Traveling to Hawaii has been on my to-do list for many, many years. The beautiful beaches, volcanic views, and the fact that no passport is needed made it even more appealing. I imagined my first trip to Hawaii would be a girl’s trip, snapping dope pictures with my ladies, partying with locals, and taking in the views with my favorite travel buddies. Never did I imagine that I’d be taking my furthest solo trip to the Big Island, for under $500.
The Logistics
As an educator, my days off are set in advance, so I’m always pre-planning my travel around school breaks. I usually set my Hopper and Google Flights account to track prices to a bunch of cities and wait. However, a random tweet mentioning price drops in flights to Honolulu and Maui caught my attention and led me to Hawaii. After seeing flights from NY to Honolulu around $460, I booked immediately without a thought.
When it came to planning, I leaned on two people from my extended network who had knowledge of Hawaii. It’s always great to reach out to other people who can share advice, especially when traveling solo. Based on their advice, I knew that Waikiki would be the best area for me to stay to easily explore. After seeing how expensive hotels were, I decided on Airbnb, which has become my preferred lodging choice. I did luck out since my Airbnb rental ended up being a Condo inside of a Hotel resort, the Ilikai. This hotel had a restaurant, convenience store, and even ice cream shop in the lobby! It was also located on the beach, so I could walk right outside of the hotel and be on the beach. When you’re booking Airbnb’s, search for rentals that may be conveniently located in hotels for less money.
Planning my Itinerary
Because I was traveling solo, I planned my itinerary ahead of time, so I could always be on the move and to avoid feeling lost, and most importantly so I could make the best of my time. Waikiki is the city part of Honolulu so getting around was easy when I used public transportation. Uber was expensive on the island in general, even for short distances, so keep that in mind. I split my time between excursions and exploring the island. I did a snorkeling and dolphin watching excursion, which was great for meeting new people while having fun on a boat.
Hawaii is known for its beautiful views so taking a hike was a must. I did the Makapu’u Lighthouse Trail which was about an hour away on a city bus. The bus driver spoke over the speaker about the views we passed on the way, it was similar to a guided tour. One of the most breathtaking things I did in Honolulu was the hike up to the lighthouse. After, I even stopped at the Hawaii based Kona Brewery Restaurant to try local beer.
I also highly recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center for any first time Hawaii visitor, as it gives rich history of the Polynesian Islands. On other days, I simply enjoyed the beach and traveled to different restaurants, like a PacMan themed brunch spot.
Overall, my solo trip to Hawaii was one of the best trips I’ve taken to date. Traveling alone can be intimidating, but having a plan, staying vigilant and remembering to enjoy yourself makes it worth it. There were certain moments of my trip where I wished I had a friend with me to experience it all, but, life is too short to wait for others to make memories. Sometimes you have to book the flight, take the trip and make the memories with yourself!
