Maui for the holidays—what could be better? Especially coming from a very snowy Boston. It was just what our family needed the week after Christmas. It took us only a few minutes after we landed to forget about the long flight from Boston. The warm air, sunshine and palm trees made us feel a world away.

This was our biennial family trip with my father, siblings and children, all in, there were 17 of us. We rented a beautiful home right on Kaanapali Beach and were set to relax. What I love about beach vacations is that there are no intense itineraries to worry about.