I know.. you have probably been like WTF HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MONTH?

Chile, half the month, I was in Hawaii! I never take vacations longer than a day or two, but this time I had to take a good chunk of time to enjoy all things in Oahu, Hawaii. My sister and her bestie, along with some other members of our group were celebrating birthdays so it was a fun time. 

I'm gonna hit the recap quickly of what you should know if you decide to go because I'm still tired --even after being back a week. That six hour time difference is a whole donkey. 

1. Get a Go-City pass when you go because we were able to book our excursions ahead of time with the pass and save lots of money vs paying for stuff at each thing we wanted to do. A 3 or 4 day pass was good and about $280-$300 and saves you about that much PER activity. 

We did a luau, catamaran sail, an all day tour around the island that included snorkeling, site-seeing, coffee farm, Dole plantation, lunch at a shrimp farm, and more.

 My crew did a hike with their pass--my knees told me to sit my ass down and let them go hike and look for waterfalls. 

2. We all pack heavy cuz you never know what you might need. I only needed tanks and shorts and bathing suits, but bought all these cute clothes that were too damn hot to wear. Oh and take lots of panties/draws cut like I said--it's hot as hell and you gonna be wanting to shower and change multiple times through the day. You can get jazzy and dressed up if you plan to hit up the night life, but it's Hawaii... literally everyone is in sundresses, shorts, tanks, tees, it's RELAXED. It's such a chill vibe that it seems like nobody really has an attitude. My friends told me to pack snacks and you know what.. I brought them same snacks home. BUT don't forget your mosquito repellant bracelets--that's the one thing I'm glad I packed! 

3. We stayed near Waikiki Beach within walking distance to the beach. Our hotel provided chairs and towels, so you can save packing room with that. You can also rent an umbrella at the beach if the hotel runs out of them, and it was like $30 for 2 hours I think.  One thing I found is that particular beach--the sand is ROUGH, so you gonna get a workout. If you are like me with bad knees and ankles, then it's gonna feel like you are walking thru hell to get to a nice spot in the sand. 

With that being said, wear water shoes (the sand is literally 50'levum degrees hot) and apparently it's lava rock. IDK nothing about that but I do know the tour guide on the Circle Tour told us we were inside a volcano at one point and I thought.. now what you say now bruh? HOW? WHY? WHOOOO? Does the volcano know?! Needless to say, my nerves were tore up. And Hurricane Calvin was a brewing in the ocean, so the waves were wavin' something serious. I can't swim so I know my limits.. stay at the edge and let it get to your knees. DASSIT. 

4. Take cash! Some places on the Circle Tour didn't take cards, so make sure you have cash on hand. 

5. You also cannot take home all the pineapples and mangos you buy-- you gonna have to get that ish shipped to you cuz Hawaii security/agriculture folks do not play them games. 

6. If you go to Waikiki, be prepared to walk a lot so have your sneakers on deck. If you were blessed with good ankles and can rock flat ass flip flops and sandals more power to you. I wore my sneakers whenever we had to walk far and when I gave up on walking, I discovered the shuttle. You pay $5 (cash only) for a pass that lasts all day so you can hop on and hop off as much as you want. That became my saving grace. Now granted, I would melt waiting on the shuttle, but it still helped me out when I couldn't take another step in the heat. 

7. Lava Flow drinks. Pineapple smoothies. Dassit. Dat's all. Drink those for me if you go! 

8. Know if you are in a large group, most places won't split the check 50'levum ways, so make sure y'all set the rules up front-- either pay for what you ordered or split the bill evenly with the tip. You don't want to be sitting there stressed out over who ate what and who didn't pay for what. Trust me. 

9. I was tickled that an ABC store was literally on every corner. It's not just like the liquor stores we are used to in NC called ABC Stores. It was more like a convenience store where you could buy liquor on one end, and milk and eggs on the other, a float, travel items, snacks, and t-shirts. Keep your receipts and when you get to $100, you get a free gift. I was not one to be keeping up with 50'levum receipts. 

10. Yes vacation is for relaxing, so leave your laptop at home. Get out the room and see stuff, experience all of Oahu or wherever you go in Hawaii. I sat on the patio every morning gazing at our view and being grateful for the time I was there and I do miss the view so much now.