Now that I’m immunized, I’m wanting to begin traveling again. An opportunity came up in my household for us to travel to one of my favorite spots — NYC. We found a pretty good fare on Hawaiian Airlines and so I took a deep breath and clicked BOOK FLIGHT. For a couple of days, I spent hours and hours waiting to talk with Hawaiian Air support via email, phone, and text to try and see if I could use my miles to upgrade my seats. I finally succeeded! I am so excited to be able to stretch out on this long flight from HNL to JFK and back home. Once I accomplished that, for the next few weeks, my energy was consumed with trying to figure out how to get COVID tested and get the results in time for our flight home and to meet the Safe Travels Hawaii criteria in order to not have to quarantine upon our return. There are costly options and convenient options and free but not so convenient options. UGH. I’ll let you know how it goes after the trip.

I will only be in NYC for a few days and most of my time will be spent eating, drinking, and shopping for food. I never visited Trader Joe’s in NYC but that is one of the stops on my list this time since my Trader Joe’s inventory is pretty much depleted. I happened to look on the Airbnb website for their online experiences recently and found that Ben, the guy I took a sandwich making class from on Father’s Day in 2020 was offering a free consultation for planning a perfect trip to NYC. It just so happened that no one else signed up for the date/time I registered for and I got a one-on-one session. Prior to the session, Ben asked a few questions about the trip so he could have an idea about what kind of advice he should share. By the way, if you don’t have a trip booked, that is ok too. He can give general advice that might help you book your trip details. During the session, I got exactly what I wanted. Suggestions for places to eat and drink and buy food. I am so excited to go on a plane for the first time since March 2020. Gosh. I have no idea what to expect as I travel but will let you know how it goes. Living Hilo Style.