Last October, my husband and I were fortunate enough to take a vacation to paradise…we had been to other islands before, but this time we were armed with our camera and ready to capture every moment. Our vacation ritual involves renting a car and exploring as much of where we are visiting.

As our plane touched down in Kona, the sun was setting on the horizon. We waited for our luggage at the baggage claim, excited to be back in Hawai’i. The rental bus took us to pick up our car, and we set off on Highway 200 with Mauna Kea on our left and Mauna Loa on our right. Little did we know that less than four weeks later, Mauna Loa would begin erupting!). It took us about an hour and a half to reach our AirBnb near Hilo, the journey was made more eerie by the rain and darkness.

The next morning, we started the day at a local farm-to-table restaurant that I would highly recommend. One thing to note is that prices in Hawai’i can be steep, but the portions are huge. I usually stuck to 1-2 meals a day, and they were more than enough to fill me up. After breakfast, we set off to chase waterfalls. There's a tour you can take to see all the waterfalls in the area, but we only had time for a few.

While on the Hilo side of the island, we couldn't miss the opportunity to visit Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. I would definitely recommend setting aside an entire day, or even a few days, to fully explore this incredible place. We spent a full day there, visiting the Kílauea caldera, Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs & Hōlei Sea Arch. A few days later, we returned for sunset photos and to try to see the lava at night (unfortunately, the night-time view wasn't as impressive as it is now). However, the sunset was absolutely breathtaking.

After we had exhausted all that the rainy side of the island had to offer, we set off on a long day trip to the southernmost tip of the U.S. and up to Kona. Our stay in Kona was mostly filled with beach days, relaxation, and soaking up the sun. When we weren't at the beach, we watched the Manta Rays at the Sheraton (publicly available, you don’t need to be a guest), drove up to Kahua Ranch for a Paniolo BBQ Dinner (the food was delicious, and we even got to see Saturn and Jupiter through a telescope!) & spent an afternoon at Mauna Lani Spa, where the hospitality and service were top-notch

When it was time to catch our flights back home, we felt like we had experienced everything that Hawai’i had to offer. We'll definitely be back!