Burglary? (Hilo, Volcano: school, air quality, beach)

[CyberCity]

Call ahead, they'll be able to tell you over the phone what their luggage options are. Also ask them if the luggage area is has access limited to just certain restricted employees. And make sure your luggage can lock. Leaving your luggage there might be a good option, but you'll need to plan your day accordingly so you are not backtracking for too many miles on the way to the airport.

[OpenD]

I hate the fact that TSA regulations have changed so that you cannot check your bag more than 2 hours ahead of flight time, or whatever it is today, and that there are no longer storage lockers available. And too bad you're not in a hotel, with a concierge. Last spring I was able to check my bag for 3 days after I checked out at my hotel on the west coast and went off on a wander, visiting friends with a shoulder bag, and finally picking my suitcase again on my way to the airport to fly home.

Nevertheless, I suggest you just put your luggage in your trunk, keep your valuables close to your person, be mindful of where you park, and then relax about it all. It's not like gangs of thugs are circulating the busier places on the island, bashing in car windows at random. You just need to be alert, and smart about where you park.

[hotzcatz]

It's not just the Island of Hawaii, either, it's the whole state of Hawaii which has problems with thefts from tourists. Tourists aren't going to stick around and press charges, tourists are also busy gawking all over the place and not paying attention to their stuff. Tourists also don't know the quick ways in and out of places. There are a whole load of reasons why tourists get targeted, but there aren't all that many thefts, it's just that most of them are avoidable with just a little bit of common sense. It's kinda like folks go on vacation and forget to pack their brain.

[HiloDiver]

It isn't just the whole state of Hawai'i, it's also rampant in Florida, and the US Virgin Islands, and probably lots of other places as well.

[Jungjohann]

You have to be very careful with laptop computers as well. I have a very nice 17 inch MacBook Pro, worth quite a bit, they disappear in a

[hotzcatz]

Good one JJ!

[Snikt]

Boarding in about 15 minutes, thanks for the tips everyone (from all my questions).

I'll be sure to post a ton of pictures

[Badatta2de]

Ahhhhhhhh! Seriously? Don't bring your laptop on vacation! Unless your laptop has absolutely NOTHING to do with your job! It IS a vacation after all lol! Want to avoid broken windows in yer car? Leave it look like a garbage pit and leave your doors unlocked =P I leave my Nikon under a buttload of crunched up fast food bags! Works for me =) Wishing you an awesome vacay!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Badatta2de

Ahhhhhhhh! Seriously? Don't bring your laptop on vacation! Unless your laptop has absolutely NOTHING to do with your job!

If you read the whole thread 1) the OP is already on the island at this point, and 2) much of the specific advice people kicked in about the very active schedule being planned was about checking websites daily for weather forecast, volcano forecast, traffic updates, opening hours, uploading photos, etc.

For many folks, myself included, having regular access to a computer and a connection while traveling... or at the very least, a smart phone and data plan... is far too important a travel tool to leave to chance. Unplugging from any work communication while on vacation is simply a matter of self-discipline.

[CyberCity]

I've had the benefit of having a job where as long as I stayed in email communication, I could choose my vacation time whenever I wanted, instead of having to pre-schedule around a company calendar. [That equated to a vacation 95% of the time, and work just 5% of the time while traveling.] I'd take that any day over a job where I only got to go on vacation during an assigned vacation period once a year. You can bet I happily took my computer along.