Hawaii or Bust!

Okay, so I've got 2 1/2 years to save for a trip to paradise. We're talking Hawaii, baby! I've always wanted to go there, and when I moved further east several years ago, I didn't think I'd ever get to go.

However, when I was out west visiting my family that are still back home, my brother-in-law was telling me of their plan. He's going to take an early retirement in 2009, and they want to go to Hawaii in February of that year to celebrate. So he said, why don't you come with us? At first I said, nah, I couldn't ever afford to go there, but he reminded me of the fact that I have 2 1/2 years to save for it, and with us all going together, we could split costs for accomodations -- maybe rent a condo or something. I started doing calculations in my head and thought, yeah, this is probably do-able! So as soon as I got home, I opened a new savings account to start socking away some money for this trip.

Then of course, me and my interest in surfing and learning new things on the net, I came across a web release for gebhartproperties.com, and noticed that they offer Hawaii vacation rentals. Naturally I had to sneak a peak at their site to check it out. Wow! They have some gorgeous places, but then I suppose every place in Hawaii is gorgeous! Gebhart currently has four different places, between the big island of Hawaii and Maui. Since we are planning to go to Oahu though, Gebhart won't currently work for us, but you never know -- they could end up with more locations on other islands by the time we go.

Anyway, their properties range in size from 1400 square feet up to 3000 square feet, and sleep between 4 and 8 people. Prices range from the $600 mark, up to $700. Sound expensive, but if you factor in sharing a condo with other family members or friends, you'll be able to cut your costs. These places are simply breathtaking, as well as the settings they are in!

It was good to get an idea of what the cost is though, for renting a condo over a hotel room. I'll have to keep searching for other places closer to Honolulu. Mmmm, I can taste the pina colodas already!