Family Travel Tracks

One of the most easily recognizable landmarks in Oahu, and Hawaii in general, Diamond Head is a dormant volcano that offers a fairly straightforward trail with great views of Waikiki and the surrounding area. If you are not kama'aina, a Hawaii resident, then you will have to make a reservation for entry and parking. You can do so at the state website here . It is one of the first trails we did with our older daughter, and, at 3 years old, she regularly completes it without any assistance from us! The beginning of the trail is paved but a constant incline The trailhead and parking area offer water fountains and bathrooms as well as a small store. The trail itself starts off fairly easy and paved with a slight incline that does increase the closer you get to the summit. Once you reach the base of the crater, the trail changes from paved to a rockier path along a series of switchbacks. Trail on the switchbacks At the end of the switchbacks you will find the first viewpoint immediately...

We were already planning on booking a flight with Zipair that week so it was an amazing coincidence (or another case of creepy internet trackers?) to log in and see a Zipair offer of $150 off of $750 or more on our American Express home page!  Incredible American Express offer Zipair is a low-cost airline that is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines. Having flown other budget airlines (hello Spirit, Ryanair, and Easyjet) we were a little wary the first time we flew Zipair but ended happily surprised to say the least. In our opinion it was nicer than flying some of the big name airlines in the United States! Zipair flies roundtrip to Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco from Tokyo Narita airport. Zipair offers special "U6 Fares" for children 0-6 years of age that are a fraction of the price of an adult ticket. Children under 2 are provided baby safety seats which are installed and positioned ahead of time based on the child's weight. This does mean that you are req...

Over the years we have done quite a few hikes on Oahu and I am going to share one of my favorites you can do with kids. View of Makapu'u Lighthouse About a 30 minute drive from Waikiki, the Makapu'u Point Lighthouse trail is one of the few you can do with a stroller, and I have seen quite a few people do it. It is about 2 miles in length but might be longer depending on where you parked. The trail is fully paved but a constant incline from the start so make sure to bring plenty of water. There are about 25 steps at the end if you are trying to go to the top of the lookout which offers beautiful views of the coastline below. During winter, it is also a great place if you are trying to whale watch and they can often be spotted with or without binoculars.  Section of the trail The trail itself offers a few areas to stop and sit on a bench along the trail but very little coverage so please be warned in the summer it gets HOT. I highly suggest starting this hike early, which will al...

Our first international trip with our girls was to, if you cannot tell by the title, Tokyo, Japan! It was my husband and my third trip to Asia but first trip to Japan so we were not exactly sure what to expect. Our kids were 7 months and 2.5 at the time, so we were a bit nervous to say the least! We were extremely lucky that we both got parental leave for both of our children, but since we both telework, we were able to flex it even further. We took a portion when they were first born and a portion once they were older to enjoy as much as we could of their first year! This meant we had two weeks of parental leave we knew we wanted to use in May to spend one-on-one time with our kids exploring somewhere new. Searching flights, we found relatively cheap tickets to Narita on Hawaiian Airlines so we booked them before they rose (thankfully we did because they went up over $400 within 2 days and never went back down).  When we booked a hotel, we were a bit confused on the explanation of...

The only time I have ever had a blog was when I studied abroad my junior year of college so my family could keep up with my day-to-day. Reading it back years later, it was full of spelling errors, run-on sentences, and much too much "me." I cannot promise this will be any different but I can tell you why I am writing this.  I love to travel and I always have. My grandmother always jokes that I used to say all I wanted to do was travel and "now you're doing it!" I have 2 children and my oldest is at the point where she will ask us where we are going anytime we drive passed the airport or if we pick her up early from school so I think we are doing a pretty great job of instilling the travel bug in them too.  I work full time, as does my husband, so if you are hoping to read a blog about a family who travels non-stop that is definitely not us. What we do, however, is travel as much as we can, try to get hotel and airline status whenever possible, and take advantage...