Some reflections to help you, friends, should you ever plan a trip to the Garden Isle.

1. Consider that such a trip involves a LOT of travel. It’s just something to be aware of. We spent almost two entire days on planes and in airports, and we live on the West coast—from the East coast, it’d be even more.

2. On the plus side, Kauai is fun to explore, and it’s an explorable size; there are some exotic things to see, too, like lush, jungly cliffs and super-high waterfalls. The sea-water is warm and clear, and there are many beaches to choose from, from surfer-perfect to family-perfect to deserted-primitive.

3. On the down-side (for us, anyway), this island is a bit more rural than we expected. While it’s got a few small towns, and Lihue is a decent-sized town, most of the island is either uninhabited or farmed. Restaurant options mostly include bar-and-grille fare (Stevel wants me to mention two things here … one, that he is very tired of eating Terriyaki Grilled Chicken sandwiches, and two, that there is no escaping TS Restaurants). There doesn’t seem to be any night-life, really, if that’s what you’re after (we weren’t, but it’s something I noted). We weren’t there to hike, but if hiking is your thing, this might be the perfect destination for you, since you can hike into a lot of the uninhabited stuff.

4. If you go, do get a rental car, and do upgrade it to a Jeep; some of the best stuff to see (and, in my opinion, the nicest beach—Polihale—which is remote and gorgeous) require you to drive over rutted, dirt roads or even very shallow streams.

5. Some stuff we were either glad we packed, were glad we could get at the one K-Mart on the island, or were sorry we didn’t bring: Beach towels, multiple swimsuits, something to float on in the water, heavy-duty sunscreen (equator … heard of it?), beach bags, binoculars, camera, zip-up sweatshirts for the mornings, rain/sun umbrellas, books, games. Things you won’t need: Dressy outfit, extra clothes (mostly we wore our swimsuits and re-wore outfits in the evenings), lots of shoes, travel guide (tons of free publications await you).

6. We stayed here, and it was lovely … a nice-sized, quiet, relaxing resort with lots of pools and ocean views and a restaurant that serves breakfast and dinner. Another hotel we visited that is quite different is this one, which is much larger and a lot more full of activity—several restaurants, shopping plazas, and a beach you can swim in (our resort’s beach was for strolling and viewing only—too dangerous for swimming). Not as serene as the hotel we stayed in, though—pros and cons. Both are in or near Lihue, the town that has the airport. We agreed that if we ever came back to Kauai, we might want to stay in Po’ipu, a town about 30 minutes’ drive from the airport.

That said (and to come full-circle), I don’t think we’ll go back. It was nice, we enjoyed it, but it was so much travel to get to a place that has a beach (which we have at home) and nice weather (also have that at home), so we might try to find something closer. What can I say? When you live in Paradise already, your standards are high for vacation destinations.