Hawaii is fun. 

I am so happy I decided to stop in Hawaii after leaving Japan. This place is so gorgeous. I am extremely lucky to have a few good friends here to take care of me. Brendan picked me up from the airport on Saturday evening and since then my life has been awesome. The best part is I haven’t even had to spend too much money. Brendan and Krysta know where to go to have fun and they have been awesome about taking me around with them. So far, I have been in Hawaii for about 10 days and I have been in the ocean every single day. Diving, surfing, spearfishing, and just playing around in the shore break. I have always loved the ocean, but Hawaii’s ocean is on a whole other level. The surf, the fish, the scenery is all on point. Also most people I have met here have been super cool and welcoming.  

When I first arrived, I was a little bit surprised at how built up and developed Oahu as an island is much bigger than I expected, and Honolulu as a city is also way bigger, and taller than what I was assuming. 

The city aspect was a bit of a negative surprise, but it isnt hard to get to a nice place away from everything. There are a lot of people though, but it is difficult to be in a bad mood when you are in a place like this.  

I was still feeling a bit thirsty for a bit more isolation though, so I made the decision to head over to Maui to visit my friend James for a few days. James’ place is exactly what I was looking for. He lives on a 50 acre farm on top of a pretty big hill. You can see the ocean from his window. There are a few houses behind his closer to the road, but there is nothing but green in between James’ and some serious beach cliffs. 

This house isn’t normal either. Every room is a separate little hut like building. The kitchen and bathroom only have 3 full walls, so everywhere has a breeze coming through off the ocean. In the middle of the house/yard there is a outdoor dinner table, and fire pit with a cement L-shaped couch next to it. All with ocean views.

As is true for almost anywhere in Hawaii, there are some wild chickens running around, and there are a few geese that the owner keeps. The owner grows some organic non-GMO produce for local shops on Maui, and James helps him with that and other things around the farm. He has a couple other odd jobs around town too, but it seems like James has a really relaxing life here. I am actually really jealous right now. This place is something out of my dreams.  

I just arrived from Oahu this morning and James picked me up from the airport. We went out to a pretty secluded little beach after I arrived. I snorkeled around with a spear while he tried to surf some. Neither of us had much luck but we the place we were was so insanely gorgeous it was impossible not to be in a good mood.

So far Maui is one of my favorite places I have ever been, but Oahu was also near perfection. The surf sessions I had on Oahu have been some of the best surf of my life. We went to Diamond Head, and Ewa beach a few times and had an absolute blast. A few days ago we went to Waimea Bay on the North Shore where they hold one of the most famous big wave surf contests in the world “The Eddie”. We didn’t surf, but playing in the Shore break was a pretty crazy experience in itself. The waves were close to 10 feet (3m) high where they were breaking directly on the shore. It was pretty intimidating, but there were tons of people out there bodysurfing and bodyboarding. The lifeguards were kind of busy with all the spring breakers and tourists on the beach. They were making announcements on their mega phones about every 20-30 minutes warning people about the dangerous surf. Their announcements were really colorful too. They kept saying things to really intimidate/scare people from getting into the water. “Parents, this is not a water park. This is Waimea Bay. Your kids could drown here very easily. This is Double Black Diamond. The last thing we want to do today is pull your child’s dead body out of the water”. It was pretty intimidating, but everyone else I was with went. So of course I went too. After that we hung out on the beach for a little while and played ‘Cards Against Humanity’.

Waimea was Thursday and then Friday I went snorkeling around while Brendan and Krysta were at work. Brendan has a work truck and Krysta has her car, so Brendan told me I could use his car whenever I want while I am here. It is so nice having that car to get around. I would be spending a whole lot more money and time getting around town if it weren’t for that. Without that car, Hawaii would not be nearly as awesome for me. I have been able to run my own errands, surf, hike, and go snorkeling while Brendan and Krysta work. Otherwise I would probably be stuck at their house, or at some touristy spot spending too much money to keep myself entertained. I

Friday night I did splurge a little. We went on a “booze cruise” out if Waikiki. It was a 2 hour sail out and then back. There was an open bar and everyone had a good time. After that we went and got some food before heading home. It was a good night. There were 7 of us in our group and one of the guys was having his “goodbye party” since he is leaving Hawaii soon. It was pretty fun to make some new friends and sale around the beach. We were out there for the sunset and everything so it was pretty perfect. 

Saturday we chased the sun around the island trying to chill out on the beach somewhere. We found a nice spot in the afternoon, then headed to another place do some surfing before it got dark. 

Yesterday morning, we surfed a bit at the beach by Brendan’s house. Then we played lacrosse in the afternoon. My legs were still pretty sore from this weeks activities, but I had a lit of fun running around. I hope to play another round next weekend too, but they may not go because of Easter. We shall see.

This morning I woke up early and Brendan hooked me up with a ride to the airport. Traffic was horrible. So I almost missed my plane… Almost. It was the smallest plane I had ever been on. The plane was only 4 seats across and had propellers on each wing, not massive turbine engines. The propellers were really really loud, but the flight was only about 45 minutes so it was just tolerable. 

James picked me up from the airport around 9am when I landed. We got some food, chilled out at the beach for a bit and now I am finishing this post up and enjoying this view while he is working.  

Thanks for reading everyone. I have had a great week. I hope you have too. I will keep you updated with things on here. I think I will head back to Oahu at the end of the week then to Seattle early next week. Wish me luck.