Don’t worry, I’m not about to tell you anything scary about Hawaiian Airlines. On the contrary, getting Hawaiian Airline Tickets is a great idea. They are a reputable company with an easy to navigate website. They even offer special corporate and affiliate programs, discounts on group travel, and a program for couples planning to get married in Hawaii (up to a 10% discount on tickets!).

This article is designed to do something else entirely. This article is designed to stop you before you book your Hawaiian Airline tickets, before you go any further with you Hawaiian vacation accommodations, before you do anything else…so you can make your vacation in Hawaii ten times better! (And no, I’m not going to try to sell you a fancy set of luggage).

Okay (you say), I’m waiting… how can I make my Hawaiian vacation ten times better?

It’s really simple. All you have to do is a little planning. You’ve been planning, you say? And saving, I’m sure. The trick is asking just how you did go about planning?

Did you get a couple of brochures, look at them, and decide you need to buy your Hawaiian Airline tickets immediately? Or have you been thinking about it a while and decided you want a vacation in Hawaii because you know you get sick of winter at a certain time every year? Maybe you even went a step further and did a little bit of research net, looking up Hawaiian Airline ticket prices and various Hawaiian hotel rates after work one day.

Evaluating interests and goals

If you are one of those super-ultra-organized people, you’ve probably already done some of those things, maybe even a lot more. But, if you really want to make the most of you vacation to Hawaii, you need to do a little bit different kind of planning and research based on what really matters – you goals, interests, and desires.

In his book How to Handle 1,000 Things at Once, Don Aslett suggests that one of the key aspects of better managing (and ultimately being more satisfied) with our lives is to first evaluate just exactly what our needs, interests, desires, and goals are – before we go about planning for things, including vacations.

So, like I said, before you book your Hawaiian Airline Tickets, stop and really think about why you are vacationing in Hawaii. Is it because it is ‘the’ place to go? (And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to go somewherebecause it’s hip and popular. It’s probably popular for a reason.) Because you want to learn to surf? Because of the history and culture?

The point is, whatever the reason(s) for your trip to Hawaii, if think about your needs, interests, goals, and desires, (and you think about them sincerely and honestly) THEN plan your vacation around them, your vacation is going to be much more fulfilling.

The way to do it…

To do this exercise properly, you need to involve every person (in the family or otherwise) who is going to go on the trip. Have each person write down (if they’re old enough to know how to write) some of his or her personal interests and desires in general.

Next have each person write down specific needs and goals they want to meet while on the Hawaii trip, and what activities will best meet those needs and goals (If you decided to book your Hawaiian Airline tickets based on the airline commercial, here is where you’ll need to do some more research on just exactly what is offered). Decide how you can best accommodate the needs of each person.

If we were doing this for our family, for example -- my husband might write down his general interest in challenging sports and activities. Based on this, he might decide one goal during the vacation would be to do some surfing and parasailing. I might write down my interest in alternative health and decide a goal I would like to meet is enrolling one of the wellness programs offered in Hawaii. My daughter might write down her interest in animals, and we would make a goal of planning to whale or dolphin watch. (For our two youngest, a sippy cup of juice and a clean diaper will probably meet their needs no matter where we are).

So, by evaluating each person’s desires and interests and deciding specifically what activities will best meet them, you and/or your family will have a much better vacation.

There – you know the secret to making you vacation 10 times better – now you can go book your Hawaiian Airline Tickets. Happy vacationing!

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In addition to being a freelance journalist with PULSEMEDIA International, Amy Finley is also a creative writer. She is currently working on her M.A. in English Literature and lives in Rome, Ohio with her husband and three children.

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