2021 // Hawaii on Film
Maui
Hawaii, May 2021
Hunter and Ann pitched the idea of meeting up in Hawaii back in January, and I dragged my feet on committing. Hunter would pester me for an update and I’d reply with “yeah yeah, I’ll look at flights”. In April, after trying to sell me on the idea of being the 7th wheel as his March tactic, he demanded an answer, and, in a spur of the moment, I found a great deal on flights and booked it. Afterward, I told people that I was going to Hawaii for four days, and the universal response was an inquisitive, incredulous “why?”! To that I say, why not? Why would you say “no” to travel to Hawaii with your friends if you can swing it?
It didn’t truly hit me that I was going to Hawaii until the plane descended past the clouds and the topography of the island came into view. How did I have any business flying to Maui on Tuesday? I kept asking myself as to what the heck was I doing. Groggy from a lengthy flight alone and waiting in the COVID-check lines, my fatigue dissipated as I was swooped up by our crew. We were now on island time BABY!
After catching up in the car, grabbing a quick poke lunch, and checking into the Airbnb, we quickly hit the beach to soak up the remaining rays of sunshine for the afternoon. That first day was utter bliss; pure, unadulterated indulgence in life. We dipped in the water, admired the island in the distance, spotted sea turtles right near the shore, and just enjoyed beach life. Brent tried to convince us to partake in yoga which we all kind of wrote off. It was goofy fun, which is what I always expect with these guys around.
The second day, Hunter and Ann had a snorkel excursion, leaving Brent, Rosie, and I to fend for ourselves. Our morning consisted of a beach run where Brent was startled by a seal that looked like a rock. I could not fathom doing a morning beach run every single day because I was sore for the next straight week. Our little trio rounded out the morning with coffee and malasadas on the beach before meeting back with Hunter and Ann for lunch. The evening was spent on Napili Bay, climbing on rocks and being asked to play beach Pictionary. To end the evening and fulfill one of Brent’s Hawaii wishes, we stopped off at McDonald’s for the special menu and managed to drop $50.
On day three we rose far too early and got on the road to drive to Hana, a town on the eastern side of the island. It ended up being just a lot of quality time in the car seeing as we hadn’t done much planning for the road trip. That half of the island was starkly different than where we were staying - it felt like a rainforest, lush and green and wet. It rained a majority of the way; the sky opened up at the one garden we stopped at and we were caught in a downpour. That probably set the tone for the rest of the drive and we were eager to get back to our area. As we circumnavigated and four-wheeled in our VW Passat, we headed straight for the beach and posted up in Lahaina. The evening capped off with a seafood to-go dinner on the beach, watching our last Hawaiian sunset of the trip.
The last morning consisted of a quick jaunt for coffee to take in the last bits of Lahaina. We piled in the car to clean it before returning it and we turned into a full-fledged pit crew with everyone vacuuming and cleaning out all of the sand that had accumulated. As a reward, we grabbed spam platters from McDonald’s for breakfast and rushed to the airport with a quick “see you later” as we all dispersed on our flights home.
Life’s moving fast. These friends are making huge accomplishments and I’m happy we were all able to come together, even if it was for a few short days. This is all suffice to say, more trips to Hawaii - I’m trying to make it an annual destination.
