Maui: The Christmas Gift She Never Saw Coming

Pray for us. This Wednesday we're getting on a plane at 6 in the morning, traveling to Newark, NJ, to catch a flight to Los Angeles, CA, where we'll get on a plane to fly to a 10 day stay on Maui, HI.

Yeah, it's going to be brutal.

I suspect Danielle, my summer-loving wife, will do a face-plant hug of the seashore the moment her feet hit Mr. Sand and I'll be lucky to get any time with her once that wife-stealing son-of-a-beach gets his gritty dunes on her. I hope she doesn't neglect me too much though because it's due to my own personal genius... ness... that we're even going on this trip. So, you know, credit where credit is due, and all that.

Back in November when I asked my wife what she wanted for Christmas, she jokingly said, "A trip to Hawaii." She mentioned this two other times, and it became unclear to me just exactly how jokey she was actually being. Regardless, I began to wonder just how plausible a trip to Hawaii really was. I mean, we had the money. We had the time. Why not go?

I really enjoy travel planning, so I took to Google to see what there was to do in Maui, what resort life was like, and how much the airline industry would rip us off for two plane tickets (because, really, what does the airline industry ever do except charge ridiculous amounts of money for what is, essentially, a miserable experience coupled with molestations courtesy of the TSA.)

But when it came to actually spending the money to pre-book everything I decided to hold off. Danielle and I work very closely together when it comes to our finances and I wanted her to be part of the ultimate decision making, but, still, I figured I could seduce her travel tastebuds with some palate-whetting visuals:

—a genuine Hawaiian luau
—sandy beaches
—surfing lessons
—sandy beaches
—a sunrise zipline tour
—sandy beaches

I even printed up some little flash cards of the many sights we aimed to visit.

"Is this is a joke?" she asked.

"If this is a joke," I said, "it's one of the cruelest Christmas presents ever."

"No joke."

But, no, it wasn't a joke. I can always tell how excited she is about something by how quickly it hits Facebook. In this case, I think she set a new record.

Honestly, Hawaii was never on my radar of places to go. I like the cool, damp, bleakness of places like Scotland, England, Seattle, and home. But, really, in the dead of a Vermont winter after weeks of sub-zero temperatures, even I found myself tempted by the warm shores of a tropical paradise.

I suspect this blog will become something of a travel blog over the next ten days as we explore the various sights, try the various foods, and enjoy the many majestic vistas of Maui. So stay tuned!

Keep pinchin' :-)