You know your fate is sealed when the stars align, the heavens open, and your friend plans to get Maui’eed during your spring break. When this happens you have no choice and you HAVE TO GO TO MAUI!!! This year, everything pointed that Maui for spring break was my destiny and who am I to go against DESTINY?
So (disclaimer time) my friend “claims” she planned her
wedding because it fell on her and her (now) husband’s anniversary, but the
truth is she just really wanted me there and I would not have been able to go
during school. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) Once the date was set for
their magical Maui marriage it was time to start planning my next budget saving
vacation.
Now (time for another disclaimer) I did not do as well on
deals for this trip as I would have liked. Hawaii is freaking expensive!!!! and
I tried to be as cheap as possible but there are just some things not available
for cheap in the Aloha State. With that being said, my ultimate goal was to
spend no more than $1000 for 5 days in Magical Maui and I came as close as cheaply
possible.
I found the best possible deal I could at the time I
purchased my flights and got roundtrip airfare for $525. This isn’t too bad but
it is not up to my usual deal guru standards. However I did make up for it with
condo costs. If anyone has traveled to Hawaii they know how ridiculously
expensive it is to stay there. Hotel costs are CRAY CRAY and trying to find
condos or people who rent apartments or homes isn’t much easier, especially if
you want to stay in a prime location (say on the beach?) which of course you do
duh you’re going to HAWAII. So this is where being a cool person who gets along
well with others comes in handy. The best friend of the bride was looking for
roomies to get a place to stay at in Maui so we split the costs between the 2
of us and each of our guests. She just so happened to know someone who knew
someone who owned a condo RIGHT ON THE BEACH and was willing to rent to us for
practically nothing (by Hawaii standards). AND to make it even better it was
just a few miles from where our friend was getting Maui’eed! Like I said, when
the universe wants you to go to Maui you HAVE TO GO TO MAUI!! Anyways, my
overall cost for 5 nights in Maui was $263. If that’s not Pure Maui Magic then
I don’t know what is!!!
So now that airfare and lodging were taken care of I of
course had to plan adventures. I CANNOT go on a vacation and not buy a single
deal, it goes against my soul (yes I do have a soul thank you very much)! Unfortunately
since Maui is not very big there were not many deals available. However, I was
able to get a sweet zip-lining deal on Living Social for $89 (regularly $129).
AND there was an online special for a turtle snorkel adventure that included
snorkeling gear, food, and adult beverages for $50 (regularly $60). (You should
know by now that when something includes food and alcohol I am going to be
there!!!) Fortunately, there were no sharks anywhere near me (my bladder and
pride were very thankful for this) so I was able to enjoy the deep crystal blue
sea as a happy human rather than shark bait! #WINNING
SOOOOOOOO, all that added up brought the total to $929 which
YAY was in my budget!! But BOO I still had to get a rental car because there is
no way to get around Maui without one. I searched the heavens, scoured the
depths of the ocean, and seeked the snitch in a game of Quidditch (how many
people get this reference?) for the best rental car deal possible and was
unable to find anything remotely reasonable (sad face). So I had to push aside
my pride and pay (gulp) full price for a rental car (super sad face) which
ended up being $243 (serious sad face). In the end I spent $1170 on a week
vacay in Maui; which isn’t too bad considering full price costs can range from
$1500-$2500 (or more). Like I said, not up to par with my usual cheap status
ways but still worth bragging about J
(thank you thank you applause later please). Most importantly, it was worth it
to see my friend Maui’eed right on the beach to the love of her life (while on
Spring Break).
So all in all, I got to fly through the trees like Tarzan,
beach bum it every day in Maui’s marvelousness, tumble in the waters with some
turtles, and be a wedding witness to a truly beautiful couple. Not a bad way to
spend $1170 if you ask me (you are reading this blog so you asked me, end of
story).
MAHOLA for joining me on another Adventure4Less!!! Enjoy the
pics and remember to have Fun4Less!!!
