Break up your flight to Hawaii, or you’ll be like this guy!
Unless you live on the west coast, you probably are a bit intimidated by the long flight to reach the tropical paradise of Hawaii. You have limited vacation days so you probably leave on a Friday night or very early Saturday morning, and just suffer through the 10+ hour trip with several connections. You arrive crabby, exhausted, and stinky. Are you ready to hit the beach? No. Are you ready to hike to some waterfalls? No. You are ready to shower and sleep. And that nap you take will pretty much kill off your first day in Hawaii, not to mention totally mess up any chance you had at adjusting to the time change.
Sunset view from the plane flying into LA. Photo credit: Andrea Belgrade
Instead of lumping the entire journey together, try splitting it up. Leave Friday night, as you would have done anyway, but only go as far as Los Angeles, Seattle, or San Franscisco. There are a few other West Coast options, but those are the main cities that have flights to Hawaii. Stay in a hotel close to the airport that has an airport shuttle (most do). Doesn’t matter which hotel, you will only be there to sleep and shower. Give yourself 8 hours of sleep. It will help you adjust to the time change in Hawaii. The next morning, catch a morning non-stop flight to Hawaii. It will only be 5 hours or so on the plane, and you will arrive in Hawaii around noon (Hawaii time) feeling fresh as a daisy! Since you got a head start adjusting to the time change on the West Coast, you’ll be ready to start your vacation and start exploring the island right away. I know what you’re thinking: By staying overnight on the West Coast, I’m getting less time in Hawaii. That is true. But if going straight to Hawaii means you feel awful and have to take a long nap as soon as you arrive (and you will), you’re actually getting less quality time in Hawaii than if you got a normal night’s sleep on the West Coast.
What do you think? Do you have any tricks for getting through long flights and making the most of your first day on vacation? Let me know in the comments!
That’s a great photo of the crab! It’s tough to be crabby in Hawaii but a long flight sure can do the trick…
It sure can!
I appreciate how you have broken down for us, a way to arrive at our destination feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new adventure. There is nothing worse then trying to explore a place on no sleep.
So true. I try to power through the jetlag every time, but I always wind up exhausted the first day! This little stopover definitely has helped that.