For Christmas 2014, my family and I took a cheeky 10 day trip to the east side of the big island in Hawaii, to a town called Pahoa about 30 km out of Hilo. We stayed in a super apartment right on the ocean, literally seconds from the seafront. I won't write too much as we have a 15min video you can view here.
We had a terrific time, spending most days snorkelling in the ocean with sea turtles, and eating delicious food and drinking our body weight in alcohol. Was an excellent trip and chance to spend time with the family after being gone for 15 months, especially not knowing when I would return to the States again. Two weeks after we got back, I was off to London, then Singapore!