“We are booked for March of 2027. That will be our last trip.” When Kathy left that comment recently, it caught our attention not because it was unusual, but because we’ve been reading versions of the same thing for years. Readers tell us they’re done with Hawaii, or almost done, and then tell us about the trip they’ve either already booked or just taken.
Mark M. wrote, “coming back with my cousin Sept 2026… this will probably be my last trip… It breaks my heart.”
Those comments aren’t coming from first-time visitors. They’re coming from people who have spent decades returning to Hawaii, often year after year. They know the islands well enough to compare today’s experience against their own memories, and many are finding themselves in an uncomfortable place. They still want to come back. They just aren’t sure for how much longer, whether because of cost, a changed sense of being welcome, the loss of familiar places, or something more complex and harder to put a name on.
What struck us is how many readers who have never met each other arrive at nearly the same sentence. The next trip is booked, while the one after that probably isn’t. For longtime Hawaii visitors, that has become its own kind of ritual: make the reservation, call it the last trip, and then sit with the question of whether that is really true.
The future trip and the past-tense Hawaii.
There is another pattern too. The trip itself is usually described in the future tense. Readers are talking about reservations they’ve made, plans they’re looking forward to, and islands they are preparing to visit again. But when they describe Hawaii, they often suddenly switch to the past tense.
Daryl H. wrote that he was “skipping this year for the first time in 60 years” and felt “blessed to experience a Hawaii that in many ways no longer exists.” Paul L. said he was “glad we had the opportunity to visit regularly over the past 40 years and experience Hawaii as it was.” Barb wrote, “We still love Hawaii, but the vibe has changed… the Hawaii we knew & love just isn’t the same.”
The trip is still ahead of them. The Hawaii they’re talking about is behind them. That may be the most revealing part of these comments, because people are simultaneously planning their next visit while speaking about Hawaii as something they’ve already lost. It isn’t a knock on anyone, but once you notice it, you start seeing it everywhere.
The longest relationships seem to feel this the most.
Many of the strongest comments come from readers who have the deepest history with Hawaii. Jules wrote about “coming since the 1980s, and there are definitely fewer familiar faces.” Daryl’s visits are something he’s commented on glowingly hundreds of times. Paul reflected on more than 40 years. Sharon D. wrote that she felt “priced out after we have treated the islands as our ‘home.’ My heart is broken.”
That word home appears often in comments like these. Not because visitors literally live here, but because Hawaii occupies a place in their lives that goes beyond mere vacation. After enough years, people develop routines. They stay in the same neighborhoods, go to the same beaches, return to favorite restaurants, and bring with them memories of family, anniversaries, and life’s turning points that all happened here.
At that point, changes can feel personal in a way they just don’t for newer visitors. A place that once felt so familiar can start to feel less reachable, even when the plane still lands on the same runway, and the ocean is still there unchanged. The relationship has lasted long enough that the changes are harder to ignore. It means the relationship is deep and long enough to carry its own grief.
Is it Hawaii they’re mourning?
This is where the conversation gets complicated. Some readers clearly feel Hawaii itself has changed, and their comments say exactly that. At the same time, there may be another layer to what they’re experiencing.
After decades of travel, we are not sure where that has not happened. Europe has changed dramatically. Hawaii has too. So have the places many of us thought would always feel the same. That does not make the reader comments any less real, but it does place them in a bigger context. Some of what people are feeling is about Hawaii. Some of it is what happens when any place you have loved for decades keeps changing while your memory holds still.
The feeling of discovering Hawaii for the first time happens once in a lifetime. The epic beach that felt hidden away, the road that seemed untouched, the restaurant that was a secret find, and the friendly, familiar faces that made a visitor feel remembered all become part of the story. After 20, 40, or 60 years, it can be difficult to separate what has changed in Hawaii (and elsewhere) from what has changed in ourselves.
That doesn’t make the feeling any less real. And if anything, it may explain why it runs so deep. Longtime visitors are not only comparing one trip to another. They are comparing present-day Hawaii with a lifetime of fond memories, and those memories are not easily checked against anything objective.
So why keep booking the next trip?
That’s the question we keep coming back to. If Hawaii no longer feels like it’s the place these readers remember, why do they keep returning?
One easy answer would be to conclude that they’re right to stop visiting, protect their memories, and move on. At the other end of the scale, one could say nothing really important has changed, and they’re simply looking backward through rose-colored glasses. Neither explanation feels like it’s complete.
