Money Matters
brij2006
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
AW: Hawaii
I'll AW our trip. It was absolutely wonderful and much needed for us. It was the perfect balance of relaxation and adventure. We did a ton of hiking and did some pretty challenging ones we didn't do before. This was for a total of 10 days in Maui.
Final breakdown:
Budgeted $6,500
Airbnb (oceanfront 1 bedroom condo): $2,597
Rental Car (Convertible): $540
Flights (from Chicago, 1 stop): $1,800
Spending on food, gas, entertainment, baggage fees, a few souveniers, and an hour long massage: $1,283
Under budget by: $280
What helped us most this time was having a condo with a full kitchen. Hands down, we'll never stay in a hotel again in Hawaii. I was able to buy fresh meat and produce at the farmers markets and cook. We did buy banana bread since that's one of their "things" and had that for breakfast a couple of mornings. It also really helped because when we did eat out we had leftovers every time. So we were able to reheat things with no problem.
Okay, here are pictures.
A 400ft waterfall. The hike climbs 800ft in elevation and takes a little over an hour each direction. For part of it you hike through a bamboo forest, which was pretty cool. This one has a very marked trail and a ton of people on it. Pretty touristy, but was worth it.
This is my favorite falls. We hiked to it last year and it was at a trickle. This year it was doing much better. It's called Alelele Falls and is very secluded. Not too many people hike to it because the 400ft falls are right before it. So we had the entire place to ourselves. The pool it goes into has a soft pebble gradual floor so we were able to easily walk in and out for a good swim.
The small spots in the rocks are called the Olivine Pools. They're formed from the breakout in the lava rocks where the ocean splashes in but the rocks break the waves. We hiked down to those and got in. The tide was actually low when we went, so we weren't able to do any cliff diving.
It isn't Hawaii unless you see some sea turtles. This was at a pretty popular beach, but we hit it up in the afternoon when kite surfing is allowed. We hung with the turtles and watched the kite surfing.
Fish tacos!!!! Um, and we seriously saw Steven Tyler and his daughter while we were here eating. They came in and ordered takeout. It was so weird yet cool. But he's just as weirdly dressed and styled in person as he is in pictures.
Valleys on the north eastern side of the island. Almost a scarier drive than the back side of the Road to Hana.
A couple waterfalls on the way up to the 400ft falls.
The back side of the Road to Hana. Everyone talks about the front side, but hitting the back of it at sunset is by far our favorite. Oh, and you have to watch for cows crossing.
Sun setting on the back side of the Road to Hana.
Different colors of cliffs on the side of the dormant volcano (Haleakala).
The sunset from our condo. My H wasn't sure about spending the extra money on an oceanfront, but the views were worth it. We spent many mornings out on the lanai drinking coffee and reading. So relaxing.
One hike I didn't take many pictures on that look decent, we hiked to 4 different waterfalls. You have to climb 2 of the falls in order to get to the next one. At one point you only have the choice to get into the stream and swim up to get to the next falls. It was strenuous, challenging, and rewarding. I was sore for days. The way to get back down them is to jump off each fall. That was fun, for me, not so much for my H who's afraid of heights. But it was the main hike we were looking forward to and so glad we did it. Even though you do it in a swimming suit and bare feet or hiking sandals that can get wet.
So that's all. Thanks for reading and looking. :-)
Final breakdown:
Budgeted $6,500
Airbnb (oceanfront 1 bedroom condo): $2,597
Rental Car (Convertible): $540
Flights (from Chicago, 1 stop): $1,800
Spending on food, gas, entertainment, baggage fees, a few souveniers, and an hour long massage: $1,283
Under budget by: $280
What helped us most this time was having a condo with a full kitchen. Hands down, we'll never stay in a hotel again in Hawaii. I was able to buy fresh meat and produce at the farmers markets and cook. We did buy banana bread since that's one of their "things" and had that for breakfast a couple of mornings. It also really helped because when we did eat out we had leftovers every time. So we were able to reheat things with no problem.
Okay, here are pictures.
A 400ft waterfall. The hike climbs 800ft in elevation and takes a little over an hour each direction. For part of it you hike through a bamboo forest, which was pretty cool. This one has a very marked trail and a ton of people on it. Pretty touristy, but was worth it.
This is my favorite falls. We hiked to it last year and it was at a trickle. This year it was doing much better. It's called Alelele Falls and is very secluded. Not too many people hike to it because the 400ft falls are right before it. So we had the entire place to ourselves. The pool it goes into has a soft pebble gradual floor so we were able to easily walk in and out for a good swim.
The small spots in the rocks are called the Olivine Pools. They're formed from the breakout in the lava rocks where the ocean splashes in but the rocks break the waves. We hiked down to those and got in. The tide was actually low when we went, so we weren't able to do any cliff diving.
It isn't Hawaii unless you see some sea turtles. This was at a pretty popular beach, but we hit it up in the afternoon when kite surfing is allowed. We hung with the turtles and watched the kite surfing.
Fish tacos!!!! Um, and we seriously saw Steven Tyler and his daughter while we were here eating. They came in and ordered takeout. It was so weird yet cool. But he's just as weirdly dressed and styled in person as he is in pictures.
Valleys on the north eastern side of the island. Almost a scarier drive than the back side of the Road to Hana.
A couple waterfalls on the way up to the 400ft falls.
The back side of the Road to Hana. Everyone talks about the front side, but hitting the back of it at sunset is by far our favorite. Oh, and you have to watch for cows crossing.
Sun setting on the back side of the Road to Hana.
Different colors of cliffs on the side of the dormant volcano (Haleakala).
The sunset from our condo. My H wasn't sure about spending the extra money on an oceanfront, but the views were worth it. We spent many mornings out on the lanai drinking coffee and reading. So relaxing.
One hike I didn't take many pictures on that look decent, we hiked to 4 different waterfalls. You have to climb 2 of the falls in order to get to the next one. At one point you only have the choice to get into the stream and swim up to get to the next falls. It was strenuous, challenging, and rewarding. I was sore for days. The way to get back down them is to jump off each fall. That was fun, for me, not so much for my H who's afraid of heights. But it was the main hike we were looking forward to and so glad we did it. Even though you do it in a swimming suit and bare feet or hiking sandals that can get wet.
So that's all. Thanks for reading and looking. :-)
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
Re: AW: Hawaii
MIL voiced to us before we booked that she was interested in going. The conversation never got more serious than that. But when we got home she told us she's serious. She wants to go. So we're actually looking into going again next year and bringing the kids. We'll stay in something cheaper, but will definitely get a full kitchen again and cook. She has offered to pay for flight and rooms so we'll happily go and pay for our food, rental car, and incidentals. So we may actually end up going again. There's still so much we can do and see there.
@formerlyjessica490 DD stayed home with grandparents. So it was just the 2 of us. Good thing too, because she got sick 2 days before we left and was still sick when we left. I got sick the night before our flight and was very weak on our flight. I was so glad I didn't have to worry about a 2 year old on a 9 hour flight while weak and sick. We did look at bringing her originally though since she would have still been under 2 and could be a lap child.
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
I'm so glad you all enjoyed the trip and even came in under budget.
Not nearly as exotic, but the own kitchen vs. restaurant costs of Hawaii reminds me of the experiences I've had on the FL Gulf Coast. There are a lot of beachfront high rise condo buildings, so it's pretty easy to find accommodations with kitchens. I love that! It's such a savings!!!
But there aren't many restaurants, they're expensive, and the food is mediocre at best, unless it is fresh seafood. Which are the most expensive options and my H doesn't like seafood, lol.
Aww the poor thing! It must have been nice for some alone time