Behind the scenes of a guidebook deadline 📚✨

👋 Aloha friends,

If you joined me through the 2026 DIY Trip Summit, another warm welcome. I hope your trip planning is going well!

After nearly three months in Japan, I’ve swapped plum blossoms and takoyaki for trade winds and poke back home in Hawaii.

I’ll have my head down this week, putting the final touches on a guidebook update. It’s not glamorous work, lots of fact checking phone calls, photos and on-the-ground research, but I'm grateful to be able to show visitors some of my hometown favorites!

I've noticed lots of the local spots seem much quieter than even three months ago, so I'm trying to be extra intentional about where I shop and eat!

I’ll also be updating my Hawaii content, planning a broader website refresh, and adding new resources to the free Foodie Travel Resource Library.

Speaking of free resources... last time, you voted for a packing list. So now I want to know — what kind of trips are you packing for this year? Hit reply and let me know!

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✨ Stories from Shoyu Sugar

Ramazan begins

Each year as I revisit this post to update the year's dates for Ramazan and Seker Bayram, I think back on the decade that I spent living in Turkiye and the differences in experiencing the holy month in villages vs cities. It's a very special time to visit!

👉 Read it on Shoyu Sugar

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Destination Inspiration ✈

Lonely Planet breaks down how to visit Iceland on a budget without missing what makes it special.
Outside goes beyond Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras with a local’s guide to New Orleans neighborhoods and culture.
Afar rounds up 8 art shows around the world that are worth planning a trip around this year. A few surprised me!
Condé Nast Traveler rounds up what they call the most beautiful train stations in the world. Do you agree with the list?
Andrea at The Quirky Cork brings us another Turkish vs Australian grape taste off, this time with Viognier.

🌴 Kama'aina News

The Kimi's Kitchen book tour kicks off with signings on 3/10 at Olukai in Chinatown and 3/12 at Turtle Bay Resort. You can also still enter to win a Traeger Grill by preordering your copy. Details here.
Honolulu Magazine's Best of Honolulu 2026 voting is underway and you can win a $100 gift card to Et Al. Don't forget to vote for my friends at Manoa Laundry for best laundromat! ;) Vote here by 2/28.
The "Kahoʻolawe: 50 Years of Aloha ʻĀina" at Hale Hō‘ike‘ike at the Bailey House celebrating 50 years of Aloha ʻĀina activation has been extended through the month of March.
Civil Beat gives us an overview of the opposition to the military's plan to establish seven new telescopes atop Haleakala on Maui. Read the Draft EIS and submit your testimony by 3/16 here.

This is a test of this section, which will contain news and events info for Hawaii residents who have opted in. Can you see this section? It means you are opted in. 👉 If yes, please do me a favor and hit reply and let me know which island you are on!

What helps you understand a place best?

🍽 The food

📚 The history

🚶 A local guide

🗣 Conversations with locals

🎨 Museums and Art

Feeling Lucky🍀

Clif Family Winery & Farm is giving away a 3-night Napa Valley getaway for two (including flights, hotel, wine tasting & local treats). Enter by 3/31. Details here.
Viking Cruises is giving away An 8-Day Mediterranean Ocean Cruise for two plus round-trip business-class airfare. Enter by 3/31. Details here.
JetBlue Vacations is giving away a free trip for four to Universal Orlando Resort, including flights, hotel & park tickets. Enter by 4/30. Details here.

✈ Free travel resources

Visit my new foodie travel resource library! It's a work in progress and I'll be adding resources & discounts from companies and creators I trust. The password is “eatlikealocal” since that’s the best way to get to know a place.

Check it out

✨ My favorite food tours

I've started bookmarking my favorite food tours while I've been taking some in the US. Do you have any standouts that you'd add? Want an international version? Reply and let me know what you think! 🙏

See the tours

📲 Stay connected overseas

Buy an eSIM before you travel to avoid roaming fees. You'll be connected immediately when you land! My go-to for most destinations is Airalo.

Get $3 to try it out using the code MALIA2345.

Get an eSIM

Malia Yoshioka holds a multicolored shave ice cone on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii

👋 Hi, I'm Malia Yoshioka!

I'm a freelance food and travel writer and guidebook author from Hawaii, slowly eating my way around the world and sharing the flavors with you in these weekly updates and on ShoyuSugar.com

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