09.01.23
We were back on the US mainland for over two weeks, between Newark Airport; Columbus, Ohio; Orange County, CA; Phoenix, AZ, back to Orange County, then, onward west to Hawaii.
I enjoyed a great visit in Orange County California, but, once again blown away by the prices of things, especially food. $3 for a bagel?? I looked to see whether it had caviar inside or maybe pieces of wagyu beef, but neither were present. Ironically, people ask Kathleen and I how we do it, how we travel the world. Did we win the lottery?? No, but once you see the price of things outside this country, it will open your eyes.09.17.23
Hawaii Bound: Our 17 days within the continental United States came to an end, and we departed LAX to Maui. That flight was surprisingly empty, and Kathleen was able to get a free upgrade into first class, and I had the emergency row all to myself. The flight attendant said that they had about 100 seats empty on a normally full flight that holds 175, but this was the most people they had had since the fires.
Between the two of us this is flight number NINE in just over 2 weeks, and every single one was on time and without problems, just like we like it!
It has been 6 years since I was here last, and there have been many changes. Some of the intimacy of the island is not quite the same and they have a bypass that avoids the town of Lahaina. They also have a really nice car rental building at the airport with a tram! I guess that’s progress.
The drive over to the west side of Maui was a bit surreal as we were able to see some of the fire damage from afar. Over the next week we will mostly just relax, but I will be doing several stories on the aftermath of the fire, and am fortunate enough to get some appointments with high ranking officials and people in the media here. Will share later.
Meanwhile, my timeshare unit which I’ve had for over 25 years has been vacant for over a month, so we had to give it a bit of TLC when we got here. That’s okay, every week, every day things are returning to some degree of normal, but it will never be quite the way it was.
09.23.23
Our week in Maui has gone quickly, as they always do. It has been a week of contradictory emotions as it’s been fun to return to an island where I have been coming for 25 years, but the recent tragedy the fires have definitely created a sad energy here. We have spoken with many and they have shared their stories of the fire and the aftermath. I will be doing a story for two travel publications which dig a little bit deeper.
But aside from the fires, the island has changed and so have I. When I think back of what Maui was like 10 or 20 years ago it seemed like a small intimate community, but as they have grown to accommodate the increasing tourism traffic over the decades, some of that small town feel is gone. There has also been a six year gap since my last visit, and much has happened since then. The island that I used to look forward to for a one week annual vacation is not as significant since we are constantly on the move now, traveling the world, which is much smaller to me than what it was. After here we are off to the Big Island for 10 days and then to Asia, so who knows what other beautiful scenery we will see that will compete with this?
The island is inviting and encouraging tourists to return to the island, but be respectful of the west side damage. Many of the retail stores and restaurants are still closed, and beaches are extraordinarily quiet. Whalers village, one of the most popular shopping areas is dead, as is Kaanapali Beach. We have only been able to see the perimeter of the fire, and it is devastating. They will soon start allowing residents to enter to see what is left, but there is probably not much. Our hearts go out to these people, natives and non natives, and we can only be thankful and appreciative for our own lives.
10.02.23
We have been on the Big Island of Hawaii for almost a week, and it is so different from Maui, which is where I usually go. The island is so primitive– so raw–with pure unadulterated nature; from the crashing waves onto the shoreline, to the lava fields that go on as far as the eye can see. The people here are very, very laid back, and are the epitome of the expression “Hang loose!”
We have some interesting night visitors here. It’s a very small frog called the Coqui, which was accidentally imported from Puerto Rico several decades ago. There is a lot of controversy as to whether they are good or bad, but their noises at night are so loud that they sound like birds! They start at sundown and stop with sunrise and are about 1/2″ long. The first night they were intrusive, but we have learned to like them.
During the week we went snorkeling at a truly amazing cove, and also visited Volcano National Park, which was terrific. There was an active flow just a few weeks ago, but it lasted less than a week and now it just smokes. We were hoping that maybe something would happen when we were there but no such luck! In the park we took a long road down to the coast and felt like we were driving through Mars; dark, desolate, lava fields as far as we could see. Except for the crashing of the ocean on the cliffs which was very cool!
In less than a week we start our brand new journey towards Asia.
