Updated Travel Plans for 2026 - December 2025

Once again, we have a fairly busy travel schedule for the upcoming year. Where will we be traveling in 2026? Here is a brief summary.

Planned Elbe River Destinations

Elbe River

This trip starts in Berlin and will take us on a river journey along the Elbe River. We'll end this trip in Czech Republic. The last river trip we took was during our visit to the Christmas Markets in 2024. During that trip, we traveled on the Rhine and visited Germany and France cities and villages.  One great thing is that the weather should be much warmer than winter in Europe.

Southern Mediterranean

We've traveled in the Mediterranean on several cruise lines but never in the south or Northern Africa region. This time, we'll visit Tunisia, Algiers, and Morocco. We're looking forward to exploring the ports that will be new to us. 

New York City 

Our last trip into New York City was in 2018. On this very short 2026 trip, we have tickets to see Sting singing in the third adaptation of his "The Last Ship." We saw the first adaptation of this musical in New York in 2014. 

We also have tickets for “Maybe Happy Ending.” This show was nominated for ten 2025 Tony Awards in 2025 and won in six categories, including Best Musical.  

Source: MaybeHappyEnding.com

We're looking forward to dining at a few of our favorite theater district restaurants.

Eclipse Cruise

We have a longer ocean cruise that is a round-trip from the East coast of the US. The itinerary includes Greenland, Iceland, The Netherlands, Newfoundland, Norway, Nova Scotia, and UK. Mid-trip, the ship will stop and, hopefully, clear skies will prevail so that we can view a full eclipse. We'll be bringing our eclipse viewing glasses as well as a wide range of clothes for the different temperatures we'll experience. 

San Francisco Presidio 

This three day trip has become almost an annual summer activity. We enjoy hiking on the expansive Presidio grounds and having a meal in downtown San Francisco. This year, we've scheduled our visit so that we can view a couple of museum exhibits, as well. A well-timed summer visit also means escaping the very warm temperatures of the Central Valley for the cooler San Francisco Bay Area.

What Lies Beyond 2026?

Surprisingly, we have already reserved three 2027 international trips. These focus on Brazil, Scandinavia, and a trans-Pacific cruise.  In 2028, we plan to sail on a Southeast Asia cruise in the spring and perhaps arrange a South Korea and Japan land visit to view the fall colors. 

Big Island - November 2025

Kauna'oa Bay

This was our final trip for 2025.  We stayed at the Mauna Kea Resort, located on Kauna'oa Bay. This resort was built by venture capitalist and conservationist Laurence Rockefeller. It opened in 1965, with 154 rooms and has grown to 252 rooms and suites. Rockefeller's 1,600 piece rare Hawaiian and Asian art collection is placed throughout the Mauna Kea Resort for guest to enjoy. The hotel was added to the Historic Hotels of America in 2016.

After an earthquake in 2006, the hotel was repaired and reopened in 2008. A $200 million renovation, started in 2023, is now almost complete, with refreshed rooms and suites, and updated pool. In addition to some remaining building updates, a new pool and spa is scheduled to open in April 2026. 

Mauna Kea Resort Lobby

Thai Artwork

Some Activities During this Trip

Donna's Cookies: We always make a stop at the roadside bakery of Donna's Cookies in Paauilo when we visit the Big Island. The bakery offers about nine different richly flavored shortbread cookie flavors. Stopping at the bakery allows you to ask for a custom mix of our favorite cookies. You can also purchase a pre-package assorted cookie mix and smaller bags.

Source: Donna's Cookies

Source: Donna's Cookies

Honoka'a Old Town: This year, we made a stop to walk through the old town of Honoka'a. This town was the center of the Hamakua Sugar Company and was the second largest town on the Big Island during the early 1900s. Many of the buildings date back to 1920-30 and currently house a variety of business, art galleries, food and beverage shops. 

This Hardware Store Was Open for Almost 100 Years and
Closed in 2022

Tropical Botanical Garden: We've visited Tropical Botanical Garden last year and since we were in the vicinity, we toured the garden once again. If you're visiting Donna's Cookies and Honoka'a, the garden is about 30 minutes away. The flowers were once again amazing to view.

