It’s officially Fall, and you know what that means! Holiday themed drinks are coming! We absolutely love drinks that give a taste and aroma of the holidays. Mostly every coffee drink can be hot, or iced, according to your preference, or the weather! Here in Hawaii, the temperatures are warm year round. As much as I love hot coffees, there’s nothing as refreshing as a tasty iced one. Read below to view our Pumpkin Spiced Mocha Latte recipe. Happy Fall!

Pumpkin Spice Mocha Latte

Ingredients :

• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (homemade recipe below)
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 shots espresso (or 2/3 cup strong coffee)
• whipped cream for serving
• 1 teaspoon chocolate extract
• chocolate sauce for glass

Homemade pumpkin pie spice:

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the spice, pumpkin and honey. Cook while constantly stirring until it starts to simmer, about 45 seconds.
2. Next, stir in the milk, vanilla, and chocolate extract. Bring to a slight simmer while constantly stirring.
3. Next, use an immersion blender (or transfer the mixture to a blender carefully) and blend until frothy.
4. Add chocolate sauce to the two glasses, and add the coffee or espresso. Chocolate sauce gives the glass a fun decorative look! Pour the frothy pumpkin latte mixture on top, and then top with whipped cream. Drizzle extra chocolate sauce on the whipped cream. (or you can add some spice on top!)
5. Combine all ingredients, and store in an air-tight jar.

Well, happy holidays! We hope you enjoy this Pumpkin Spiced Mocha Latte recipe. Stay tuned for more drink recipes as we get further into the holiday season. Share your recipes below, or follow us on Instagram! 🙂

Maui has many things to offer, but if there is one thing that’s certain… there’s definitely no shortage of spa’s on this island! Sometimes a little daytime getaway is all that you need to feel rejuvenated. Whether you are on vacation, or live on this island, everyone needs a little pampering! We have curated a list of the best spa’s on Maui. Have a memorable mother daughter day, bring your friends, or just go alone for some peace and quiet! Most spa’s even offer couple massages if you are here with your significant other. Keep reading below to discover more!

Spa Montage

This is the best spa on the Northwest side of the island. Using the finest local ingredients, every treatment and service at Spa Montage Kapalua Bay is authentically inspired and highly personalized. The caring associates are ready to exceed your expectations and provide a unique and tranquil spa experience.

Open 9am-7pm daily, this wellness retreat is unlike any other. When your treatment is through, you can use the facilities or sit by the edgeless pool. A 60-minute massage goes for around $210. For one of the island’s best spa deals, purchase a day pass for $55, which gives you access to the facilities, including the fitness center, hydrotherapy circuits, and impossibly calming surroundings. A weeklong pass is $250, or $350 for two people.

Spa at Black Rock

For slightly more affordable rates, the Spa at Black rock is open 8:30am-7pm daily. They offer 50-minute massages beginning at $140. The Spa at Black Rock is located in the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa. It is the premier location for a dream Hawaiian vacation. Situated on Kaanapali Beach, the Sheraton Maui Resort is a very romantic escape, where the dramatic point at which the legendary Black Rock of Kaanapali meets the ocean. Anchored by the Black Rock itself, this spectacular Maui hotel beckons hopeless romantics, discerning honeymooners, and fun-seeking families.

Spa Grande

Voted the best spa in Hawaii and among the top 10 in the United States, it’s 50,000 square foot luxury spa is hard to beat! Mōhalu by Spa Grande is a personal escape inspired by their Spa Grande heritage and traditions in a more intimate and private environment as Spa Grande undergoes beautification. Each treatment room features a partial garden or ocean view and natural light. During this time, locker rooms and hydrothermal areas remain closed. Roman hot tubs, Japanese furo baths, or honey-mango loofah exfoliations.. try them all! There is an enormous selection of facials and treatment options, also a beauty salon and fitness center. Open 8am-7pm daily.

