Trip Tips Part 2

Aloha my beautiful blog readers! Welcome to Travel Tips part 2- Hawaii Edition! I decided to do a second part  of my Travel Tips so you can see how i run my day to day while on vacation, or in this case my Honeymoon!!!! And if you ever decide to venture out to our 50th state you may find this blog entry useful in planning. Yes, you read that right, i plan my day to day while on vacation. Just for me, no one else. Having a plan for when I'm going to get my workout in and what i’m going to eat really eases the stress of traveling for me and hopefully you have already seen from my previous post how it can do the same for you. So lets keep the good times rolling shall we?

Here is my first tip for this post. DO NOT FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES TO HAWAII! Ugh! Friday was our travel day. We were supposed to have our toes planted on the sand of Oahu around 1:00 pm ‘ish  HST(Hawaii Standard Time) but lovely American Airlines didn't get us there until close to 6:00pm! WTF! We were so exhausted and over it by the time we got to the hotel we basically went to bed and called it a night. 

Keep in mind Hawaii is 6 hours behind Florida. Surprisingly this did not mess with my inner clock too much because by the time we went to bed i had been up over 24 hours. So, on Saturday i was up bright and early but not really any earlier than normal. Now, would i have liked to sleep longer on vacation? Yes, but i felt good so i went with it. I was able to get my workout out of the way pretty early so we had the entire rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. By the time i got back to the room from the gym the hubs had already planned out the day. He totally won my heart because he planned an entire day full of hiking! I have been talking about going hiking even before this trip was planned so i was stoked! Not only is hiking a great way to see the sights and catch a glimpse of some epic views but it is a great way to sneak in some exercise. 

If you are ever in Ohau and would like a great way to stay active, burn lots of calories and see so much of the island all at once, have i got some hikes for you! 

For family friendly hikes i would suggest Manoa Falls (1), Diamond Head (2), Mokou’pu Light House Trail (3) and the Pill Box Hike (4). These four are great for novice hikers and pros alike. They are easy to maneuver through so children can go as well. Heck! Diamond head and the Light house trail are paved! 

If you are up for more of a challenge i would suggest Kokohead. It is known locally as  not only being a great hike but a great workout. I heed this warning however, if you are afraid of heights this climb is not for you! I am proud that i completed this hike but i still have nightmares about it. I also suggest doing this one with a buddy. I did this one alone and it was not my brightest moment but i lived to tell the tale so that’s something. I post a short review of Kokohead on the blogs Instagram if you’d like good laugh and would like to hear my uncensored comments LOL. 

Any of these trails and more can be found on the All Trails App. A local told us about this app on the Pill Box hike. Its probably good I didn't know about it prior to this trip because our entire honeymoon would have been spent hiking! Im obsessed now!

Another fun activity we did was snorkeling. I just love snorkeling! Its so neat to see how the fish live. Plus i feel cool in all of the gear! LOL Snorkeling is great way too stay active and moving with all of the fish and coral you have the chance to see!

We snorkeled at Huanama Bay. It does cost $7.50 per person to enter the bay as it is a protected reef but it is well worth it. You get to see all of the different sea life Hawaii has to offer. They have lockers for your belongings and they have mask, snorkel and fins you can rent if you don't have your own. We spent a good amount of time out there. It was overcast that day and super windy.  I got way to cold so we had to cut that trip a little short but it was a lot of fun. 

We also went on a kayaking and snorkel trip out of He'eia. The weather was gloomy but we had a chance to swim with some very large sea turtles. It was AWESOME!

The island had several  other ways to stay active as well including surfing and kayaking. They also have several golf courses if you are into that. I am not. The hubs totally is. He took a quick flight over to Kapalua to play the PGA course. 

Now, with all of these activities its important to stay feed and hydrated. You don't want to be out hiking or snorkeling or even golfing if you haven't had enough water and food. In my prep for this trip the hubs made me order a camel pack to carry water on my hikes. At the time i thought he was crazy but now that i have done several hikes here I'm glad he made me get it. I have ceritnaly used it. As far as food, if you remember from my previous post i mentioned looking up a local grocery store and restaurants prior to the trip so you can purchase some groceries upon arrival and have a mental list of restaurants that meet your dietary needs. Well, what i thought was a regular grocery store when i googled pre-trip didn't end up being a full grocery store with items we needed. Luckily we spoke with a hotel staff member who advised us to go to Foodland. Have you ever heard of Foodland??!!! Let me tell you, I'm in love with Food Land! They are just like Whole Foods but way better priced. We bought groceries there and brought dinner back to the room from there a few nights. They have a hot bar, cold bar and even a Poke Bar. What is Poke you ask? Well its delicious thats what it is! Its fresh tuna with any type of sauce you can imagine. They serve it over greens and white rice. I did not have traditional Poke because dietarily i cant so i just ate the raw tuna which was amazing in its self. 

We didn't eat dinner out to many times because by the end of the day we were just too tired. We did visit a local restaurant with in walking distance of our hotel one night though. It was called Goofy Cafe. It features all organic, local ingredients and it made my body so happy! No processed foods there! It was delicious. I had Mahi Mahi with fresh veggies and the hubs had  the Pork Chop. You should definitely try it if you are ever in Honolulu. 

And of course if you are traveling all the way here you have to partake in the local eats. Shrimp trucks are big here, especially on the North side of the island. You can drive and just see them lining the road way. I posted some pictures on the blogs Instagram from our shrimp truck adventure. BEST SHRIMP EVER!  And of course you have to do a Luau. Its a must do for sure. You get to enjoy traditional Hawaiian cuisine and a great show! if only i could figure out how to move my hips that way. 

As i post this it is our last day here in Oahu. We leave at 8:00pm HST and are due back in Florida around 12:00pm EST.  This post doesn't even encompass all that we experience on this trip. I tried to keep it to only things that were food and fitness related but the truth is some of our best experiences involved neither of those things. Take Pearl Harbor for example. We went to visit Pearl Harbor on Tuesday morning. i didn't include it in this post because i knew i could possibly do it the justice it deserves. What an incredible experience and an incredible tribute to those who lost their lives defending our country. Pearl Harbor should be the number 1 item on your list when visiting Oahu. It is free to attend but for $7.50 per person you can get and audio guide which i highly recommend. Also, we spent some time just driving around the island. The scenery is breathtaking from every angle and is surely something i will miss but remember forever. Mahalo (Thank you) Oahu for your hospitality, amazing adventures and beautiful sights. It was worth every aggravating hour we spent to fly here. Aloha from two howleys on their honeymoon. 

Shaka brah!

I haven't been active this week because I've been doing my honeymoon Hawaiian style. But I keep pretty active on Pinterest so don't forget to follow the blog there.

Also, check out the blogs Instagram to see photos and video lips from this past week!