😲 What No One Tells You About Traveling to Hawaii!

Ever dreamed of taking your family to Hawaii… but felt totally overwhelmed by the logistics?

SAME, GIRL.

In this episode, RV Queens host Kate White is back behind the mic to share all the real talk from her family’s recent trip to the Big Island — their first time ever in Hawaii!

👉 This isn’t your typical “travel influencer” episode. No flight hacks or hotel reviews here. Instead, Kate spills the things she wished someone had told her before packing her bags — especially as a full-time RV mom planning a big, bucket-list vacation with kids in tow.

From Kona’s breathtaking (and wildly varied) terrain to time zone meltdowns and a surprising packing win, she dishes on the good, the stressful, and the laugh-out-loud moments that made this trip unforgettable.

Whether Hawaii is already on your radar or just became a new goal, this episode offers the nudge to stop dreaming and start planning — because this is exactly why we build freedom-filled businesses and choose adventure over convention. 🌺

Key Takeaways:

• How her family prepped for a 12+ hour travel day with kids
• What the time change really felt like — and how they finally adapted
• The BEST snorkel spot on Kona Island (plus one painful rookie mistake to avoid!)
• A packing strategy that saved everyone’s sanity
• The one cultural surprise that left the biggest impressionIf you’re ready to move your “someday” trip to the calendar, this one’s for you.

Mentioned in This Episode:

💳 Want to learn how to use credit card points to book your dream trip?

Don’t miss the previous episode with Alida from Ali Travel Points — a travel hacking queen who’s redeemed millions of points for unforgettable adventures!

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I've never snorkeled before. It was like being inside a scene
from Little Mermaid. And I'm not exaggerating.
Like we saw coral reefs, rainbowfish, sea turtles.
And if you go to Kona Island specifically, you have to rent
the snorkel gear and head to a spot called 2 Step.

(00:21):
Welcome back to the RV Queens Podcast where we are all about
supporting and celebrating womenmaking money on the road.
If you are one of my loyal ride or die listeners who never
misses an episode, first of all,thank you for listening.
Love it. Second of all, you've probably
noticed that things have been a little quieter around here this

(00:42):
summer, and that is because for the first time since launching
this podcast, I actually gave myself a summer break.
Yes, seriously. A little pause, a little reset,
and it's been exactly what I needed.
OK, quick sidebar before we divein.
Did you know that this episode that you're listening to right
now is episode #101 101 of the RV Queens Podcast?

(01:08):
That's right. Since launching in April of
2023, we've now crossed the 100 episode mark, highlighting
amazing women living this bold, mobile, adventurous lifestyle.
And I just love this community. You guys are the best.
OK, enough of the sappy, sappy, sappy stuff.

(01:29):
Part of our summer break included something really
exciting for us, which was a trip to Hawaii.
Yes, I'm still pinching myself. It was so freaking awesome that
I knew I had to record an episode about it, and I'm not
going to share. Like flight deals or travel
hacks, I'm not really good at that stuff, don't have a lot of

(01:50):
Intel there. But if you do want that kind of
info, you should check out my interview with Alita from Ali
Travel Points in the episode right before this one.
She is a genius with credit cardhacking.
And that episode is basically a crash course in travel hacking
one-on-one. So go listen to this after this
one. OK.
But this episode is about everything I wish someone had

(02:13):
told me before I travel to Hawaii with kids.
Because if you're like me, an RVR who also loves to make it
up, mix it up with a good flightor a cruise, you might be eyeing
Hawaii as one of those bucket list trips.
But my hope is that this episodeinspires you to move that dream
from someday to an actual date on your calendar in the near

(02:38):
future. Here we go.
Let me give you some quick context to our trip.
None of us had ever been to the Hawaiian Islands before the
summer. And even though we've been full
time Rving for nearly three years, we don't usually take
long vacations and you know, like psychotically beautiful
places. So this trip felt extra special

(03:00):
and we visited Kona Island specifically.
It's also known as the Big Island because obviously it's
the largest of the Hawaiian Islands and fun fact, it's
southern tip is the southernmostpoint of the United States.
OK, if you are a Florida Keys person, some people argue that

(03:20):
the southernmost point is in theFlorida Keys.
You know, honestly, I don't havea horse in that race, so let's
just call it a tie and move on. But it's pretty fun when you're
in Hawaii. It's like a whole thing.
So let's talk about some things that no one told me before going
to Hawaii that I wish I would have known.
First of all, at a very high level, Hawaii really is just as

(03:41):
gorgeous as everyone says it is.On the Big Island alone, that's
the only one we visited. You will experience so many
different terrains like it. It only takes 8 hours to drive
the entire island and every 30 minutes or so the landscape
completely changes. By the way, I 100% recommend
renting a car. It's totally worth the cost.

(04:04):
So like you'll go from misty rainforest to mountain views to
like black lava fields that are completely desolate and then
you'll hit like white sandy beaches and then grasslands.
You guys, it is wild and it's incredibly beautiful.
And if you're wondering, yes, absolutely rent a car.