The Spa at Four Seasons

Just as you may expect, the Spa at Four Seasons is lavish and over the top in the best ways possible. You can even enjoy a massage right inside an oceanfront cabana! The prices are often higher than Spa Grande, but the offerings of wellness options, body treatments, and massage are no less impressive. The Spa offers many different spa and wellness services to cater to your exact needs. We highly recommend this spa!

Did reading all this about spa’s make you want to book a facial or massage?! Because I’m ready to go get one right now! We hope you enjoyed our list of the best spa’s on Maui. Enjoy your relaxing vacation, or treat yourself, because you deserve it !

For all my plant based people out there, this ones for you! Are you new to Maui, visiting, or simply just trying to discover new places to eat?! We have put together a list of the best places to eat vegan food on Maui. Of course, Belle Surf Cafe is at the top of the list. We offer food and drinks that are healthy and friendly to ALL diets. However, we are only open for breakfast and lunch! I figured, it would be nice to give you some ideas for dinner time. Maui has an array of cuisine to be discovered, however, you may notice it truly is difficult to find vegan food.  Sometimes I will be stuck for hours either cooking, or reading all of the ingredients at the store to piece together some food.

Belle Surf Cafe

Like I mentioned before, we offer food for all diets! If you and your friends or family all like to eat different things, then we definitely recommend coming here. You get a little bit of everything, from vegetarian to vegan, meat or fish, dairy or non dairy, gluten free, etc. Open for breakfast and lunch (also the BEST coffee in town). We definitely recommend trying any of the items on our menu. We can also customize to your dietary needs!

Moku Roots 

There is something incredibly special about Moku Roots. This adorable vegan restaurant, located in Lahaina, Maui, is also a Zero Waste restaurant. They offer a creative, delicious, and constantly changing menu to keep both tourists and locals excited. Their fresh, organic veggies come from a farm literally 5 minutes down the road! Either dine in, or grab your food to go! Absolutely everything is zero waste, right down to the to-go packaging (your food will be tightly wrapped up in a beautiful banana leaf). We love restaurants that place an importance on the environment! They are open daily : Sundays 10-3, Monday-Saturday 10:30-9pm. There are also happy hour and dinner specials! Check out their website for more info.

Choice Health Bar

Choice has multiple locations in Lahaina, and one in Paia. This yummy cafe offers healthy salads, kombucha, acai bowls, smoothies and grab and go options such as wraps and chia pudding. Great spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Down To Earth Organic and Natural

Down to Earth is a large natural foods grocery store located in Kahului. They offer local organic produce, bulk foods, loads of vegan groceries as well as a deli with hot food. Our favorite is the tofu, potatoes and salad! They also have juices, smoothies, vegan baked goods, kombucha, coffee, plenty to grab and go and a made-to-order sandwich menu. Good for groceries, smoothies, packing up a picnic or a grabbing a quick and healthy lunch or dinner. Have you ever seen a spam-musubi? Well, it’s a typical Hawaiian style snack… and Down to Earth makes them vegan style! Sooooo good!

A’A Roots

Located in Napili, this adorable little restaurant is full of surprises! All vegan and vegetarian food, and for the price, you will get a HUGE plate or bowl. It is all fresh, and locally farmed produce. You definitely won’t be leaving this restaurant without a full belly!

Earth Aloha Eats

Earth Aloha Eats is a plant based, organic, vegan food truck. They have 2 locations, one in Lahaina, and one in Kahului. If you are looking for a quick grab and go, we definitely recommend this spot! Everything on their menu is unique in it’s own way. I have been waiting for a cool vegan food truck like this to hit the island for a while!

Well, there are many different places on Maui that one on a plant based diet can eat. But, you don’t even need to be vegan to eat at these places! With all of the different restaurants here, they are well equipped to cook the food that you need. Sometimes it is just easier to go to one of the best places to eat vegan food on Maui. We definitely recommend trying all of these spots, and more! There are other cuisines such as Thai, Indian and Mexican. I hope you love these restaurants as much as I do. Enjoy your dinner!

