably would have needed a day or two on each end of the trip to recover. we drove to a wedding 5 hours away when I was 23 weeks (right around when they say to plan babymoons), we stopped almost every hour so I could get out and walk around, my back, legs, and lady bits were sore for days afterwards, and it took almost a whole week before I felt half-way rested. And I only gained about 20 lbs my whole pregnancy, so I wasn't even remotely near average size.
So maybe don't book any long babymoon (agreed that term is awful) trips until you know how your pregnancy is going? I also would not have wanted to be on a trip where I felt like I needed to go and explore everything, while I'm definitely someone who enjoys more active vacations, I would not have enjoyed one during my pregnancy, I had too many off days. sitting on a beach would have definitely been a safer bet, but I had so many food aversions I don't think I would have risked a trip to the caribbean.

I'm normally a good traveler, a quick nap and shower at my destination and I'm ready to go.

I was this same exact way. Even ran a half marathon at 5 months pregnant, but traveling was a whole different story. We drove 9 hours to our friends' house when I was 15 weeks pregnant. I couldn't even keep my eyes open enough to drive for more than 45 minutes, and was soooo sore and stiff in the car. We were constantly stopping off for pee breaks and to stretch my legs.

My pregnancy wasn't horrible, but it was by no means butterflies and rainbows. I was constantly exhausted, uncomfortable, and wanted nothing to do with food. Oh, and would have spells of passing out randomly. So traveling was the last thing I wanted to do. We were so glad we didn't plan a trip over Christmas (when I was 7 months), like we had originally planned.

I honestly don't understand the concept of a babymoon. You can't drink, have to watch where you go because of disease or an attack on your already low immune system, and have to accommodate any other discomforts, which are more common than not.

My thoughts are, do a vacation to kick off TTC. Have some drinks, have some baby making sex, eat all the sushi you want, go ziplining or other excursions they frown upon in pregnancy, and have a relaxing time with your husband before the pregnancy side affects start.

formerlyGDaisy09 · February 2016

vlagrl29 said:

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

hoffse said:

I guess my question is whether 8-9 hours is bad for you guys to begin with? That's the same distance to Europe, and we don't find it that bad. When we went to France we had enough delays that we were awake and traveling for 23 hours. That one sucked. I know pregnancy changes things though.

I would not have wanted to sit on a plane for 8-9 hours at any point in my pregnancy, I had a lot of joint/muscle discomfort and I would have probably been in tears by the time I got off the plane, and I probably would have needed a day or two on each end of the trip to recover. we drove to a wedding 5 hours away when I was 23 weeks (right around when they say to plan babymoons), we stopped almost every hour so I could get out and walk around, my back, legs, and lady bits were sore for days afterwards, and it took almost a whole week before I felt half-way rested. And I only gained about 20 lbs my whole pregnancy, so I wasn't even remotely near average size.
So maybe don't book any long babymoon (agreed that term is awful) trips until you know how your pregnancy is going? I also would not have wanted to be on a trip where I felt like I needed to go and explore everything, while I'm definitely someone who enjoys more active vacations, I would not have enjoyed one during my pregnancy, I had too many off days. sitting on a beach would have definitely been a safer bet, but I had so many food aversions I don't think I would have risked a trip to the caribbean.

I'm normally a good traveler, a quick nap and shower at my destination and I'm ready to go.

I wish I had only gained 20 pounds 70 lb gain here - Hope it doesn't happen again.

the only reason for that was that I had so many food aversions that I basically didn't feel like eating anything my whole pregnancy. I ate because I knew I needed to, but most the time it wasn't very much, by the end the only proteins that sat well with me were chicken and eggs. and grains like pasta, breads, etc gave me terrible indigestion. I would have taken another 10-20 lbs to not have felt like absolute crap anytime I ate anything.

hoffse · February 2016

brij2006 said:
I was this same exact way. Even ran a half marathon at 5 months pregnant, but traveling was a whole different story. We drove 9 hours to our friends' house when I was 15 weeks pregnant. I couldn't even keep my eyes open enough to drive for more than 45 minutes, and was soooo sore and stiff in the car. We were constantly stopping off for pee breaks and to stretch my legs.
My pregnancy wasn't horrible, but it was by no means butterflies and rainbows. I was constantly exhausted, uncomfortable, and wanted nothing to do with food. Oh, and would have spells of passing out randomly. So traveling was the last thing I wanted to do. We were so glad we didn't plan a trip over Christmas (when I was 7 months), like we had originally planned.

I honestly don't understand the concept of a babymoon. You can't drink, have to watch where you go because of disease or an attack on your already low immune system, and have to accommodate any other discomforts, which are more common than not.
My thoughts are, do a vacation to kick off TTC. Have some drinks, have some baby making sex, eat all the sushi you want, go ziplining or other excursions they frown upon in pregnancy, and have a relaxing time with your husband before the pregnancy side affects start.

I get what you're saying, but we aren't going to delay TTC for that last hurrah trip, and given our vacation time that's already been committed this year, that's what we would have to do. We're just trying to pick a destination for our winter trip that would be fine if I happened to be pregnant. The thing is, most of the stuff they tell you not to do I wouldn't want to do anyway, the big exception being going to the volcano. But I don't zipline (or do anything involving heights), I don't eat sushi, I don't dive - so I'm not going to feel like I'm missing out on those things pregnant or not.

My biggest concern about Hawaii is that it involves some pretty advanced planning, so I don't think it could really be a last-minute trip if I feel good. On the other hand, if we book it and I feel too crappy to go, that's what trip insurance is for.

lbonga1 · February 2016

I think Hawaii would be a great place for a baby moon. There's so many things to do you'd still be able to fill up your time. Sure, you couldn't do some of the more adventurous things, but you could still snorkel, kayak, veg out, do the sightseeing that doesn't involve a ton of hiking, take a tour of a plantation, etc.

I'm still deciding if FI and I should spend our honeymoon there or somewhere else beachy. FI isn't a big traveler, so beachy was his only request. We've both been to Maui multiple times, but it'd be nice to see the other islands too. I think we'd be able to get a 'cheap' flight using British Airways miles since the distance from here is in their lowest category, but I don't think many miles would be required going to the caribbean either.

AW: Hawaii Trip

Re: AW: Hawaii Trip

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