Planning a Future Getaway: Kauai, Hawaii

I’ve never been to Kauai but I’ve been gathering ideas for a future trip, so I figured I’d bring you into my planning process. This is my favorite way to decompress at the end of a day. Finding the best restaurants, cutest airbnbs, creating an itinerary.. it’s so fun for me. Let’s go!

First up, Cute and Affordable places to stay On Kauai.

When we book an Airbnb we look for something unique, comfortable, and affordable. I try to find houses that are tucked away on their own. And major points if it has a private outdoor patio with a view or complimentary bike usage. (biking is our favorite way to explore!)

This one is so dreamy. Maybe the dreamiest?? A rare standalone house in the jungle, perfectly styled, and amazing views.

So lush and lovely in the middle of the mountains.

The Surf Shack might just be the cutest on all of Kauai.

All the comforts of home with this little house and private yard. Bonus- comes with bikes!

TONS of provided beach gear and a prime location by Queen’s Bath.

Instagram worthy details in this Kapa’a cutie.

I love this charming cottage- in the perfect location away from the crowds but conveniently central.

Things I want to do and see.

the kalalau trail

na pali ridge

the waimea canyon

helicopter tour of na pali coast

wailua falls

hike kalepa ridge trail

hanalei bay, north shore

lae nani east coast beach

above image credit left to right: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

PLACES TO EAT

• so many good vegan options at Mermaid’s CafeMermaid’s Cafe

• the acai bowls at Halalea Juice Hale look amazing

• hoping to get some fresh fish tacos at Kilauea Fish Market

• a cute indian food truck in the jungle

• get take out from Pono Market and have a picnic at the beachKilauea Fish Market

  And if you’re interested, here’s my full map of Kauai! Building your own map is so helpful for picking which part of the island you want to stay on based on where the majority of your interests are. But I’ve read that it’s actually really easy to get around the island, so even if you stay on the North side you can spend the day on the Southern beaches with no problem.

Hope this is helpful/ fun/ provides you a bit of a tropical escape if you need it. Mahalo!

Go here: Camping on the Road to Hana and the cutest BNB in Maui

For two of our seven nights on Maui, we decided to stay in a camper van. I was skeptical at first but it ended up being my favorite part of the trip and I would definitely tell you to go for it if you’re looking for something slightly more “off the beaten path”. (If you know camping is totally not for you, then just skip this first paragraph and head down to the second one where I wrote about the bed and breakfast, it’s much more comfortable there ;)

His name was Willie the van, I booked him on Airbnb and he came equipped with everything we could possibly need for camping; beach chairs, towels, stovetop, kitchen utensils, etc. It even had twinkle lights hanging inside, which I obviously loved. There was a comfortable platform queen bed in the back with storage underneath and battery operated fans above. If you want to splurge a bit, this one is seriously #vanlife goals. We stayed at Camp Olowalu and Waiʻānapanapa State Park, both of which charge camping fees ($20-40), have security at night, and felt completely safe. Olowalu has hot showers and wifi, definitely more upscale, while Waiʻānapanapa was more of a rustic site with traditional camp style bathrooms. (important note, make sure to reserve and print your permit before leaving home for Waiʻānapanapa).

We chatted with some other campers during sunset on the beach and had a great time at both. It was so nice to be able to stay at Waiʻānapanapa after being on the road to Hana instead of driving back to town that night. We got to wake up and have the black sand beach all to ourselves, which was amazing since it’s a top tourist destination. Things to pack: an external battery charger and a cheap little headlamp for getting to the bathroom after the sun goes down. The van had flashlights and USB cigarette lighter chargers but these things just made life easier.

After our two nights in Willie the van, we checked in to Moana Lani Bed and Breakfast. It was hands down the cutest Airbnb bed and breakfast we’ve ever stayed in. The owners Gwen and Christian felt like friends and they were full of great Maui tips. Our room was super comfy and cute, the lanai patio was perfect for an evening happy hour (with Christian’s delicious mai tais), Gwen’s breakfast was one of the best meals of the the trip, and they had all of the beach necessities ready to go for us every day- including bikes, which we used to bike around Lahaina and to the Feast at Lele, and snorkel gear.

I truly can’t recommend this place enough, we stayed two nights and my only regret is that we didn’t stay here longer.

Our favorite stops on the road to Hana. (If you download the Gypsy Road to Hana app he will point most of these things out. 100% worth it.)

• Ho'okipa Beach Park. The turtles hanging out on the beach is probably one of the coolest things we saw. From far away they look like huge rocks until then they start slowly moving towards the ocean. Get here early!

• coconut candy from the little fruit stand at the Huelo Lookout. So delicious.

• Rainbow Trees at the arboretum

• Upper Waikani Falls (aka Three Bears). Our friends highly recommended this stop and I’m glad we went, it was the perfect spot to take a cool swim and lay the rocks in the sun.

• Honomanu Bay. We had this place completely to ourselves. If you have time to spend an afternoon here, it would be a great secluded beach to hang out at.

• banana bread from Aunt Sandy’s. (if you decide to camp, get an extra loaf and a can of iced coffee at the gas station before you leave Paia to enjoy for your breakfast the next morning!)

• Venus Pools. You have to walk through a grass field and climb over a little fence to get there but it’s the spot that made us feel like the long drive was totally worth it. It’s a pool surrounded by lava rocks that opens up to the ocean, has cliffs for jumping and clear water for snorkeling.