What we see in these comments is something more complicated and nuanced. People who genuinely believe the Hawaii they fell in love with has changed are still making reservations to return. They’re still planning their visits. They’re still finding reasons to come back, maybe after trying other places, even while still saying out loud that the next trip may be the last one.
Maybe booking one more trip is part of saying goodbye. Maybe calling it the last trip is their way of paying closer attention to what’s happened. Maybe people don’t really know whether it will be their last trip until they’re standing here in Hawaii again. Or maybe love like this simply never moves smoothly into the past tense.
What we know is that readers who have never met each other continue to arrive at remarkably similar conclusions. They book the next Hawaii trip while calling it their last, speak about future and past Hawaii visits in the same comment, and often sound surprised to discover how many others understand exactly what they are feeling.
Have you ever booked a trip to Hawaii you’ve already called your last? If so, we’d love to hear what led to that decision and whether it actually turned out to be your last visit after all.
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii
The changes that reshape a trip to Hawaii often show up long before most visitors notice them. We’ve spent nearly 20 years catching those shifts firsthand as full-time Hawaii residents reporting on travel, changes, and island life, and telling you what they mean for your trip. Join us →
Photo Credit: © Beat of Hawaii at Kamaole Beach on Maui.
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My first trip to Hawaii was in 1972 and it was the most magical place I had ever been. Over the years, it has changed dramatically, but after decades of world travel, it is still my favorite place. I returned about 18 times, then twelve years ago, I retired in California and moved to Maui. It was the best decision of my life, and I still feel fortunate to be here every single day.
File under: “I’m never flying this airline again!”
It’s hard not to get jaded, but as someone who has been in the travel industry for almost 4 decades, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this…
Thank you. This post was a long time coming. The world changes. Sometimes it changes enough that we change what we do in response. Other times we just grumble and complain, and keep doing it anyway. I don’t think Hawaii is really any different than other places; I hear the very same complaints where my mainland home is.
My parents first took me to Hanalei in 1976 when I was a kid. On that trip I remember telling my Dad that I was going to get married at Hanalei Bay. In 2004, I did. My husband and I came back in 2007 and then for our 20th anniversary in 2024. The Hawaii that I was first introduced to, and that my husband fell in love with when we married there, has become so tired. And run down. And horribly expensive. We spent two weeks touring Scotland eating every meal out and we spent far less than two weeks staying at a condo in Princeville eating most meals in. Our anniversary trip was our last. I want to remember the Hawaii that my Dad introduced me to and where I took my wedding vows. That Hawaii is absolutely past tense.
We come every winter and will continue to do so. To us, it’s not about cost as costs goes up everywhere. The issue for us is the freedom to explore has been taken away by the safety police. Things like signs saying no jumping off waterfalls or rails placed in front of blow holes, or no swimming at 7 sacred pools have taken away the freedom to let loose, have fun, and relax. True you can’t fix stupid but give us our freedom back
For me it’s not comparing now to past memories. I realize that things change. The houses my spouse and I grew up in, on different sides of the town, no longer exist. Half of what we knew before COVID in this town doesn’t exist. For us it is the sea, the Tradewinds, the scenery, the people and how we are treated. Bad food happens. The Pineapple Plantation has changed hands so much I’ve forgotten what it’s called now. The Asian food restaurant, Senn’s? has been closed for years. Other places have opened, some have reduced size. We have had visits booked every year since our last in 2021, and every year as time approached, we looked at each other and said, nope. We actually had July, then October booked this year but changed our mind. So, we’ll see if 2027 happens.
You have written well and have hit a nerve. “Any place you have loved for decades keeps changing while your memory holds still” is a masterful observation. The romance of those places we loved for decades drifts away unless we find ways to keep it rekindled, That is the “next trip,” to after 55 years of placing our Hawaii romantic experience and memories, it still draws on us to share it with friends, lovers, children, and grandchildren. That history fuels our stories for them to do with as they wish. First, we have to accept what is, then act upon it. The rest is up only to us.
I’ve been to Hawaii 14 times and I can confidently say I will never go back. Each year became noticeable worse. There was far more infastructure deteriation, more homelessness, more expensive and more price gouging. It was great while it lasted. Politicians and the people who voted for them have destroyed that island.