In How We Roll I covered the question ‘Where do I get my information on activities to do, places to say and places to eat’. I also touched on the answer to the question ‘How we are able to afford 19 day vacations’ and began to explain my process of vacation planning. I will now pick up where I left off, meal planning. Generally we choose to eat brunch and a relatively early dinner with a desert in the evening, if we are more hungry than we are tired. Two meals plus a snack is cheaper than three meals. For road trips we also pack a lot of snack foods and cases of bottled water to reduce food spending. We have employed two different strategies in regards to meals while vacationing, both have been successful, although the first method usually ends up costing more. The first strategy is to ask the locals the best places to eat. We used this strategy for our entire trip out to New Hampshire and we ate at the most wonderful restaurants, the only downside being that higher end restaurants were always what was recommended and we spent more than we would have if we had pre-planned our dining options. It’s also a little harder budget wise going into a restaurant with only a vague idea of the cost. So, for longer trips I start with Fodor’s recommendations (usually the book, as I like to mark all the pages I’m interested in, but I am experimenting with their website). I especially like how Fodor’s puts the price range in their descriptions. Next I check out the website of each restaurant that caught my attention for the menu, the price range and the ratings, if it passes that I may look on TripAdvisor for additional reviews. I also like to check out TripAdvisor’s top restaurants for our destination, then proceed to the restaurant’s website for a closer look. I usually will pick one very special dinner location per trip but keep the remaining meals in a moderate price range. For shorter trips with more wiggle room in the budget, I will look for some restaurants ahead of time, but will rely more on recommendations from locals.
One of our ‘special’ dinners. Our view from the Revolving Skylon Tower Restaurant.
After I have all of the places we will be going, I type of a more detailed itinerary. I will use our 13 day trip to Hawaii as my example. The date plus day of the week are typed in bold, black. Flight and car rental information are typed in bold, black as well. Hotel name is typed in light blue, with address and check in/check out information typed in black. Known cost are typed in green. Activities are typed in purple, with addresses, additional information, driving time and hours of operation typed in black. I also use google maps and determine the estimated driving time from one location to the next. This is an essential planning step which allows me to accurately assess how much we can do in a day and how early to leave for timed events. If I believe we might have trouble with wifi reception (using GPS on our cell phones) I will also print out the directions as a backup. Important information I don’t want to overlook is typed in red. Here is an example of the first two days of our trip to Hawaii.
May 22nd (Thursday)
Flight UA 1087 Chi-Lax 12:30-3:06
Flight UA 1004 Lax-Ito 5:08-7:48 2450 Kekuanaoa St. Hilo
Car rental – Enterprise Full Size Vehicle – $44.99/day Pay for 10 days, 4 are free
Pick up May 22nd (8pm), drop off June 3rd (7:30pm)
Castle Hilo – 71 Banyan Drive, Hilo Check in May 22nd, Check out Sun May 25th – 3 nights
May 23rd ( Friday)
Blue Hawaiian Helicopters – ITO airport 2450 Kekuanaoa St. Hilo (Take the first parking lot entrance and park – $3/hour. Blue Hawaiian is located directly across the street inside the Main Terminal – Lobby 2.)
Check in time 10:15 am; flight 11 am (50 min flight)
Liliuokalani Gardens – 123 N. Kuakini St. (6 min walk from hotel)
Rainbow Falls/Wailuku River State Park – 40 Rainbow Dr. Hilo (10 min car ride from hotel)
If you’re looking for a waterfall near downtown Hilo, take a short drive west on Waianuene Avenue to Wailuku River State Park. Here you’ll discover the easily accessible Waianuenue (Rainbow Falls), which has an 80-foot drop and is known for the rainbows that are formed in the surrounding mist. Best seen in the morning.
Travel further upland along the Wailuku River and you’ll find Peepee Falls (pronounced Peh-EH Peh-EH), which feeds the famous pools known as Boiling Pots. These terraced pools bubble as if they were boiling, connected by a series of cascading water flows alongside hexagonal columns formed by the slow cooling of basalt lava. As beautiful as Waianuene (Rainbow Falls) and Boiling Pots are, note that there are no lifeguards here and these areas are not safe for swimming. Instead, take a moment and simply enjoy the natural beauty found in Wailuku River State Park.
Akaka Falls State Park – 220 Akaka Falls Rd. (27 min car ride from hotel) – $5 vehicle/open 7-7
To see the itinerary in its entirety click here.
I do leave some flexibility in each day. For example, there were no set times for Liliuokalani Gardens, Rainbow Falls or Akaka Falls State Park, or set order to see them in, and I wasn’t sure how long we would want to spend in each location. The only time I have more strict time guidelines is when we only have a day in a certain location and we need to keep a certain pace, not hurried just aware of time, in order to see everything we want to see. It is always a balancing act between fitting in as much as possible, yet taking enough time to immerse ourselves in an area. No one likes ending up exhausted at the end of the day so I prioritize what I want to see each day, hoping we will see it all, but knowing we will definitely see our top priorities.
Relaxing after day 2 in Liluokalani Gardens adjacent to our hotel in Hilo, Hawaii
Finally, the answer to ‘How do I manage to find great airline prices.’ I know there are many resources for this topic, which I have also looked at myself, but I will let you know what I do. The general rule for 6-8 weeks out for the best prices, seems to hold true for the tickets I have purchased (although I was watching prices for Maui during the month I’d like to go next year, and the lowest price was 10 weeks out). Prices falling on Tuesday afternoons usually happens, although that is not always the lowest price. I usually do not have wiggle room on my dates, as hotels have been booked months in advance, but I do have some wiggle room on time of day. We usually fly United, mostly because this is the airline my husband uses for work and we want to keep the miles with one airline, but for me, they have always been lower than American and Delta (possibly because I watch it the closest and just see the prices drop here versus the other airlines). I have signed up for various price alerts before, but I always manage to find slightly lower prices by going directly to United’s website. I have read that airlines will offer lower rates through their website than they will allow through other sites. If you have more information on this, I’d love for you to share it with me. I generally start watching flights for the days I need 12 weeks out. I admit this is a very time consuming step, but I’ve gotten some really great deals and have only seen a ticket drop once for $20 more than I spent (because I keep looking after I buy to see if my strategy is still working). Every other time I was the lowest price I had seen or very close. I usually begin by checking the price once a day. For the flights I am interested in I check the seating plan, this lets you know how many seats are left on the plane and if you may need to buy sooner than the 6-8 weeks mark. Once I am at 10 weeks, I will start checking twice a day, varying the time, just out of curiosity. Again, I keep an eye on how many seats are left on the plane. If it is not yet half full, the price seems to always drop. At 8 weeks out, I usually check three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening. If I notice a big drop I will buy. It is not uncommon for the price to change several times during the day. I admit, this is my least favorite part of trip planning. I always feel like I’m hedging my bets, and I am not a gambler! If the plane is looking half empty, I will hedge my bets longer. Of course, I need seats together, so if there are not a lot of seats together, I will buy when it looks like I may not gets seats together if I wait. So, it’s a simple, yet time consuming strategy. If you have any tips and tricks on getting the best airline deals, please share them in the comments section.
I like the window seat! A view from my window on a flight home from Mexico.
Well, that about sums it all up. If you missed part one of my frequently asked questions, here is the link. If you would like to read about Day 1 of our Hawaiian Adventure, click here. Happy Reading and Happy Vacation Planning!
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