Peer Pressure

Two years ago, I had a business trip in Honolulu. I had been to Hawaii for work before and had been traveling a lot that year, so while I was looking forward to the trip, I wasn't exactly bouncing off the walls. Then I got my Expedia vacation deals email and saw Hawaii sale! and I thought, "Why not?"

I sold Paul on the plan, did a little online research, then booked the vacation. Ah, the joys of DINK"> life. On a lark, I sent our itinerary to our friends Mypetrock and L and suggested that they come along. I didn't hear back, but I didn't really expect to. Several weeks later, I was gushing about the upcoming vacation and learned that they had decided to come with us and had booked the same package. Perhaps they were planning to surprise us at the airport!

So, finally it was April. I was 16 weeks pregnant and still feeling all kinds of nasty. I had been to Chicago, Columbus, and San Antonio in the past week and a half. I had my meeting in Honolulu, where I picked up a nasty cold. But I was still really excited about the vacation.

When I had a break in my work schedule, I slipped over to the mall for haircut, pedicure, and some maternity khakis. I was ready to go.

As soon as the convention ended, I took a cab to the airport and met Paul's incoming flight from St. Louis. We hopped on the Wiki Wiki Bus to the InterIsland terminal, then on a little plane over to The Big Island. Hawai'i! We landed at a lovely outdoor airport with the least security I've seen anywhere since September 11th. A man in a floral shirt gave us lovely, fresh, floral leis. We picked up our rental car, met up with mypetrock and L, and headed out for our resort.

The Hapuna Beach Prince is the most incredible hotel in which I've ever stayed, and that's really saying something. At the registration desk we were given moist towels and fresh guava juice while our bags were whisked to our room. It was magical.


Mypetrock and L (dude, may I please call you by your real names?!) didn't have such a great vacation.
1) I was sick and whiny and not much fun.
2) I'm a honker. When I blow my nose, neighbors complain.
3) We were unable to get anything but an economy car, so 4 full-size adults spent 5 days driving all over The Big Island, which is aptly named, in a tiny car full of a blizzard of snotty kleenexes.

I want a chance to redeem myself. Paul, Ellie, and I are planning an Alaskan cruise. I've always wanted to do this, so I did enough research to convince myself that these are no longer horrible for the environment, then stopped reading before I could find out if that was just bullshit to make greedy tourists feel better. It's never going to get any less complicated to travel than it is right now. And while we're no longer Double Income No Kids, for the next several months Ellie still flies and cruises for free. No time like the present!

Now I just need to convince mypetrock and L to come along with us so that we can all have a fun trip without me vomiting or blowing my nose on anyone. Petition him, if you want to help me out.