I visited Honolulu this past Christmas season with the family. It was sunny, it was wet, it was cold, and boy, was it pricey! “How much for coffee?!? “ and “How much did you say for three donuts?!?” These donuts from Pop Pop Donuts are TINY!!!

Needless to say, I bought small Kona coffee samplers for my friends back home but it would have been cheaper to get it at Trade Joe’s. 🙄

My producer Ana Clavell had warned me about winter weather in Hawai’i, but I looked at the weather report and thought, “What is a little rain going to do?” Boy, was I wrong! We started out with a couple of sunny beach days and ended up huddled up in jackets and hats as the cold rain put a damper on our beach activities. It just rained and rained! Word of advice: bring a light jacket and layer up if you come to Hawai’i in December, and make sure you pack an umbrella, it’s cheaper than buying local!

Overall though, it was a great adventure. Honolulu is simply breathtaking, the people are amazing, and although the restaurants are really good (Duke’s Waikiki breakfast buffet stands out for us) we found ourselves going to the Ala Moana mall’s food court to stretch our bucks.