The initial pathway has a sharp angle into the lower garden area and wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and scooters cannot be safely used (canes and walking sticks are ok). Strollers must be unoccupied in the steep pathway section. The garden has an ADA exemption as modifying this pathway would alter the Onomea valley topography and be destructive to preservation of plants, trees and flowers.

Hot Glass Hawaii: If you're interested in a hands-on experience with making a glass piece, Hot Glass Hawaii is where you need to stop. We've never done this before and wanted to give it a try. Matthew, the glass maker, provides a demonstration and then visitors get to create a glass flower, paperweight, or ornament. I was a little concerned with being near 2,000F molten glass, but Matthew was right beside me helping me create my "lava" colored ornament. My wife made a beautiful glass paperweight, as well.

If you're thinking about making a glass piece, you'll need to make an online registration for a two-hour session. Hot Glass Hawaii is in the town of Hawi. There is also a small collective art gallery at this location.

Ornament

Paperweight

Dining

Jackie Reys: This casual Kailua-Kona restaurant was about 40 minutes from our hotel, but the food and service was well-worth the driving time. Saturday evening at Jackie Reys was very popular. I enjoyed the triple sampler of coconut shrimp, seared Ahi, crab cake and vegetables. My wife had the surf and turf, with shrimp, fillet mignon, served with a rich gnocchi side. There is a Jackie Reys in Hilo, but it is under different ownership. We might give it a try during our next visit to the Big Island. 

Source: Jackie Reys of Kona

Bamboo Restaurant: If you're visiting the old town of Hawi, a lunch or dinner at Bamboo Restaurant is recommended. The colorful eclectic interior is well matched by terrific drinks and food. This year, we stopped for lunch at Bamboo.We've found the Pina colada is about the best on the island as it has a wonderful fresh pineapple flavor.  Note that dinner is currently offered only on Thursday evenings and dinner reservations are advised. 

FORC Restaurant: We made a drive to Waimea one evening for a return visit to FORC. This restaurant focuses on Hawaiian inspired farm-to-table and seafood offerings. The wine and drink menu had many choices to consider. The thick 'tomahawk' pork chop, coffee-rubbed New York steak and Miso Butterfish were noteworthy dishes.

Source: FORC Restaurant

Manta Restaurant: There's something about enjoying an upscale meal with an open-air view overlooking the Kauna'oa Bay during sunset. The service at Manta was also amazing, with great suggestions for appetizers and entree  selection. The dinner entrees range from $50 to $75, though with appetizers, dessert and drinks, your cost will rise. Our hotel room included a Manta Restaurant breakfast buffet each morning. The morning buffet offered a wide selection of egg dishes, meats, sides, salads, pastries, fruits, sides, along with some Asian inspired dishes. 

Achiote Marinated Snapper with Pigeon Pea Rice,
Beurre Fondue, Garden Salsa, Fried Plantain Slice and Annato Oil

Baked Alaska with Coffee Ice Cream and Lemon Curd

What's Shakin: This small roadside shop offers delicious fruit smoothies/shakes and wraps. What's Shakin is located only minutes from the Tropical Botanical Garden and makes a great lunch stop after a morning garden visit.  We shared an Ono fish wrap, with breaded Ono fish, tomato, onion, cucumber, spinach, sprouts, and tartar sauce, all wrapped in a flour tortilla. We also enjoyed a "Mango Tango" smoothie that blended papayas, bananas, and pineapple juice. 

Menu Board

Updated Travel Plans - March 2025

 Here is a brief update to our future travel plans. 

2025

We have a planned visit to the SF Presidio for a few days this summer. We enjoy the cool weather and the opportunity to take a few hikes and visit a couple of San Francisco restaurants. It is very peaceful on the Presidio grounds, especially mid-week.

Our remaining international 2025 trip will be to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu in the fall.

Later in the winter, we'll fly to the Big Island for a few days of relaxation.

2026 

We'll start our 2026 international travel with a Viking Ocean cruise. Pre-cruise, we're planning on either a first time visit to Madrid or a return stay in Barcelona. Once on board, we'll have day trips to several ports that we've never visited. These include Morocco, Corsica, Malta, Algiers and Marseille, France.

