Thanks to Covid, traveling now includes more hoops to jump through to go pretty much anywhere. And if you want to come to Hawaii, specifically the Big Island, its even more difficult. However, after crossing all their T’s and dotting all their I’s, our daughter and son-in-law came to visit us this past week! And while this information will probably soon be outdated, I’ll briefly describe the steps on how to successfully make a trip to Hawaii.

Obviously a lot of steps haven’t changed: book your plane ticket, pack your bags, plan your stay, etc. To travel to Hawaii and skip two weeks of quarantine you have a few added to-do items. First, you must get a Covid test within 72 hours prior to arriving to Hawaii. The test will only be accepted from “Trusted Testing and Travel Partners,” which include CVS, Walgreens, Quest; just to name a few. The full list of approved test partners can be found on Hawaiicovid19.com. Note the test will cost an average of around $140 per person, so it is definitely an additional expense to take into consideration. Next, register for the Safe Travels online program. This allows you to upload your test results, which will generate a QR code that will be scanned after disembarking at the airport. Once you show your negative results, your are free to enjoy your vacation, quarantine free. Just don’t forget your mask! If traveling to the Big Island, there is one additional requirement. Once you have arrived at the airport, you must get a rapid COVID swab. This is done at the airport and is at no expense to the traveler. If the rapid test comes back negative…enjoy your stay in Hawaii, quarantine free!

So after lots of uncertainty, a few tears, and a couple of swabs, Jordan and Zach boarded their flight which took them from St. Louis to Phoenix, and then finally to Hawaii. Leaving at 6am and traveling for over 13 hours, they arrived in Hawaii to then wait at the airport another 5 1/2 hours, until all the required testing was performed and they were free to enjoy their vacation!

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While they were here, we squeezed in about a month of sight seeing and activities into 5 days. Our top highlights included: a hike down (and unfortunately back up) into Pololu Valley, sunbathing (or burning) on the white sands of Kua Bay, sunset watching and stargazing at Mauna Kea, a visit to Volcanoes National Park, and finally waterfall viewing! Jordan and Zach also took some time to visit the Kanaloa Octopus Farm and of course, you can’t go on vacation without a little souvenir shopping!

Before we knew it, our last day was coming to a close and they were headed back to the airport. But hopefully all our hearts were a little fuller after having spent some precious time together and making some wonderful memories under the Hawaiian sun.