Travel Mom Gloria joins us on this episode to tell us about her family’s Waikiki Hilton Hawaiian Village vacation and share some great tips for traveling with kids.
For more family vacation inspiration, check out all the podcast episodes. Adventure Awaits!
Tell Us About Yourself
I have a handmade doll business, Siempre Viva Dolls. I make Latinx dolls for the Latinx community and people of color, and people who are often underrepresented in the doll community. I’ve been doing it for about seven years.
I have two kids, a 10-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy, and we love to travel. We’ve been traveling with them since they were born.
Our most recent vacation was to the Waikiki Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Preparation Tips
I try and get the kids ready for any type of trip that we’re going to take at least a month ahead.
- Vacation Countdown: We first start with a countdown. I got regular butcher paper and did 30 cute little sun drawings, and every day we would cross out a sun until we got to the day we were going to the airport. I would throw in some kind of history or interesting fact, or I would tell them about a place we’re going to that’s famous there. They enjoyed it, and they were so excited by the time we went.
- Packing: My kids are old enough to pack their own suitcases. Two days before we travel, I give them their suitcase. We go over how many days we’re going to be there and what we’re going to do. They pack all their outfits, and then they bring me the suitcase, and we go over it we go through everything. It’s part of the adventure for them.
- KeeKee Tools: We had our Flat KeeKee cutout, and my son cut it out himself. He was excited about taking it with him. He put it inside his adventure backpack. And they loved the KeeKee Paper Chain Countdown because they put it upstairs in their room so they would do that at night before bed. That made it special for them.
- At the Airport: We always allow the kids to get treats at the airport as part of the adventure. We have a hotspot we take with us because airport wifi is unreliable, and it makes it easier for them to use their tablets. I also let them use their tablets on the airplane to keep them busy.
Waikiki Hilton Hawaiian Village Adventure
We stayed at the amazing Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. If you’ve ever been there, you know how beautiful it is. It’s just its own little city. It’s wonderful. They have so many pools, restaurants, and shops. We got a room upgrade to the Diamond Head Tower with an amazing ocean view from our balcony. If you want the true Hawaii family vacation experience, stay there.
The hotel has so much to do. They also have hula and lei-making lessons, which are all included in your resort fee. And they have their own luau on the grounds. Then on Friday nights, there are fireworks.
For the first adventure, you must go on the Diamond Head volcano hike because it’s good luck. We took the kids early in the morning. It was about a two-hour hike, then we had a beachside lunch.
There are lots of tours you can do, including snorkeling. If you want the Brady Bunch Family Vacation in Hawaii, go there.
Why do you think it’s important to travel with your kids?
It’s important to give them different experiences. Seeing what it’s like in other places is vital to helping them become amazing humans. We want the world to be open to them, and traveling does that.
We’re also talking about now that the kids are getting older, gifting them more travel as they don’t need more stuff and toys.
🌎 ✈️ 🌺 🏝️
Thank you for joining us, Gloria!
You can shop for Gloria’s dolls on her website and follow her on Instagram.
For more family vacation inspiration, tune in to all the podcast episodes. Adventure Awaits!