Aloha Everyday

Oh, Hawaii. I knew I loved you even before I met you.

This post is WAY overdue and it has already been over 4 months since my trip to Oahu. Not to mention my tan is long gone. Although Hawaii is probably one of the most popular tourist destinations and honeymoon spots in the world, I have always wanted to go and experience it the way the locals live. In other words, I didn't want to stay at a resort where they put a lei on you when you arrive and everyone is dressed in floral shirts. 

We opted to stay in an Airbnb (my idea) and I must admit it was the only part of our trip that I would change if I could. I have stayed in my share of Airbnbs and it's safe to say this was probably the worst. While it did look just like the pictures, unfortunately pictures don't really do any justice to how clean a place is. It looked tidy when we walked in, but looks were very deceiving. Since I left a very honest review of the unit on Airbnb.com I'll just leave it at that and say my bad to Nicole and my sister Alex (sorry, you guys :| ).

Other than our accomodations, I fell in love with everything about Hawaii. Half an hour after we landed, I was driving and spotted this rainbow:

Have you ever seen the YouTube video of the guy freaking out about the double rainbow? Yeah, that was me. I've seen a couple rainbows in my life, but never this vivid where you could point out each color. Just ask my sister how excited I was. So beautiful! We saw a few more during our time there at which point I realized rainbows are very common in HI. 

Originally, I did not anticipate having foot surgery a mere four weeks prior to leaving for our trip so we had a bunch of hikes and other activities planned like snorkeling and cliff diving. When it was time for our trip, I was still in my recovery boot and would be for another couple of weeks. Despite being in a boot, I still wanted to do all the nature stuff and thanks to my two favorite travel buddies, I was able to go on a few hikes and even explore a blowhole--not without struggling a few times and slipping on a wet rock hehe.

Sandy Beach - This is where you go to watch the surfers, get a nice tan, and people watch. Other than letting your toes touch the water at the shore, you DO NOT go in the water here unless you're a pro surfer. Refer to the pic of the waves.

Halona Blowhole - This is a magical hidden cove off the side of the road where you have to climb down rocks to get to, but once you get down it is 1000% worth it. This was one of my favorite spots.

Lanikai Pillboxes Hike // Lanikai Beach - From the pictures it looks like this trail was easy, but what isn't pictured is the first 20 minutes of climbing up a steep, narrow, and muddy hill, while ducking under tree branches. I couldn't take photos because I was reaching for a branch to pull myself up with one mobile foot and one foot in a recovery boot :D Big s/o to my sister and Nicole for letting us do this hike, smiling for my photos, and helping me get to the top <3

Makapu'u Lighthouse Hike - Note: There is not a single source of shade on this trail so either be covered up or have at least SPF 45! You will get burnt otherwise! A really nice man who was finishing up as we started gave us his sunscreen. Mahalo : )

As beautiful as these pictures are, they don't do justice to the majestic views that we got to see on all of these adventures. I think it was when we finally saw the view from the Lanikai Pillboxes trail that we looked at each other and said how blessed we were to get to have this experience. 

In order to get the authentic local experience, I got a few lists of things to do/see/eat from people who had either lived there at some point or visited frequently and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. A huge part of why I love to travel to new places is the food so food travel and travel go hand-in-hand for me. With just six short days to explore and eat, our stomachs unfortunately did not have the capacity for everything we wanted to try so we did miss out on a few things on our itinerary. To see what we did get to eat and what my thoughts were, check out Hawaii Eats here!