Honolulu Hints

[trip style = beach + sun + foodie + urban]

When you need a dose of sun, Oahu delivers. As one of the destinations to welcome early jetsetters in the golden age of travel, Hawaii's hottest city knows a little something about aloha-infused hospitality. Locals have been perfecting the art since mai tai mavens started flocking to its shores post WWII.

Over the past week, I've been buzzing around town on a treasure hunt for trip styled spots all over the island. Sadly, I did not find Dog The Bounty Hunter, but I did glean these Honolulu hints---both vintage and mod---beyond Waikiki's packed and palm tree-lined beach. Stay tuned for my outer island picks {coming soon}.

Stay: The Modern Honolulu. The most au courant address on the shore. See my full write-up here.

Stay: Vive Hotel Waikiki. A new boutique hotel, opened summer 2013, featuring complimentary WiFi and continental breakfast. I stayed for three nights and every staff member I encountered was standout, and the location is bang-on, sitting pretty between Waikiki Beach and the Ala Wai canal.

Do: Join the locals walking their dogs or jogging along Ala Wai canal {a few blocks inland from Waikiki Beach}. For me, it's become a tradition to run the near two-mile promenade every time I'm in town.

Do: Go to the beach {obviously, you're in HI} for sunning, splashing and swimming at Ala Moana Beach Park. PS. I love the swimming lane that's been dredged along the shore for suuuuuuuuuper long lengths. BYO goggles.

Do: Stroll along the historic South King Street to study structures from Hawaii's yesteryear like the King Kamehameha I statue, Iolani Palace and other landmarks in the Capitol District.

Do: Stop and savor the sunset; it's a Hawaiian tradition.

Eat: Morning Glass Coffee + Cafe. Run by Stumptown Coffee-brewing hipsters who serve simple breakfast selections al fresco, like scones with earl grey-soaked raisins.

Eat: Leonard's Bakery. A Honolulu institution since it opened in 1952. Bite into one of their famed malasadas---a Hawaiian take on the Portuguese doughnut---and you'll be hooked for life {or your entire trip}.

Eat: Rainbow Drive-In . Another Honolulu institution that's been dishing up plate lunches since 1961. Back then, a BBQ steak plate was $1. Today, a similar dish is $7.50---still a steal---and includes two scoops of rice and a macaroni salad.

Eat: Lucky Belly. A corner eatery in Honolulu's Chinatown serving punch bowl-sized ramen for $8 in a spartan space wrapped in wood and lit with Edison bulbs.

Eat: Chef Mavro. If he wanted to, I'm sure Chef Mavro could have his own show on the Food Network. His kitchen know-how is that good, and every dish from his flexible prix-fixe menu is a piece of Picasso-worthy art. Literally, I took photos of every one of my nine plates like I was the paparazzi snapping a star. Expect a traditional restaurant physique and modern dishes.

Trip Styler Tip :: Check out more of my aloha aces from my trip to Honolulu in early 2012. I still dig the selections.

Do you have any Honolulu faves?

[photos by @tripstyler taken while as partial guest of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau]

Travel Tech :: Selfies Made Simple

[trip style = any]

If you're not into awkward vacation selfies marred by an arm dangling across your snap, or if you'd rather not ask a stranger to take your photo and later find out it's blurry, you need to know about the perfect app for that.

Over the past few weeks my love for my iPhone app, TimerCam {equivalent on Android = TimerCamera}, has been burning bright. Having been in WA on an end-of-summer vacay with Mr. Trip Styler and our pup, and now on Oahu with my sister, this app has been invaluable for marking memories. I recommend you download it in all its freeness. {It was Japan's number-one photography app in Feb 2012 and they're always ahead of the game!}

Unless we're talking about the new Nokia with a 41 megapixel camera, a smartphone is not the ideal tool for capturing memorable moments at landmarks like Australia's Whitehaven Beach or Croatia's Dalmatian coast, but as the saying goes, your best camera is the one that's WITH you.

