Maui Hawaii (Dec 3 - 9, 2013)

What makes people tick...
We have been fortunate enough to come across some amazing and highly successful people while living in San Diego.  Anyone that has met me knows I love to travel.  Chances are if you met me you also know I am more into life experiences than materialistic things.  I don't think I am going to be on my death bed wishing I would have bought a BMW instead of a Honda but I hope to be thinking I lived a great life and reflecting back on all the great memories and the people that I was fortunate enough to share those memories with.  When I talk with someone it's easy to figure out what is important to them whether it be their kids, dogs, cars, shopping, friends, traveling whatever it is tends to dominate the conversation.  I love meeting new people and finding out what makes them tick.  Everyone has a story to share.  Taking the time out to meet someone new and find out where they have been and what they have done is one of the greatest forms of knowledge to me.  You can learn so much from someone depending on what they are in to and where they are from or where they have been...



Why Maui?  ...Why anywhere else?
We try to take at least one vacation a year when we can relax, unplug and unwind.  Neither Eva or myself had ever been to Maui and due to some issues with Eva's naturalization we were unable to leave the country. In the past we went on vacations and came back and needed a vacation from our vacation.  People ask me all the time for opinions on European travel and I always tell them not to try and jam everything into one trip, not to overdue it.  I tend to think that when you try and see "everything" or you try and do to much you tend to miss out on some of the little things that you would have missed otherwise.  So our trip to Maui was about relaxing and doing as little as possible while enjoying the moment and having fun along the way.  Our friends Mark and Roy own a second home in Maui and kept telling us to go for a visit.  Lucky for us we had a week off scheduled at the beginning of December and we took them up on their offer and headed to Hawaii. 
We were on different flights out of San Diego (me direct on Alaska) and Eva connecting through LAX.  We both opted for first class upgrades via miles and from the sounds of it my experience was much better than Eva's.  As I boarded the Boeing 737-800 the sounds of Hawaiian music filled the plane as we boarded and all of the flight attendants were in such a great mood wearing Hawaiian shirts.  They asked if I wanted a Mango/Guava champagne mimosa cocktail before I could even get comfortable in my seat.  I declined the welcome cocktail but the food was some of the best I have ever had on any airline and the bottomless Mai Tai cocktails on the flight put me in the vacation spirit.  I only had a couple Mai Tai's with lunch because I had to pick up the rental car and meet Mark at the airport.  We both waited for Eva to arrive from LAX and caught up since I had not seen Mark in at least a month becuase of our conflicting schedules.  Mark and Roy are truly amazing and being the event planners they are Mark showed up with a Lei for me and one for Eva as well.  Eva landed and I think we were both taken back by the natural beauty of Hawaii.  The lush green mountains were eye popping and they weather was impeccable.  We were able to wear shorts and T-shirts for the rest of our visit with the exception of the day trip we took to the 10K foot summit of Haleakala's National Park which gets quite cold due to the altitude. 

Eva and Mark at the airport



We followed Mark back to their place in Wailuku and dropped our things off and just tried to soak it all in...wow!  Their place is perfect and is located in central Maui at the base of the mountains with a lanai that faces the North Shore...perfect for those afternoon cocktails after a hard day at the beach.  Everything in Hawaii seems to go a little bit slower and more relaxed. I just had this feeling that we were really on island time ALL the time.  There was no stress of any kind during our trip.  About the hardest thing we had to do was figure out what and where we were going to eat or what type of food we wanted when we were hungry.  I am not going to go into detail about each and ever day of what we did but I will give you a general idea of how each day went.
View of the mountains from the back door of the complex
Daily Routine for the week
  • Wake up around 7ish and eat breakfast with Good Morning America on TV and rummaged through tourist flyers to find a morning activity. 
  • Pick a morning activity (Road to Hana, visit Up Country, Haleakala National Park, Hike, site see etc,)
  • Eat lunch (usually consisted of Ahi Poke of some sort)
  • Afternoon head to the beach (Makenna State Beach, Big Beach, Little Beach, Lahaina Area)
  • Read magazines on the beach, swim, and work on our tan
  • 5ish head back to the house clean up and make a cocktail to enjoy on the lanai while reflecting back on the day
  • 7ish we would head out to dinner
  • 9ish we were in bed and asleep!
Reminder of the weather we were missing

Napili Kai Beach


Eva Paddle Boarding at Napili Kai

Sea Turtle poking his head up


Most of our days went exactly as listed above with little planning, stress, or worries.  It was honestly one of the most care free vacations we have been on since Puerto Vallarta.  It's always nice to go with someone that knows the lay of the land and can at least point you in the right direction.  I am usually a planner and do tons of research before every trip but this trip I opted to do nothing and take things as they came to me.  We were unable to go to Makenna beach in the first couple of days due to a shark attack but we that gave us the chance to explore some beaches in the Kapula area instead.



View from garden overlooking Hana Highway

Surfer at the North Shore

No bad days!
I can't say one bad thing about the trip!  We are so thankful to have such great friends that shared their amazing place with us.  Thank you Mark and Roy for the amazing hospitality and sharing your home with us!  Hawaii is amazing and there is just enough stuff to do on Maui to keep you busy...forever!  I loved the relaxed way of life and the island style.  I recommend taking a great book or some good magazines to read.  Stop at the local coconut stands beside the road and grab a fresh coconut to recharge with or a frozen chocolate banana.  Hawaii is magical and the water was perfect for cooling off after heating up in the sun.  Everyone we met while we were there seemed to be very friendly and treated us great!  I could see myself living in Hawaii and chances are we will be going back sooner than later :)  I don't recommend the Road to Hana (we only made it about 10 miles and toured a nature park and then turned around) Up country has some amazing views and I am glad I did it but I don't think we will go back anytime soon.  The Luau was great and I think it's a must do for any Hawaii virgin.  I can't believe that Hawaii is part of the U.S. and it ranks highly on my list of must see places I guess it just depends on what you seek in a vacation. 

Uncovering the pig at the Luau

Haleakala National Park (looks like the moon)


Lunch from Eskimo Candy

I had a goal in 2013 to make a blog post after each one of my trips to help try and keep track of "life" if you will.  I kept my promise to myself and have enjoyed following through with something I started with this blog.  I used to write in a journal when I lived in Europe after all of my trip and writing is something I enjoy...therapy if you will.  I will keep track of my travel with this blog and future blog posts however I am not sure if it will be as detailed as it's been in the past year.  My goal for 2014 is to concentrate my writings in other areas and to push myself to write something I have been thinking about for a while.  I don't think my travels will slow down anytime soon and from the looks of it I am booked up at least through mid summer...sending everyone the best and hope you make the most out of whatever the year brings you regardless of where you are....live it up!


Notes

  • We saw many hitchhikers and we even picked up a couple.  We found out that some people use it as a form of transportation.  
  • Hawaii is warm in the evenings so need for layers like in Southern California
  • We didn't go to Waikiki (Oahu) but from what I hear it's crowded 
  • Plan for limited night life and early evenings on Maui and enjoy the people your with 
  • Stop and enjoy the roadside vendors and check out what they have (exotic fruits etc.) 
  • We rented a convertible and I don't regret it at all.  I reset the trip computer on day one and when I returned the car we had driven over 575 miles and been in the car more than 20 hours.  I don't think Maui would have been the same with the roof on!

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