Random thoughts on Hawaii

/ Outrunning my demons
  1. There is no quick and easy way to get to Hawaii. On the way, we tried to get the most direct flight possible. We flew from Chicago directly to Honolulu. It was a 9 1/2 hour flight. (We did see people before on a delayed flight we were on miss a connecting flight to Hawaii. They had to wait another full day at the airport).
  2. The original plan was that we would drive down to Chicago. Later we opted to add a flight to Chicago from our hometown. We left early enough in the morning that if for some reason we missed the flight and had to drive, we could still get there in time. (We had a snowstorm before that cancelled all flights and had to take a bus to get to the airport in Chicago).
  3. We went through a tour group and had some problems adding on the extra flight later. The tour group used our middle names to book and I didn’t so the flights did not link together. If you are going to add on later, use the exact name the tour group uses. Thankfully, we still got our luggage. But it added some confusion when we got to the airport.
  4. It took us 3 flights to get back home. We left Maui on an overnight flight. It is nearly impossible to get any sleep in an uncomfortable upright position with random babies crying. Again, going home didn’t matter as much as getting there. We were facing a 5 hour time change and expected to have jet lag.
  5. We went through Gate 1 tour company, which I’m glad we did. I think we were able to see a lot more of the highlights that way. The cost also included two flights between the islands. There really is no other way to island hop as there aren’t any ferries between the islands. I love to plan my own vacations, but I don’t think I would’ve been able to plan everything remotely as well as the tour company did.
  6. Honolulu is a large city full of skyscrapers. The city appeared to be clean but outdated. It seem old but not rundown. The residents seemed to live right on top of each other. Although this is not unusual for city life, what was unusual was seeing wild chickens running around.
  7. Hawaii is the rainbow state. I was excited to see a rainbow once we arrived. Even the license plates have rainbows on them. At home in Wisconsin, we see rainbows a couple times a year whereas they see rainbows a couple times a day.
  8. Honolulu didn’t have any billboard advertising.
  9. I love POG (passion-orange-guava) juice.
  10. Surprisingly I didn’t see a lot of fish on the menu. Most menus offered flatbread and burgers.
  11. The food prices were very high because most of their food is imported so there is a shipping fee.
  12. Why aren’t there lakes on islands?? Or at least I haven’t seen any.
  13. The landscape was very diverse. I heard you can ski on the water and snow covered mountains on the same day. Although I didn’t see any snow.
  14. Volcanos are different than I was expecting. It’s like a huge smoking crater in the ground.
  15. All the beaches are public. I was not as impressed with the beaches as I thought I would be. I think a sense of ownership would keep the beaches cleaner and keep the riffraff out (like the streaker who was rummaging through people’s belongings). All the beaches were crowded.
  16. Forget about enjoying an umbrella drink on the beach though because that was not allowed.
  17. Hawaii has legalized medical marijuana. There seemed to be quite a few sick people on the beach.
  18. Going to a luau is a great way to experience the culture.
  19. I felt a little trapped. Hawaii is in the middle of nowhere. What if a volcano blows? Or a tsunami sweeps in? Or there is another wildfire? I tried not to think about it too much, but I was a little nervous about what to do in an emergency. (This may or may not have something to do with the fire alarm going off in the middle of the first night. We got stuck in the stairwell trying to evacuate).
  20. I saw whales, mongooses, and cockroaches for the first time in the wild.
  21. I learned a lot about coffee from touring a Kona coffee plantation.
  22. I saw pineapple and papaya plants for the first time.
  23. I appreciate that Hawaii is a green state concerned about conservation and sustainability. They don’t use plastic bags and had alternatives to plastic water bottles.
  24. They sold reef safe sunscreen. I never knew that some of the chemicals in regular sunscreen could damage the reefs.
  25. The wildfires that happened last summer are still devastating the people of Maui. They have not been able to go back to their homes or land to clean up their property. There are many displaced people living in hotels, tiny communal shacks, or in tents along the beach.
  26. Hawaii has a rich history and was once ruled by kings and a queen.
  27. I was expecting to see gigantic waves with tons of surfers. I saw that in California more than in Hawaii.
  28. Hawaii is our 50th state and has only been a state for 65 years.
  29. Pearl Harbor is a must see.

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