Rob&Nicole , Com

The recession...

So how did the economy factor into our budget?

People are still traveling, but far fewer are doing so. There are a lot of condos sitting vacant right now all over Hawaii.

Our strategy was pretty simple. We just made a list of all the condos we liked, that had at least 1 month un-booked at both ends of our two weeks.

Once we had a list of about 30 places with large swaths of open dates, we waited. And waited...

Once we were three weeks away from our departure date, we emailed the owners of these condos and timeshares, asking if they could negotiate on their prices. We gently stated that because our arrival date was so close, they could give us a deal or have another week of lost cash-flow.

This opened the door to some crazy pricing. Most of these folks were happy to slash their rates, by as much as 75%. I would never suggest doing this under any other market conditions. Our advantage was so many vacant units, if something fell through, there were 29 other backups.

The first week, we stayed at the Ka'anapali Royal property, in a two-bedroom unit right off the fairway. Here's a link for more info. I can't tell you what we paid, but it much lower than the advertised price. This property is pretty well-maintained. The condos seem pretty new, and it's located in a great spot across from Whaler's Village and Black Rock. The individual unit was pretty nice, with powerful central AC, great music/movie collection, and massive lanai (porch).

The second week, we tried our luck with resort-living at the Westin Ka'anapali. This place is pretty amazing. There are several huge pools, water slide, kids pirate ship pool, and it's right on the beach. In fact, this unassuming strip of beach is one of the best snorkeling spots on the island with acres of pristine coral formations, and several layers of reef that stretch out a quarter-mile.

-Rob and Nicole

Soo... much... sand...

Exploring a giant tide pool in Honokowai Park.

Ahem! Ok, uhhh... so I wasn't going to include this photo, but Elliot looks so cute! Actually 4 weeks before the trip, I went on a hard-core exercise and nutrition plan, and abstained from alcohol (somehow) the entire time. In case anyone wanted to see the results. I lost about 10 lbs. I'm not sure I can keep it off, to be honest.

Hmm, what do I want to do today? A. I could eat watermelon and watch Ice Age. B. I could go to the beach and make a sand Lightning McQueen. C. I could play in the pool. I think I want to move here.