Beat of Hawaii asked longtime visitors if they ever thought that Hawaii might not always be part of their lives. Hundreds answered with personal stories that stretched across decades.
“We honeymooned in Maui 40 years ago,” Michael wrote. “We loved it so much, we made a promise to return every year.” It took time before that promise became a yearly tradition for Michael’s family, but once it did, it held for thirty years.
“We’ve been coming to Kapalua since 1985,” William wrote. “Mostly twice a year. We’ve spent Christmas there, Thanksgiving, summer and winter.” Kathe’s connection reached back even further. “I have been going to Maui since 1972. It is my home away from home.”
For readers like these, the next trip was rarely a question. Hawaii had become part of the annual calendar, part of family life and part of the way the years were measured. For decades, returning required planning, but not reconsideration, until something interrupted the pattern.
Then Hawaii (the world) changed.
For JD, the break came after the fire. “We were there a month before the fire and haven’t been back since.” Daniel encountered something different when he tried to return for a family reunion. “I was recently shocked to learn of the high cost of my airline ticket, just to attend a family reunion. Over one thousand dollars.”
Sue’s answer was shorter. “My husband passed away. I have decided not to travel anymore.”
“We will be making our last visit in October,” Michele wrote on July 29, 2026. “Since we now have decided that this will be our last visit, I wanted to say goodbye in person. I am crying while I write this.”
Paul was coming back once more “to say goodbye to our friends” before moving on to a new twice-a-year destination outside Hawaii. Cathy was doing much the same, grateful for the memories and ready to trade her timeshare for “a different new adventure moving forward.”
Not every reader could identify one clear reason. “I don’t know what it is, but the magic is gone,” Sonja wrote. “The service was not as hospitable, the food wasn’t as good. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something has shifted.”
Others had not closed the door completely. Ken remembered booking Maui to get away from it all and beginning his family there. “Ever since it has been a special place for us,” he wrote. “And hopefully one day I will feel welcomed back to the Island that has meant so much to me and my family.”
James had gone to Hawaii nearly every year since 1988, missing only two. “I don’t know if or when we will ever be back,” he wrote. “I will always love Hawaii and have great memories.”
What came after Hawaii for these visitors.
For Witold, the annual trips had already stopped, but the wish to return had not. “I have not returned to Hawaii for some time now,” he wrote. “I used to visit every year. I have been wanting to go back.”
Sue had reached a different place. “I have been everywhere I wanted to go, so now my paradise is home.”
Terry wrote: “I will miss Maui. I often traveled to Maui. I can no longer travel to Maui.”
Some people knew during the trip itself. Others understood only after enough time passed without another reservation, another flight, or another return.
Is Hawaii still part of your life, or have things changed? Please tell us in the comments.
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii.
Some of the most meaningful parts of Hawaii are the ones visitors walk right past without knowing they are there. We’ve spent nearly 20 years finding them firsthand for BOH as full-time Hawaii residents reporting on travel, culture, and island life, and telling you what they mean for your trip. Join us →
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We bought a house to be ‘snowbirds’ in Hawaii 20 odd years ago…..back and forth about 17 times. Stopped coming when I had some serious operations needed, got them done ‘easily’ on the mainland. But I knew already it was super difficult even to get an internist appointment on the Big Island, and anything complicated would be very difficult and needing plane trips. We loved living in Waimea, but it was a ‘no brainer.’ We know several others….some long term full time home owners who made this move for about the same reason.
I used to live on Kauai and still have family there. After leaving the island I visited twice a year for the next 10 years and loved those visits because I really missed Hawaii. Something changed about 2 years ago and Hawaii no longer felt like Hawaii and I stopped visiting. I can’t explain what it is but I have no desire to visit anymore. It does make me sad but Hawaii seems to have lost the thing that made it such a magical place.
For me it was COVID that changed everything. We came back afterward and still enjoyed ourselves, but something about the rhythm felt broken. Before that we never really considered going anywhere else instead. Now Hawaii is one choice.
I don’t buy the idea that Hawaii is somehow disappearing from our lives. We’re heading to Kauai in November and then to Maui next spring. Maybe longtime visitors need to accept that places change just like people do, especially now.
I was looking at the total for two weeks in our usual Kihei condo and realizing we could spend a month in Europe for about the same cost. That is hard to reconcile.
Still coming twice a year and have no plans to stop. I understand the comments, but our experience hasn’t changed nearly as much as some people describe. We still meet wonderful people every trip, and honestly no place has remained the same. So why expect that of Hawaii?
We haven’t been back to any of the islands in 3 years after visiting multiple times a year for nearly 30 years. The trips became too expensive for what you get, the people became surly after the fire, and then the anti tourist sentiment exploded. There are even more tourism taxes to pay to a horribly mismanaged state. We still have our Marriott timeshare on Maui but we trade it for points. We have been going to the Mediterranean and it is welcoming and less expensive.
Life changes, we get older, spouses die, finances change, and traditions that were once permanent suddenly aren’t the same. Hawaii will always be part of my life even if I never get to go there again.
No I’m not ready to say goodbye! We’ve been coming for 40 years and already have next winter booked. Things change everywhere. Hawaii is still the place I start missing before the plane ever leaves.
The prices are a challenge for us. We can afford Hawaii, but at some point you look at what you’re paying and ask whether you still want to go. We tried Costa Rica last winter and liked it, which came as a surprise to me.
I loved Maui and always stayed on Kaanapali. I just don’t have the heart to go back anymore since Lahaina burned down. I go to the other islands and have enjoyed them, but Maui was very special and unique.
For us it wasn’t one moment. We just realized that we hadn’t booked Hawaii for last year, and now another year passed. After going almost every year for decades, this indeed felt strange. I still think we’ll return, probably in 2027, but it no longer feels automatic at all.
We’ve been coming to Hawaii (mostly Kauai) for 35 years. We’ll still come every year bacause we like the friendly people, the peaceful environment, and knowing what we want to do and where we want to go. It hasn’t lost its magic and wonder, and we hope it never does.
My wife and I own a nice condo on South Maui. We purchased in 2003 and used to get 80% occupancy but that has been down to near 0% this summer and fall. I have a friend that owns a two bedroom condo and her rentals have been similar to ours.
We spend about 2 months out of the year there and have found that Maui is changing. Everything is so expensive (including our property taxes). We don’t go out to eat much anymore because of the costs. It seems that where once parking was free, you now have to pay. I’ve heard that it is cheaper to go to Europe than Hawaii and that is where everyone is going, Caribbean too. We’ve lowered our rates without much effect.
It’s a bad time to be an owner in Maui.
We own 2 condos in Wailea Ekahi. Have been renting via Vrbo with renewal due in September. Will have to decide if we want to continue with them. We have had a couple of guests in one of our condos but none in the other. We have given discounts for 7 day or longer stays and over the past couple of weeks, have implemented 3 other discounts as suggested by Vrbo. Our on-island representative says this summer has been the worst in her 27 years of work. I hope that, as the Short Term Rental prohibition situation gets resolved, we will get some “aloha” back on Maui and get back closer to normal occupancy.