Trip Styler Tip :: There's a time and a place for vacation selfies. Self-timer camera apps are best used in non-touristy areas where you're sure nobody will snatch your phone {unless of course you're aware of an iLeash, which I am not}.

Here's a recent photo I snapped using TimerCam:

{Ignore my poor choice in bicycle-esque bottoms; I didn't know the moment would strike for a family photo.}

To set up the shot, press on the screen to ensure the light and focus are right, tap the timer [5 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 30 sec] and click the camera icon to start the timer.

More Travel Apps chefs feed – what top chefs like to eat in their own city magicJack – a free calling app Instagram – as a travel tool TomTom – navigate abroad without using data

[photos by @tripstyler using TimerCam]

Roam+Board :: The Sou'Wester

[trip style = budget + weekend getaway + glamping + beach]

Editor’s Note: When I told my friends I was spending my summer vacay at a trailer park, they thought I'd lost my trip styling marbles. In all fairness, my stay-by-the-sea is only part trailer park; it's mostly a collection of vintage travel trailers. Throw in an 1892-built manor and cabin quartette, and you've got the The Sow'Wester.

What As I lined up to check into The Sou'Wester, the Portlandia resident checking out mused to the front desk gal "The Sou'Wester is Portland's Hamptons." As my week away progressed, I discovered her description could not have have been more apt.

Overnighting in the one of 10 vintage travel trailers at The Sou'Wester recalls a time when motor hotels and Spartan Manors---a retro version of today's mobile mansions---topped travel. I feel like I should have packed pearls, a power blue suit and pumps as a sat in my stationary time capsule sipping a tumbler of whiskey listening to eras of records from Johnny Cash to The Beatles to Willie Nelson.

A retro expo seasoned in boho and purist midcentury finds, the Sou'Wester is miles away from a hotel-cation. Indie bands play in the lodge. Artists-in-resident work on projects. Hip families roast marshmallows at fire pits in aluminum alley. Hipsters read classic American literature.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

A 28-mile long Hampton's-style beach decorated in massive waves and low-bank dunes covered in wispy sea grass is a five minute walk away. Portland's Hamptons indeed. Trip Styler approved.

Where Seaview, WA, three hours South of Seattle by car, or 1.5hrs Northwest of Portland. Don't miss the paved, multi-mile biking/walking/jogging path winding through the dunes. Oh, and you can drive on the beach.

When The summer is your prime opportunity to sun-seek. The rest of the year is famously stormy and foggy---there's 100+ days of fog---but the inclement weather is part of its misty, wind-swept charm.

Who/Why Because you can't resist telling your friends you're vacationing at a trailer park. Think of it this way: it's as if you're rolling with the 'Stones in their tour trailers.

Cost Rates start at $58 for trailers and $68 for cabins and include WiFi and parking. Everything from linens to kitchen utensils to space heaters is provided. BYO shampoo and conditioner, or end up washing your hair with dish soap...

Trip Styler Tip :: No need to knock on the next trailer for a cup of sugar, there's an honor system shoppe where you can pick up flowers, butter, beer, thrift finds and local crafts.

Photos {Aluminum alley.}

{Us, trailering.}

{Inside our Spartan Manor trailer.}

{The living room.}

{The record playa.}

{The music selection.}

{The bedroom.}

{Flowers for sale.}

{Sou'Wester's resident dog.}

{Beach near Sou'Wester.}

{In case you want to shower off after the beach. Note that most of the stationary trailers have showers too.}

More Roam+Board Cama Beach Cabins – near Seattle The Pearl Hotel – San Diego The Templar – Toronto Encuentro Guadalupe – Mexico Hotel Havana – San Antonio The Ampersand Hotel – London Mount Engadine Lodge – Canadian Rockies Lava Lava Beach Club – Hawaii Island Ace Hotel – Seattle The Wickaninnish Inn – Tofino The Burrard – Vancouver  Hotel de Glace – Quebec Alcazar Palm Springs – California Jumeirah Zabeel Saray – Dubai Makena Resort – Maui Find more R+B hotels featured here, plus our it list of worldwide hotel picks.

[photos taken by @tripstyler]