It looks like we have enough frequent flier miles to cover our roundtrip airfare. That said, we've found it more challenging to find tickets that are within our mileage account balance.

 

Credit: Viking Ocean Cruises

Shortly after returning home from Barcelona for about six weeks, we'll return again to Europe. We will spend some time in Berlin and, after few days there, sail on the Elbe River. This Viking River trip will end in Prague. We've spent several days in Prague in 2011, so we may choose to fly back to the US soon after the river trip ends. The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article on Prague beers (for subscribers). We may have to check out a few breweries before we leave. After this trip we plan on staying at home for a few months.

Credit: Viking River Cruises

We booked our final 2026 international cruise that sails from and returns to the US - so no long international flights. This month-long cruise will include a full eclipse viewing near Iceland. Once again, this trip includes several ports that will be new to us, including new stops in Greenland, Iceland, Ireland and Newfoundland.

 

                       Credit: Robert B. Slobins

2027

Travel planning for 2027 seems almost too far in the future, That said, we  have reserved an international cruise on Viking Ocean. The focus of this trip will be Scandinavia. Itinerary has become a primary focus for us and, once again, this cruise includes some new ports for us. These new destinations include first-time Latvia and Lithuania visits, and new ports for us in Norway and Denmark.

Credit: Viking Ocean Cruises

That is about all we've got planned for 2027. As we progress towards 2026, I suspect that our future travel calendar will fill up. 

Bucket list destinations include South Korea, Thailand and a return to Japan.

Big Island - October 2024

My wife and I recently returned to the Big Island to relax for a few days. We stayed at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, which was a favorite hotel location of my parents. Despite being 30 years old, this 250 room resort is well maintained, has beautiful grounds and has direct access to Hapuna Beach. There are also cultural programs in which guests can participate.

During our visit, the Kona Ironman competition was underway. We weren't aware of this scheduling. We learned that the vehicle traffic along Kailua-Kona roads and Highway 19 would be severely restricted on race Saturday. Several locals told us that on race day, a typical 45 minute drive from our hotel to one of our favorite Kailua-Kona restaurants, Jackie Reys, could take over two hours. We pivoted to a Waimea restaurant in the opposite direction from race activities.  A lesson learned: check local event calendars when planning your travels.

 

Here's a short summary of a few trip highlights:

Mahai'ula Bay

We spent an early morning at Mahai'ula Bay. There is a parking lot for this location right off Highway 19, near the sign for Kekaha Kai State Park. There is yet another parking area closer to the Bay, but the road has a few very gnarly spots. We drove our Chevy sedan rental about half-way towards the more distant parking lot before deciding it would be best to park the car along the unimproved road and simply walk the rest of the way. When we left the bay to return to the highway, the sedan bottomed out in a couple of locations due to uneven and rocky areas - higher ground clearance was needed. I learned that this road was paved a very long time ago, but maintenance has been very limited. I was told that paving the original park dirt/lava road  may have led to unanticipated weather related drainage problems. This issue could have caused greater erosion in some spots. I later read reports of some sedan drivers poking a hole in their engine oil pan on this road. It is best to park at the lot near the highway unless you're driving a Jeep or SUV.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

About 90 minutes from the Westin, along Highway 19, near the towns of Onomea and Pepeekeo, is the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. This 17 acre garden provides a wonderful opportunity to view lush tropical rainforest plants, waterfalls and ocean views. The garden is home to over 2,000 plant species. Garden preparation started in 1977 by the owners, Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse. The garden is now operated by a non-profit trust.  

We wandered through the garden paths for a little over an hour. Much of our time was spent admiring the beautiful flowers, collected from throughout the world. It was challenging not to stop and take photos of every flower bloom we viewed. 

Note to those that are physically challenged, the garden planked/paved path is steep in some places. Walking sticks and canes are permitted. However, garden staff considers the path to be too steep for safe use by mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, scooters or crutches. The garden is exempt from ADA standards as reducing the steep areas would alter the natural Onomea valley topography.

Below are just a few photos from the garden.

