Sunday, January 16

Reality Check!!!

Today was devoted to travel planning, and I discovered that my “no itinerary” methodology is probably not the best way to go in Hawaii. At least with the smaller islands of Maui and Kauai. That’s because the availability of accommodation and vehicles is limited there, so the costs can be high. And there are not a lot of support services in place like there are in Honolulu. These are not locations where you show up, hang out for a while, and figure out a plan. I’ll need to get that all sorted before I go. This realization came to me after spending a few hours researching online bookings.

Basically, I’m an idiot!

I also checked on the latest regarding international travel. Not looking good on this front either. Towards the end of last year Thailand had eased entry requirements related to Covid. Well, just recently they’ve tightened things up again with quarantine mandates, even for the vaccinated. I’m not getting a good feeling about leaving the U.S. at the moment, so it looks like my worst case scenario (entire stay in Hawaii) will come to fruition. Oh no!!

Based on all the above I made the decision to stay in Honolulu for a while – like probably a month. That will give me time to finalize a plan for visiting the other islands. Honolulu (and Oahu in general) is known as the most urban and touristy of the islands, which I agree with. But I think it also makes it the best place to park for a while. There is a plethora of dining, grocery, and laundry options. It’s easy to walk from place to place. There’s a shared bike system. And the bus network to all parts of the island is great – at a maximum cost of $5.50 per day. As a result, no (or minimal) need for a rental car.

As I looked for places to rent for a month, it became apparent that Airbnb was my best option. I’ve found a few possibilities, but I think I’m going have a sleep on it before I pull the trigger.

My final travel planning task of the day was to revise my return flights on Southwest. I switched my return date from April 19 to April 11, and my city of departure from Honolulu to Kona (figured I didn’t need to come back to Oahu, I could just finish on the Big Island). And there was some good news! I received a $35 credit for making that change! Whoo hoo!

Okay, time to clear my head and get something to eat.

I mentioned the high yogurt (which infers grocery too) prices in a previous post. But honestly, the prices for the prepared meals I have had here so far seem right inline with what I’d see back home.

In the window at the Diamond Head Market & Grill was posted this excerpt from an Esquire magazine article entitled “100 Restaurants America Can’t Afford to Lose”…

Diamond Head Grill (Honolulu, HI): This takeout counter on the mauka (mountain) side of Diamond Head isn’t a scenic spot — just a sun-beaten parking lot with a few picnic tables along a concrete wall (Tim’s note: the picnic tables are gone) — but the plate lunches spill over with the likes of miso ginger salmon, kalbi beef and char siu pork, plus a heap of rice: white, brown or, the best, hapa, brown and white together. —Ligaya Mishan

Monday, January 17 – Waikiki

I was scheduled to check out of the hotel today, so I extended once again. This time for four nights at rate of about $150 per. Cheapest so far!

I went back to Airbnb to look at some of the long term rentals I had highlighted, and a couple of them were no longer available. Great! This was probably due to the fact that these places are typically available to rent on a daily basis and I was looking for something that would need to have one month clear of any bookings. I did find a possibility that was fairly close to my hotel though and was able to arrange a viewing for later this morning (I was impressed with the quick response from the Host). Once I saw it though, it seemed a little old and worn. So I decided to hold off on that one. Then another listing I liked abruptly disappeared from my list of options (again, booked – at least for part of the month I was requesting). Doh! I was beginning to think I need to pull the trigger on something soon.

There was another listing that intrigued me though. It was a newly refurbished studio cottage behind a house on a residential street that’s close to a lot of stuff. It wasn’t possible to view it today unfortunately, but based on the pictures, I decided to go for it. So I move in Friday, and I’ll be there for a month. It has a full kitchen, internet, TV, AC, and a parking spot (in case I ever do rent a car). The rate ended up being about $120/night. Not great. Not terrible (for Honolulu). This unit was discounted, but once again, I’m guessing I probably could have done better if I had booked this further in advance. Or at least I definitely would have had more options.

Now now that that’s sorted I need to get out and enjoy the rest of the day (and get something to eat!)!

I decided to take a walk around the outside of Diamond Head Crater (not the hike INTO the crater, just around the outside). Most the walk will be similar to the one I took a few days ago (along the ocean), with the difference this time being that I will be walking clockwise and starting at about the 9 o’clock position.