Traveling to Hawaii can be a real source of stress and struggle when you are on a budget. The cost of life here is 96.3% higher than the U.S average! Don’t get discouraged. As people who live here all year round, we know all of the hacks to save money. Make your holiday actually relaxing and enjoyable without stressing and spending. Keep reading to learn all of our tips for traveling to Hawaii on a budget.

1-Flying to Hawaii

Easier said than done: be flexible. If you have the chance to choose when to take a break from work, look at the flights first!

Avoid going at the same time as most people, that is when the airline prices get crazy! Use a search engine such as “sky scanner“,  “google flights” or “Hopper“. When searching for flights, keep your options open. Departure time, arrival time, or even exact location! There are many Islands in Hawaii and they are all worth visiting.

By keeping your options open this will help you find the best deal! By doing this right now I can find round trip flights from Los Angeles to Maui for only 225 USD. pretty good right?

If you don’t have the chance to travel when you want, and have to fly during the most expensive time of the year, don’t worry! There are many more ways to keep your trip affordable!

2-Accomodation

There are many different ways and platforms to find a place to stay, booking.com, TripAdvisor, Kayak.com and Airbnb are definitely some of the most popular. There’s no secret hack here. Take your time, compare prices and make your decision. But wait.. if you are willing to make sacrifices, we might have a way to help you save some more money!

Accommodation is definitely going to take a big chunk of your budget, unless you try one of these solutions:

Rent a campervan / RV : Yes, this isn’t the first time we have recommended living the van life in Hawaii. There is no better place for it! You won’t have to fight with the cold and can always avoid the rain if necessary. One of the biggest advantages of renting a camper van is that you will save on a car rental and hotel! There are many ways to find a car rental, but Turo.com is definitely one the best option.

Turo.com is a website / app that connects car owners to travelers. It is not a professional rental car company. The cars are not necessarily very recent or in the best condition, but we are here to save money, right?

Craiglist can also offer better deals sometimes, but be careful here, you have no warranty at all that the owner of the vehicle is reliable and won’t ghost you last minute!

Another way to save plenty of money on accommodation is by doing a  home exchange. Many websites exist to put people in touch that are willing to exchange homes for a vacation. The demand for Hawaii is very high. Unless you have a quite amazing place, this option is not very easy to set up.

Work Exchange can also be an option, some farms and hostels will trade you a bed for a few hours of your time everyday. It can be a lifechanging experience if you are willing to work. This way you will definitely meet a lot of people and dive straight into the local culture.

3-Getting around

In case you were not convinced to rent a camper van, here are some tips to getting around the island without breaking the bank:

Split the cost of a car rental with friends. If you were planning to come alone, it’s time to gather some company!

Don’t worry if you do not want to travel with a group. You can always take the bus or rent a scooter! Public transportation is actually really good and affordable in Hawaii.

If you like to move at your own pace, a scooter is a great option. It can seems scary and dangerous, but the traffic in Hawaii is way more chill than on the mainland. Most of the roads here only have one lane and the speed limit is no greater than 45mph.

4-Activities

Hawaii has hundreds of activities to offer that are hard to resist. But do you really need rent a jet ski or do a helicopter tour? Driving around and exploring is (almost) completely free. Hiking, surfing, paddling, snorkeling, fishing-all of these activities are free of charge if you bring your own gear!

5- Food

This is where you can really see a big difference with the prices on the mainland. If you are a Costco member, we definitely recommend taking your card with you and stopping there. This is by far the cheapest shopping on the islands. Yes they sell everything in bulk, so that’s another reason to travel with a group of friends or family.

If you don’t feel like cooking all the time, the cheapest way to eat out is to go in the markets and food trucks in order to try the local food. Poke bowls, Musubi, Chicken Katsu, etc. All the markets have a kitchen with fresh and affordable food. You can eat a full meal for less than 10USD.