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Hawaii

Fairmont Orchid Hawaii

July 17, 2018
We recently returned from an 8-night trip exploring nearly every part of the Big Island of Hawaii. This is the start of a few picture-full travel recaps. If you are looking for what to do, where to eat, and where to stay on the Big Island. Look no further. On our last night, the Fairmont Orchid partnered with me to offer us a one-night stay while I got to photograph and enjoy the grounds. This post is about that excellent experience.

Vacationing in a Postcard | Fairmont Orchid - Big Island Hawaii | FakeFoodFree.com Travels

We pondered the idea for only a few minutes before our minds were made up. Once we were ready to book our flights to the Big Island we realized that it was more affordable to fly back on Sunday versus Saturday. We’d booked our lodging before our flights, like we normally do, so we had seven nights booked at rental houses, three in Kona and four in Hilo.

Flying back on Sunday would put us on the island for a night with no place to stay just yet, but we were too tempted by an extra night in paradise so we clicked purchase on the flights. 

We’d figure it out.

I started looking at resort hotel accommodations. We’d planned to be on the go for most of the trip, exploring the island and picturing what it might be like to own a plot of farmland in the middle of such a peaceful place.

But the idea of completely relaxing that last night with no hikes to take and no drives to dinner was growing on us.

At that, knowing a colleague had recently stayed at the Fairmont Orchid, I reached out to their marketing team to see if they might work with me for a one-night accommodation. They responded with a generous offer of a night on their beautiful Gold Floor.

I will admit we are not the types to stay on a resort for our entire trip when traveling to Hawaii. We don’t travel with family, simply as a couple without children. We take on a lot of exploration and pack light-ish, making a washer and dryer beneficial.

All that being said, we’ve already started discussing staying a few nights at the Fairmont Orchid on our own to end future trips to the island. I don’t know if it was the friendliness of the staff, the comfortable room, the grounds, or the food and drinks. Probably a combination of them all. It was so nice to wind down from an adventure inspired trip and completely relax a little while before heading back home.

This is a little bit of why we loved it so much…

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Hawaiian Products to Buy at Costco Kauai

May 2, 2017
Hawaiian Products to Buy at Costco Kauai | Fake Food Free Travels

If you’ve traveled to just about any island of Hawaii, you know what I’m talking about. The plane lands, you grab the rental car, and head straight to Costco. 

You will randomly hear folks talk about it around California – we just stock up on food at Costco. Saving money by having your own snacks on hand or grilling at your condo’s shared picnic area is a common practice. I really didn’t realize how common until we were browsing the aisles of Costco Kauai and we saw at least 3 other families that were on our flight from San Jose. (We also all ended up at Kauai Beer Co.  You can read about that great place in my recap of what to eat in Kauai.)

This type of post is a little out of character for Fake Food Free (I picked up some fresh fruit, too, don’t worry), but after finding some really great Hawaiian products and realizing that a lot of people search for info about Costco Kauai, I really wanted to share what we found. It didn’t get really exciting until we stumbled into the local products section towards the front of the store. That’s where I may have gone a little crazy. Crazy meaning we ended up bringing back some unopened packages due to overbuying. 

The best part is that many of these things are great for hiking, which we did a lot of to stay active in Kauai. From jerky to macadamia nuts, we found so many great things to try.

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What to Eat in Kauai

April 27, 2017
What to Eat in Kauai | Fake Food Free Travels

 

I heard it so many times before we left. Then even from locals when we arrived.

“Kauai really doesn’t have the best food,” they would say. It was quickly followed up with a listing of all the things that Kauai does have the best of – beaches, vegetation, hiking, wildlife. 

It’s probably my fault. When you work in food, people know you travel for food. I think they were just looking out for me; trying to save me from disappointment. 

Truth be told, though, I really didn’t think it was that bad. In fact, we managed to scope out some really good food. Enough that I felt like I should share a bit about what to eat in Kauai. 

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Food, Drinks and Beautiful Views in Maui, Hawaii

April 21, 2015

Food, drinks, and beautiful views. Just a few of the reasons why even the most touristy of locations can’t ruin a trip to Maui, Hawaii.   

Food, Drinks and Beautiful Views on Maui | Travel recap at Fake Food Free              

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a touristy area, but it will be fine. It’s a quick trip and Hawaii is so close now. We’ll be back.”

Famous last words when travel planning.

When we decided we would visit Maui, I spent some time researching accommodations. Our first thought was to get a remote rental where we could relax and cook a little using local ingredients.

Then when booking our direct flights from Oakland we got swayed by the great package deals, so we went ahead and added the hotel, too.

So with our tolerance for crowds way up, we arrived on the island, eager to finally see Hawaii.

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