Continuing our drive, we stopped for lunch at the Onomea Country Market (about ten minutes from the garden). The market has a gift store, fresh fruits and and food prepared by Piilani Kitchen. Note the smoothies and paninis here are especially delicious. The market is located on Old Mamalahoa Highway, in Pepeekeo.

If you enjoy shortbread cookies, the drive from the Westin to the garden goes through Paauilo, home of Donna's Cookies. We stopped at the bakery on our morning drive and purchased 2.5 gallons of cookies (for family) to bring back home. These cookies easily crumble, so we placed them in our carry-on luggage during our flight back to California. The bakery is closed on weekends and is open until 2pm on weekdays.

On the return drive from the garden, we stopped at Tex Drive-in, in Honokaa, for malasadas and coffee.

Donna's Cookies Bakery

Tex Drive-In

Pu'ulohola Heiau National Historia Site

This stone Hawaiian temple is a sacred structure built in 1790-91 by Kamehameha I. The stone structure, measuring 224 feet by 100 feet and a height of up to 20 feet, was built by thousands of men, using water-worn lava rock. This location was the site of the last confrontation between Kamehameha and Keoua Kuahu'ula, which ended with Keoua's death and the unification of the Island of Hawaii. By 1810, Kamahameha was the king of all the Hawaiian Islands. 

The historic site is about a ten-minute drive from the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. It can be very warm while visiting the Heiau, so I suggest bringing a hat and water. The visitor center provides a video which describes the site's history. The walking path through the site is a little steep in some places and may not be sufficiently improved for mobility devices.

Dining Recommendations

Bamboo Restaurant, Hawi 

About 25 minutes from the Westin is the North Kohala town of Hawi. This small town has several art galleries, a few restaurants, boutiques and a small market. Our dinner destination in Hawi was the Bamboo Restaurant and Gallery. This restaurant only serves dinners on Thursdays and Fridays, so advance reservations are a must. Bamboo is known for its great dining atmosphere, delicious food, reasonable prices and helpful staff. The Pina colada was the best we had on the island.  

Forc, Waimea

This was our first visit to Forc Restaurant in Waimea. This location was about a 20 minute drive from the Westin. Advance reservations are advised. We had dinner here on a Friday night and it was very crowded at 5:45pm. We later learned there was a Jake Shimabukuro concert in Waimea at 7pm, hence the busy early dining. We recommend Forc be on your Big Island restaurant list.

Napua, Mauna Lani

Napua Restaurant offers terrific dinner selections, nice view of the nearby beach and friendly service. The meals rely on local farms, fresh seafood and ranches. We dined at this restaurant last year and, again, it was an enjoyable visit.

Sansei Restaurant,  Waikoloa

Sansei Seafood and Sushi Restaurant is our casual and unpretentious local dining stop on each Big Island visit. The menu offers a wide variety of dishes and each is done well.   

Updated Travel Plans - February 2024

CCO Public Domain

Six months ago, our future travel schedule looked quite a bit different than today. Here is a brief update to our plans. A number of itineraries have become available for 2026. It seems unusual to be scheduling so far in advance but some of these itineraries are popular and booking may become difficult if we wait too long.

2024

Vancouver Cruise and Vancouver City Tour 

We're taking this short (and unplanned) trip to repurpose the travel insurance policy from our rescheduled 2024 Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip.

San Francisco Presidio

This has become somewhat of an annual visit for us. We enjoy the hiking trails in the Presidio. It is great to park your car and not having to use it until departing for home.

Kenya

This two week trip is still on schedule. We're hoping the drought ends and improves the living conditions for Kenyans and wildlife. 

Big Island 

We enjoyed our 2023 visit to the Big Island and a repeat trip for 2024 provides a brief fall break. This time, we'll stay at the Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel - a sister property of the next-door Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The latter is undergoing a complete renovation in 2024 and we weren't sure if work noise and venue closures would be a problem.

Christmas Markets in France and Germany 

This trip is still on schedule. We'll spend a few days visiting the seasonal markets in Frankfurt, Braunfels, Nuremberg, Mainz, Wertheim, Bamberg, Miltenberg, Speyer, Strasbourg and Riquewihr. We might look for a Xmas themed German incense smoker/burner. These hand carved figurines are known as Rauchermanner, or "Smoking Men." 

