HI USA
Aloha! Yes everyone, in case you’ve been missing all of my social media posts, I am in the absolutely gorgeous state of Hawaii! So I always have to somehow squeeze in my writing during out of town trips, but forgive me if it’s a bit shorter than a regular blog, and forgive me even more if you see any typos! I’m here for one of my many early birthday month celebrations, and I’ve never been here before. His is also the furthest I’ve ever been on an airplane (10 hour plane ride from NYC).
On the day I left to come here, while casually scrolling through my phone, I saw a news article saying that Hawaii just had a huge volcano erupt and was spewing lava hundreds of feet in the air. Luckily, this was on a different island than I’m staying, but still, what are the odds! Interestingly enough, if a place has a tragedy or natural disaster right before I’m supposed to go, I’m a little more comforted because I think it’s more rare that a tragedy will happen twice in a row. I mean, of course anything could happen at any moment, but less likely. Sometimes though I do feel bad having a good time in a place when people are going through things like that. I just try to stay sensitive to what’s going on while still enjoying the trip.
As far as my time here, it’s been pretty darn great! Everybody here who I’ve met has been extremely freakin nice. Almost too nice. Like, suspiciously nice. Perhaps I’m just use to folks being more blunt and a bit more tightly wound in NYC. Maybe it’s just the beach town life that relaxes people more. But seriously though, super nice and friendly people here, which in turn makes me want to be more nice. It’s a bit of a trickle down effect. I’m not really good at meeting people, but it’s been pretty easy.
Another thing I need to mention about Hawaii is how much culture they have here. It’s like an entirely different country! I’m really gonna read into the history of this state when I get back home. I’m sure it’s an interesting one. The people look different, they have their own language (plus the second language here is Japanese), their own customs and traditions... so very interesting! What made American just snatch up this place? It could’ve totally been it’s own territory.
Welp! I’ve been writing this in the car on the way to the North shore of the island, so not even sure if I’m making any sense (or if this will be out on Monday considering the time difference), but hopefully this week’s video will have some cool footage! Also if you have any tips for the rest of my stay, let me know! Mahalo! And stay tuned for a billion photos (which are mostly selfies with a dash of scenery)!
P.s. One thing about Hawaii... so dang expensive! This is probably the most my broke behind had spent while traveling out of town. Me and Ashleigh usually try to visit places where we know people and can stay with them (or travel with more people to split costs more ways), but we didn’t really know anyone here so yikes! If you do travel here, be a gazillionaire.
P.p.s. I’m glad I got to learn about all the individual islands here as well. Each one seems to have its own personal vibe, which I think is really cool. I didn’t have time to go to the other islands, but we might try to make it to Maui tomorrow.
P.p.p.s. I really need to find some more guest bloggers who can blog while in out of town, stressful!