Years ago my spouse and I talked about setting a travel budget. It wasn't a budget like most people think, though. Instead of being a limit on how much we could spend it was a goal for the least we wanted to spend ( Read more... )

When we went to Hawaii last month on a trip built around a timeshare presentation. Although we went in knowing there was 0% chance we were going to buy, new (yesterday's blog) the exercise did change my thinking a little on whether a timeshare, at the right price, is worth it for us. Here are Five Things I recommend anyone considering a timeshare ( Read more... )

I have a slightly dirty little secret. We planned our trip to Hawaii a month ago around a timeshare presentation. The pitch to go out there for the presentation came when we were planning, and re-planning, and re-re-planning our December Hawaii trip. One of the timeshare locations was on the Big Island of Hawaii, on the dry side, a destination we ( Read more... )

Hawaii April Travelog #34
Waikoloa - Sat, 16 Apr, 2022, 10pm

After hiking at Hapuna Beach we came back to the resort for our last night in Hawaii. On the drive back in to the resort, just before dark, we enjoyed a special treat. Lava goats!

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There's a flock of goats that lives near this resort. We saw them earlier in the week, too, just after ( Read more... )

Hawaii April Travelog #33
Hapuna Beach - Sat, 16 Apr, 2022, 7pmLeave it to us to go to a beach and say, "Let's go for a hike!" That's exactly what we did late this afternoon at Hapuna Beach. First we kicked off our sandals to walk through the sand and surf at Hapuna Beach, then we laced up our proverbial boots- actually we just put our sandals back ( Read more... )

Hawaii April Travelog #32
Waikoloa - Sat, 16 Apr, 2022, 3pmThis afternoon we were supposed to sit for our timeshare sales presentation. That sales effort was nominally the reason we're on this 5-night stay in Waikoloa on the Big Island. But it fizzled. We escaped without them even trying to sell us ( Read more... )

Hawaii April Travelog #23
Waikoloa - Wed, 13 Apr, 2022, 2pm

I woke up this morning still feeling wrecked from hiking the Koko Head Tramline trail on Monday. My legs are sore, particularly the quads and IT bands. I wobble when I walk even on level surfaces. Thus we decided instead of going on a driving and hiking trip on the Big Island today we'll ( Read more... )

Hawaii April Travelog #21
Waikoloa - Tue, 12 Apr, 2022, 5pm

From reading my previous post, Getting Settled in Waikoloa, you might think I'm really happy here. We've got a comfortable condo with a balcony and a big pool complex. What could possibly be wrong? The answer is, nearly everything is wrong ( Read more... )

Hawaii April Travelog #20
Waikoloa - Tue, 12 Apr, 2022, 4:30pm

It was an easy drive up to Waikoloa from Kona this afternoon, just 30 minutes or so of driving past lava fields. We arrived a bit after 2pm, and our room wasn't ready yet. Once the front desk confirmed our reservation details and checked us in they told us we could use the pool while ( Read more... )