2025

Australia

Our current plan is to spend about a month in Australia and a short visit to Indonesia. This trip is on a Viking Ocean ship.

Japan

We hope to to spend four to six weeks in Japan. Part of the trip will circumnavigate Japan by cruise ship. We'll also try to include time for personal land travel.

Galapagos and Machu Picchu

Due to the 2024 unrest, we rescheduled this trip to 2025.  The rescheduled date should bring us to Machu Picchu in a better - and less wet - season.

2026

Germany 

We've booked an Elbe River cruise with Viking. This will be our first time on this river and a good opportunity for exploring Berlin.

Morocco, Algiers and Spain 

We've booked a ocean cruise that will bring us to parts of the world that we have not yet traveled. 

Big Island - October 2023

Source: Mauna Kea Beach Hotel 

We just returned from a short visit to the Big Island. This trip, we stayed at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The resort was developed by Laurance Rockefeller in the mid-1960s and was the first resort on the Big Island. Previously, we stayed at the next door Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. Both are great hotels and locations.

Upon entering the hotel, you are immediately welcomed by two golden statues. At the registration desk, we received a lei, a refreshing guava drink and cool towel. The beautiful Polynesian and Asian cultural art pieces displayed around the hotel added to the Hawaiian ambience.

On a side note: The banana bread made by the hotel is particularly delicious - moist and nut-free. You can purchase a half loaf ($18) or full loaf ($36) from the Mauna Kea Market, in the hotel lobby. Note that a full loaf is about 16-18 inches in length. A full loaf order is cut in half for easier handling. It is best to order your loaf the day before you leave the islands. 

Hotel Entrance from Driveway

Hotel Lobby

Koi Ponds

View of Pool and Ocean

There are many water, sport and cultural activities available at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. We participated in the dinner luau. I also joined the early morning (6am) welcoming of the sun by participating in a "E Ala E" ceremony with the hotel's cultural ambassador, Healani Kimitete-Ah Mow. Apparently, most hotel guests were still sleeping at this early Wednesday morning time as I was the only participant. On Friday, I again attended the morning ceremony - this time with my sister and two other hotel guests. If you're thinking of joining the ceremony, wearing a swim suit is a good idea as you enter the waters at Kauna 'oa Beach (aka Mauna Kea Beach).

"E Ala E" Arise and Awaken Early Morning Ceremony

Imu Ceremony, Opening of the Underground Oven
to Remove a Cooked 105 pound Pig for the Luau.

Blowing of The Pu, Marking the Luau Beginning

During our Big Island visit, we drove over to Paauilo to Donna's Cookies. The shop is open until 2pm on weekdays and you can purchase a customized half gallon or gallon jar of your favorite cookies. This stop is always included in our Big Island itinerary. 

Source: Donna's Cookies

We also stopped for lunch and a tour at the Hawaiian Vanilla Company, just about ten minutes from Donna's Cookies. This vanilla farm offers a delicious lunch, with each lunch item infused with vanilla. The Roselani vanilla ice cream was especially delicious. You can also purchase a variety of items, including vanilla extract and vanilla bean kits for making your own vanilla extract as well as coffee, pecans, salad dressing, cornbread mix, waffle/pancake mix and chutney - all infused with Hawaiian vanilla. If you are interested in lunch, advance reservations are needed.

Source: Hawaiian Vanilla Company

There are many dining options within a 45 minute drive (or less) from the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Here are a few that we enjoyed. Note that we found that many restaurants closed early - 8pm-9pm - and are not open seven days a week. Advance dinner reservations are advised.

• Napua Restaurant, 68-1292 S. Kaniku Dr, Waikoloa Village, HI
• Jackie Rey’s, 75-5995 Kuakini Hwy, Kailuna-Kona, HI0 
• Tommy Bahama’s, 68-1330 Mauna Lani Dr, #102, Kamuela, HI
• Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar, Queens Market Place, 201 Waikoloa, HI