(04:24):
Second of all, I had no idea howrich and cool the Hawaiian
culture is. Like, you know, I've seen it in
movies and and I knew they said Aloha, but did you know that
Aloha doesn't just mean hello orgoodbye?
It literally means love. Yes, that is the energy this
culture greets each other with. And the history, like how the

(04:47):
Pacific Islanders navigated and settled these islands.
You guys, it's just amazing. So be sure to visit like any
historical landmarks or nationalmonuments near you whenever you
visit. And also go to a hula
performance. It's a real thing.
It's not just in movies. And it's totally worth it.
It's totally fun. So just get into it while you're

(05:08):
there. Now let's talk about logistics
because especially if you're traveling with kids and you're
like me, it might make you like have sweaty armpits and bite all
your nails off just thinking about it.
So our journey specifically we started in Nebraska, which is
our home base and our flights included a morning departure

(05:29):
from Omaha. We had a layover in Phoenix and
then a six hour flight to Cona Island.
Now if you're like me, like I said, just thinking about this
with young kids and our kids were 8:00 and 11:00 at the time,
it kind of gives you like some hives.
It is actually not that bad. Here's a few things that I did

(05:52):
that helped. So we started pushing our kids
bedtimes later about a month before the trip to help with the
time zone change. We had been in the Eastern Time
zone until like mid-May and our trip was in early June.
So like at the beginning of May,I was already like pushing bed
times back because I was really worried about sleep and get them

(06:17):
getting enough sleep and being grumpy.
It's a whole thing. So we started that early.
Another thing I did that helped a lot was like start shopping
for clothes several weeks ahead of time.
Like I thought we were going to be there for 10 days and I
didn't think we would have any laundry service because we were
staying at a resort. And so I wanted everyone to have
like exactly 10 outfits to coverthis entire trip.

(06:40):
Honestly, there ended up being awasher and dryer available to us
at the resort. So it was kind of pointless, but
I did a lot of pre planning as as far as clothing and just
thought a lot about that. Music is really important to our
family. Did you know I was once a jazz
saxophonist? Yep.
When we started traveling full time, I knew I had to find a way
for my kids to learn an instrument from the road.

(07:02):
I am so glad. We found Hoffman Academy, the
leading online platform for kidsto learn piano.
It's a complete music education that's affordable and packed
with both music theory and fun. Over the past year, my little
second grader learned how to read music, play with both
hands, and even play chords. Click the link in the show notes

(07:22):
to sign up for a premium membership today and use Code RV
Queens for 15% off. Everyone knows that.
Colorado is 1. Of the most beautiful places to
camp. In the US, right?
OK. If you're heading there this
year, you've. Got to check.
Out the Four Corners area near Mesa Verde and stay at the
Cortez RV Resort. By our journey, you'll enjoy

(07:43):
mountain views, a heated pool and even a.
Three acre dog park what click the.
Link in the show notes to book now and start your journey with
our journey. Another thing we did that was
super helpful was Drew and I both blocked off the entire day
before our departure from Omaha just for packing and prep.

(08:03):
Like we just knew if you haven'ttaken a super big trip like this
before, don't think you can cramstuff into that day before.
It's not going to happen. Just keep yourself sane.
And another thing, OK, so I'm a list person.
I made individual packing lists for the kids and then I just
trusted them to pack. So that day before, I did not

(08:25):
micromanage them. I didn't double check it.
Like it was a total stress saverfor me.
We all survived. They did what they needed to.
I trusted them, they rose to theoccasion.
It was wonderful. OK, so the flight itself, I
don't know if you guys are used to going on long flights with
young kids. I'm not usually we have like

(08:46):
maybe a 2 hour flight at a time,which is manageable.
A6 hour flight is not as bad as you think.
Like I mentioned, we went from Omaha to Phoenix, that was about
two hours, had a little layout layover and then from Phoenix,
the six hour flight from Phoenixto Kona, it went better than I
expected. That said, here is something

(09:06):
that no one warned me about. There is no meal service on that
long haul flight. None.
Like I mean that, you know, besides just like here's some
drinks and some peanuts or whatever.
Last time I took an overseas flight, they brought a hot meal
out, but I guess that's gone now.
I don't know. Or maybe it's just our airline.
So thank you 2020 yet again for another like travel weirdness.

(09:31):
So I actually knew that ahead oftime and I prepped gallon size
snack bags and sandwiches and stuff for each of us like we do.
We do that on long RV travel days too, so we each had one in
our backpacks and save them specifically for the final leg
of the flight. That would be kind of like a
dinner situation. Also worth noting about going to

(09:54):
Hawaii. This is interesting.
So you have to sign a waiver saying that you're not bringing
any plants or produce into Hawaii.
This is like, I remember we had to do this when we went to
California and crossed in on that border.
I guess maybe so they kind of treat it like an international
situation. I don't know.
So there's like a whole thing around that.

