I had those same misgivings, GLC. And, in truth, I ended up doing less planning because I felt overwhelmed. It wasn't quite as intimidating once we were there. I think with a little prioritization, it's manageable. We traveled nearly 1000 miles on the island, but the hightlights for me were Volcanoes NP and snorkeling. The hikes to the green sand beach and Waipi'o were neat, but I could have skipped them w/o too much regret. The drives to and from were interesting. I liked the Botanical Gardens in Hilo, too. I wish we had ridden bikes on at least some part of the island. We just didn't feel like schlepping all of our bike gear.

But I'm not going to lie. At times, the breadth of the island and the logistics of it got to me. My husband can be maddening in this regard as he leaves most of that to me, although the fact that he did all the driving bears emphasizing. But I'm really glad we went and saw all that we saw. It's a place, I suspect, like no other. Where else can you (as we did) hike across a lava lake in the morning, snorkel in tidepools in the afternoon and then have Thai food in a town full of hippies?