Note: I drafted this post on a flight home from Hawaii last year.  I did not publish it, because I was sad, ungrateful, and whiny when I wrote it.  I am posting it now in celebration.  My family is moving back to California today!  

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I have been to Hawaii 10 times.  The first five times were for care-free vacations.  I island-hopped to Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.  It was all fun and games.  Cocktails and surfing.  Sun and sand.  Then, close members of my family moved to Oahu in 2015.

This should be cause for celebration, yes?  We would be out of our minds to complain, right?  And, here is where I make my guilty confession.  I don’t want my family to live in Hawaii any more.

Hawaii from the Plane

• The flying time between Los Angeles and Oahu is 5-6 hours each way, which is a full day of flying.  If you have a full-time job, this means that your family always is too far away to visit often.

• Airfare from Los Angeles costs between $500-$700.  It doesn’t matter what day of the week you buy your tickets or when.  There are few “good deals” on flights or rental cars.  As a result, you can’t afford to go to Hawaii whenever you miss your family.

• The islands are hot.  Sometimes, they are melt-your-face-off hot.  So, doing regular, everyday activities with your family is difficult.

• If you family lives on one island, it makes it difficult to spend time on the other islands.  Your priority must be where your family lives.

• When you say goodbye to people you love, you feel terrible.  Even in Hawaii.

I know, I know.  There are worse problems in this world than Hawaii becoming a three-times-per-year (minimum) destination.  We still have our family, the beaches, the cocktails, and the surf.  We still enjoy ourselves immensely.  I obviously need to stop whining.

If I had my wish, though, Hawaii would go back to being a carefree vacation spot.  My family would live much closer, and in a really boring place.  You know, where your family is supposed to live.

Little Helper in Hawaii

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