Hawaii Revisited

We are back in Hawaii for the over twenty-something time and it never gets old. We have come with others for most of the recent years. When we come by ourselves, we stay for fifteen days, but I can’t remember the last time we did it. We had one year that we had visitors for the second week and they slept on the couch pullout and the other week was in the lock-off. Jen and I keep hoping we’ll get another year by ourselves so that we can trade for the last island we haven’t experienced, Maui. I feel by the time we do go, most of the rebuild may have taken place from the horrible fires a few ago. We also talk about selling our timeshares in Hawaii and Tahoe as they are marketable one week owner properties. For over ten years you haven’t been able to buy into timeshares this way and Marriott would love to get their hands on ours to turn into the inventory of points ownership. We’ve also talked about just renting them out yearly as that not only would cover maintenance fees but also put a little money in our pocket. This is my particular favorite action and then return to them every so many years when the money pocketed pays for the fees. This would make ownership free, payoff the last balance we have for purchasing some points to enhance trips we go on outside of the weeks ownership method. I’ve been asked many times as to whether timeshares have been worth it and I generally answer the same way, if you can afford it and you never take vacations because of your so-called love of your job, then a solid maybe. After twenty years, I haven’t made up my mind, however I know every January when maintenance fees are due, my anxiety level goes up for at least a few months. These fees are just the first thing every year in the four-month shelling out blood money such as timeshare fees, property taxes, and then the cap with IRS taxes. Last year was the first time we got money back in over ten years and it finally gave me something to feel good about.

This year we have been a little more low-key in our approach of Hawaii vacations. The feeling is due to the unaffordable economy we are in right now, but that is for another post. We are seeing far less people here reminding us of the year 2000 when Covid had people staying home and racing home before the outbreak was horrible. I can only suspect, as I said, is that the economy must be the cause. The only thing I’ve seen lower in cost is the rental car and it is about half the cost of past trips. I’ve been able to compare most costs against previous trips as we tend to return to places we like and, in that assessment, groceries are the most notable thing that is considerably higher. But unlike the mainland, I feel fuel costs have not gone up at the same rate as the rest of the country. Don’t take that wrong though, Hawaii fuel has always been higher than most places except for maybe California.

The reduced number of people may have something due to time of year as well, being that school is back in session, but many timeshare travelers are just like us and target school year as the time to go on these trips. Even so, we are seeing less people this year. I don’t mind the reduction in people, but I don’t like the reasons why. We have never looked at spending on trips closely, but we are finding ourselves scrutinizing costs and waste. Wasting on these trips is a big thing as we overbuy food and end up leaving lots of stuff in the fridge and on the counter. We always feel good about leaving it for the people that have served us while we are onsite as most of them are struggling to live in a very expensive state.

Even with everything said, we are having a great time. I’ll cry about the costs when I get home, but for now, I’m plowing ahead to enjoy the remaining time here. We’ve found some new things that may become routine for the future, but we’ve also found some don’t do again things. We’ve had more weather than normal and had the potential to dampen things, literally, but we knew these days were going to come so we scheduled indoor activities too. We leave tomorrow but we’re back in a matter of months. We’ll see how much economy affects that trip. Aloha y’all.