(10:16):
Also on the flights my kids literally watch screens the
entire time which they never getto do if you know us at all.
Like we are not a screen loving family.
It's like they get maybe 30 minutes a day and then every
once in a while we have a familymovie night and honestly
screenswear gift. No one lost their mind and it

(10:39):
was very helpful in this situation.
So that's how we got through andhere is a little travel hack on
a practical note that I want to share with you.
I don't usually have a lot of travel hacks to share.
I'm not that type of person. But here's 1 little cost savings
hack to share with you. This is around the check bags.
OK, so we had packed 4 roller bags, one for each of us and

(11:02):
four backpacks. So everyone had their own carry
on. Everyone had a roller bag, the
two smaller roller bags which were for the kiddos.
And then we had one big one for Drew and I.
And then we had an extra roller bag which we, we packed it with
what we called family essentials.
So in case we lost all of our other luggage, we at least had

(11:23):
like jammies and toothbrush and you know, our essentials.
We checked the big bag of course, and then we also paid to
check the kids bags too. So we on the flight we had
planned, we would just each havea backpack and then we would
have that family essentials bag.But and you know, that's like, I

(11:44):
don't know, 30-5 bucks a bag or something that we had to check
at the gate though they offered complimentary bag checks to save
on overhead space. So next time, like we'll just
skip the fee of checking the kids bags and then we'll just,
you know, take them up on the complimentary bag check at the
gate. So there you go.

(12:04):
There's a little tiny bit of cost savings on your way to
Hawaii. Now, something else I want to
talk about is sleep. You guys, the time change is
rough. It is very far away.
It's way in the middle of the ocean.
The first few days, like probably the first 24 to 36
hours, like we were all grumpy and exhausted by 6:00 PM
because, you know, we had just mostly been on Eastern Time and

(12:27):
then like a little bit on Central time.
And then you're like, whoa, you're way out of whack.
So at 6:00 PM, it felt like midnight to all of our bodies
and we had to force ourselves tostay awake.
And then, you know, we'd crash by 8:00 PM.
And then me and Drew especially,like we would wake up at 2:00 AM
felt like 8:00 AM to us. It's just like, OK, cool.

(12:49):
Guess, guess what? I just need to force myself to
sleep for a few more hours. So eventually we adjusted to a
rhythm of like early mornings, lots of outdoor time to kind of
like get your, get your, you know, systems all lined up with
the sun and everything. And then we would just all wind
down early in the evenings and me and Drew fell asleep same

(13:10):
time to the kids every night. So yeah, sleep, it's going to be
all right. The kids honestly were more
resilient than me and Drew were.So it'll work out Now finally, I
have to talk about a must do on the islands.
You have to go snorkeling you guys.
It's I've never snorkel before. It was like being inside a scene

(13:31):
from Little Mermaid and I'm not exaggerating.
Like we saw coral reefs, rainbowfish, sea turtles, mana rays,
and a friend of ours swim like she saw spinner dolphins.
Like I didn't even know these existed.
They're tiny little spinning dolphins that travel together.
And if you go to Kona Island specifically, you have to rent

(13:52):
the snorkel gear and head to a spot called 2 step.
It is 1000% worth it. Don't make my rookie mistake
which was not wearing the littlefins that come with the snorkel
gear because I thought they weredorky.
I thought I would be fine without them.
I stepped on the one of those Black Sea urchins that are super

(14:13):
pointy. It's called vana when you're
down in Hawaii. Extremely painful.
And I limped around the island for a week.
So just wear the fence, rent thesnorkel gear, see The Little
Mermaid fish. It is so magical.
OK, so here's what I'm going to say in closing.
If Hawaii is on your bucket list, you guys bump it up.

(14:35):
Like make it real. Even if you're travelling with
kids, even if the logistics feelintimidating, I promise you it's
doable and it is so worth it. So maybe go listen to that
conversation with Alita about the travel points and the credit
card hacking. Maybe that's a way that you can
get there if money feels tight this year.
But you guys, this trip remindedme like why we do what we do,

(14:59):
why we work so hard to build businesses with freedom and
flexibility, why we trade convention for adventure.
Like the memories you make in places like this, they will stay
with you forever. Seriously, I know I'm like sappy
right now, but it was seriously great.
So you guys, thanks for hanging out with me today.
If this episode inspired you or helped you prep for a trip of

(15:22):
your own, send me Adm on Instagram at RV Queen Podcast.
I'd love to hear about it. And if you've been to Hawaii,
tell me your favorite island or your snorkel spots so we can
start planning around too. All right, my friend, until next
time, keep dreaming big. Keep traveling well and making
money on the road. Thank you so much for tuning in

(15:45):
to today's episode and for beingpart of the RV Queens community.
Remember to hit subscribe on whatever platform you're
listening on. And guess what?
You can have conversations like I had on this episode with your
fellow RV women who are living intentionally and making money
on the road. Head to
rvqueenspodcast.com/community tojoin RV Queens circles today.

(16:09):
It's a totally unique online space with a shared prosperity
model that's all about communityover competition.
I'd love to have you be a part. All right, guys, I'll see you
next week or hopefully I will see you on the road.
It is so magical.