The cost of my trip to Hawaii

Since I regularly publish my finances of van-life I was asked by more than a few of you to publish the finances of my Hawaii trip. As usual, I am happy to do so. I expected the trip to cost me about $1,500 when it was all said and done, which most people will consider very cheap. I do not.

My actual spending…

I have since realized that I could have done this same trip in a slightly different way and saved a few more dollars. If I had it all to do again;

First, I would not have gone for eleven days. Seven or Eight days would have been the sweet spot. The final two days I did little to nothing, and I could have easily done more each of the other days. Less time on the island means less time spent in food (either groceries or dining) those extra days.
= $30-50 food costs

Second, I would not have rented a car. My primary reason to rent a car was to camp out of it and avoid the cost of a hotel. However, it was so difficult to car-camp on the island (no campgrounds, few streets to boondock) I ended up staying two nights in Hostels, and four nights with a couchsurfing.com host. Buses can take you anywhere you want to go on the island with a little research, and hitch-hiking is quite common as well. Without the $259 rental car cost and $82 in fuel, I could easily stay all 7 nights at a hostel and still had money left over if I did not wish to stay on a strangers couch.
= $150 is savings using hostels
= $340 in savings using couchsurfing.com

Instead of a $1235 – eleven day – trip to Hawaii, I could have done the same trip in seven days for $850 – $1050… if I had to do it all over again of course.