Hawaii topped our empty nest travel list, so when a work retreat landed there, we took the hint. We flew in early, added a few days of island hopping and personal time to the agenda, and let the trip do double duty.

Here's the 2022 scorecard.

Dates: May 4 – 12, 2022

Places: Kauai, Oahu, Maui

3 Hawaiian Islands & 1 continent (North America to Hawaii and back)

~7,300 miles on 5 flights (2 airlines: United Airlines to and from the mainland, Hawaiian Airlines inter-island)

~17 hours airborne

3 time-zone boundaries crossed twice (Mountain, Pacific, and Hawaiian - Aleutian)

2 hotels, 3 rental cars (>250 miles driven)

1 Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour (Kauai)

2 horses (1 beach + 1 mountain trail)

180,634 steps walked together

200+ photos taken

The Highlights Reel

Helicopter tour: Soaring over Kauai's Na Pali Coast, those green cliffs dropping straight into turquoise water felt unreal.

Horseback riding: Trotting through lush trails, trying not to laugh every time the horse decided it knew the path better.

Pearl Harbor: Quiet moment at the memorial, history hitting different with the harbor breeze.

Road to Hana: Windy Maui drive past waterfalls and black sand beaches, every curve a new "whoa."

Haleakala summit: Early start up the volcano, crater views that made the chill totally worth it.

Mandatory Fun: Half day of relay races where our team took second place and laughed hard enough to forget it was technically “work.”

Lobby Moment: Christina spotting a random Venice gondola photo in the hotel and pointing at it like a spoiler alert for our 2023 trip.

Nine days, three islands, and a little mandatory fun, zero regrets.