• Hamoa Beach. So gorgeous. We were tired and didn’t swim or snorkel (but it looked like it would be great) instead we just sat in our beach chairs at the top of the hill, watched the surfers, and drank a cold Maui Brew. It was bliss.

Other highlights:

• Snorkeling with turtles at Black Rock Beach. It gets crowded so try to get here early, but even if there are a lot of people already there it’s still worth it! We found 3 turtles playing and swam with them for awhile before anyone else came up and joined us. Park for free at Kahekili Beach Park and then walk the beach path all the way to Black Rock.

• Hiking the Waihee Ridge Trail. The road along the northwest side of the island is no joke. It was way crazier than the Road to Hana so take the inland route if you’re squeamish, but if you can stomach it then it’s a beautiful drive. We didn’t get to the trail until noon so the clouds rolled in and we got stuck in a rain storm on our hike, so try to get here super early but if it rains on you just embrace it (and don’t bring anything with you that can’t get pretty wet).

• Surfing at Thousand Peaks and Ka’anapali. Special shout out to Maui at Maui’s Beach House for being the nicest dude in the world, definitely check out his cute store if you’re in Lahaina. He has shaved ice and souvenirs as well as very reasonably priced surf gear.

• It might seem silly to rave about a rental car, but our experience at Kihei Rent a Car was the smoothest we’ve ever had! They pick up/drop off from the airport, offer the cheapest prices, and were genuinely kind people.

Our favorite meals besides the breakfast at Moana BNB were Fish Market Maui tacos, Gazebo macadamia nut pancakes with fried rice (call to go and skip that crazy line), Ululani’s shaved ice of course, and Huli Huli roadside chicken from Maui Rotisserie.. just do it! (but don’t eat it on the beach because sand blowing into your to-go box is less than ideal)

Unexpected things about life on the beach.

This experience has already pushed me outside of my comfort zone in so many ways. On one hand there are things like living without AC and driving an hour and a half for groceries. But then there are the emotional and mental aspects of it too. At the risk of sounding like a total weirdo, I’ll tell you that I don’t meet new people very often. I have grown up and lived in the same area of OKC my whole life, and some of my best friends are the same girls that I’ve known since tee-ball. Danny and I made great friends in college that we still hang out with all the time, but that was 6 years ago - and since I work from home and don’t have any coworkers, I can honestly say that was the last time I’ve really been in a situation where I didn’t know anyone and had to meet new people.

When we decided to come here I started researching everything I could about Zancudo, Costa Rica. I assumed we were going to be totally by ourselves, and truly I was mentally preparing myself to not have any other human interaction besides Danny for 3 months. Everything I read said “it feels like the end of the world” and “you can walk for miles on the beach and not see a single person”.

While that’s all definitely true, there’s also a little community of people here that I didn’t read about in my googling. Our neighbor owns a restaurant so she bakes pizza and bread for us every week, and we chat daily about how things are going. Another neighbor hosts “Bloody Sundays” and makes delicious bloody marys with grilled cheese sandwiches on top for brunch. I’ve been going to a great yoga class at one of the cabinas down the street, and Danny plays Texas hold ‘em at Coquitos on Friday nights. Everyone we’ve met has been super helpful and for a tiny town in the off season, there’s a lot going on.

We still feel pretty secluded because there’s only one dirt road and a small handful of people, but it’s pushing me out of the shell that I’ve always felt so comfortable in and opening me up to new people and new experiences. It’s 100% different from what I expected, but it’s exactly what I needed.

3 months in Costa Rica

Hola from Costa Rica! Quick life update: This is our new home for the next 3 months! Keep reading for the long update ;)

At the beginning of 2018 I decided to stop making my plush taxidermy (traveling a lot for my husb’s work made it difficult), and I spent a few months in a weird limbo wondering WTH I was going to do with my business.

For a second, Danny and I thought we were going to open a small music venue with some friends in OKC. We hit it hard for about a month I was like ohh ok, I’ll be working at this place all the time now, this is my new life plan. 🎸🍻🎤🤘🏻We ended up running into too many roadblocks, but the planning process was super fun for me and I think we’d love to try again in the future.

In the meantime I started sketching, just for myself mostly. Sunny beach inspired art. Then I put myself out there and one thing lead to another and I got a few really fun opportunities that made me excited about my business again, and I felt like I knew what I was doing.

Fast forward a few months, and we were sitting on a plane on our way to Zancudo, Costa Rica to housesit for the next three months. It really happened so quickly, we decided on a whim to apply and then got accepted and were gone less than three weeks later. Every time we go on vacation we talk about how awesome it would be to move to the beach, but how sad we would be to leave our family and friends. So this is the best of both worlds! It’s long enough to give us a taste of Costa Rican life but short enough to not make us feel like we’re uprooting our entire life back home.

So far this whole process has been the most spontaneous, outrageous thing I’ve ever done. It probably doesn’t seem like a long time to most people because a lot of people study abroad or move out of state for a job. But I’m a pretty anxious person and I’ve never left home for more than two weeks (even though I love to travel, my traveling is mostly 5 nights or less).

Basically what I’m saying is, don’t bog yourself down thinking about your life plan for the next 5-10 years. Take it as it comes. Take chances. Do something that feels exciting and scary and hope for the best. If I was still busy sewing custom orders and feeling comfortable with my business, then I might never have gotten restless, never started dreaming about doing something a little different. Honestly I have no clue if this is going to end up being the best experience of my life or if I’m going to be crying in a month wanting to go home early and sleep in my own bed. But I’m hoping for the former.

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