Hawaii

A surprise opportunity, manifested well and just in time for an early birthday present. Everything seemed to fall into place, like it was all meant to be. The Universe really gifted me here!

No, I didn’t drive to Hawai’i lol. I was actually in Louisiana when this opportunity arose. In the past, I’ve traveled to all the islands already but not solo. As I was living out of cheap Airbnbs and my car traversing the country, I get an awesome opportunity from one of my closest friends. He made the happy mistake of booking an incredible trip to Kaua’i for two for a girl who it didn’t end up working out with. He didn’t want to throw away the trip and all his planning and cool adventures, so he asked a good friend that won’t break his heart to accompany him- me!

I felt incredibly blessed, and knew this was not something to miss out on. Found some long term airport parking, and booked my next flight to O’ahu, where he was living at the time. I spent some time with him before we set off for Kaua’i in O’ahu and the coolest thing was, he actually shipped his car from the mainland and I got to use his car to travel around and explore O’ahu. During my week there, I mainly relaxed at Ala Moana and other beaches and hung out with old friends. I’ve been to O’ahu a handful of times, but it was definitely a more local experience this time.

Finally, the time for Kaua’i arrives, and we fly over there. This has got to be one of my favourite trips/experiences ever. We booked a regular sedan for a rental car, but when we arrived, due to over-tourism, they actually ran out of rental cars. So they gave us a Jeep! No extra cost.

So now we conveniently have a 4wd car that can also remove the roof. I feel like driving a Jeep is part of the Hawai’i experience, and definitely makes it feel like a tropical vacation. We stay at a 4 or 5 (I forgot but it was expensive and nice) star hotel and every morning wake up to beautiful sunrises and join in at 7am for free morning yoga. After that we enjoy a free breakfast and get on with our day plans.

While my friend went scuba diving (I don’t have certification) I took an uber to TjMaxx to get myself some hiking shoes since I didn’t bring any (or own any at this time). I scored a great deal, my favorite hiking shoes ever (RIP I lost them in Virginia…) they were Speedo shoes and super thin. They felt like socks and probably weren’t great for hiking but they worked. Only $6! After that I got an uber to Sleeping Giant hike, where I hiked up by myself. Some absolutely magnificent views! Now Kaua’i is the most rainy island, and also one of the rainiest in the world. I forgot this piece of information. It began to rain and I seeked shelter in a cave, where I met other sweet hikers with dogs and made friends. I was still waiting for my friend to finish his dive and also the rain to stop since I was worried I’d slip and fall down the mountain, and when he finally got back to me I was like “Dude, I know you’re not supposed to go deep diving and then go hiking to a high elevation… but you gotta see this view!” He decided to take his chances and hiked up to meet up with me. No regrets!

At this point we’re totally fucked for getting down. It’s gonna be muddy, and we’re definitely gonna get a little dirty. We actually make it all the way down before slipping and falling on our asses in a mud puddle. But that did happen, so what did we do? Laughed it off, drove straight to the ocean and jumped right in!

The big thing he had booked was a helicopter ride all around the island. Majority of the land in Kaua’i is mostly owned by a family and is considered private property so tourists can’t even see all of the Kaua’i’s beauty- unless you fly over it. We got to see where Jurassic Park was filmed, many waterfalls, canyons, and honestly some of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen. Excuse my shaky videos, this is actually my favourite vlog I’ve made, but it’s shaky because the winds up there were over 90mph. I also wanted to stay in the moment and capture things with my eyes so I only recorded a fraction while not really looking at what I was recording.

After seeing Waimea Canyon from above, we knew we had to do the hike. I wasn’t experienced in hiking at this time, I have no idea how many miles it was but it felt long. Hands down the most stunning views I’ve seen with my own two eyes- still to this day. The best hike I’ve ever done. Literally the most beautiful experience, the views, leading up to a waterfall on the edge of the canyon, high up. It was absolutely incredible. I highly recommend. The drive up was also stunning and if it were just me I would’ve stopped so many times to take pics and vids. 

We grab a bite to eat at a random local shop in Waimea and then walk around town afterwards. I found this cute gift shop owned by a sweet elderly lady who really liked my dress and gave me a free dress tie thing. She made and sold these beautiful flower crowns made of shells, for only $5 each! I should’ve bought more than 2. They are my favourite headpieces and I cherish them so much. I think it was called Memo’s Treasures, and I love to support this shop! You can see me wearing it in the above photos and vlogs.

From there we headed to Poipu beach for sunset. It was stunning! Everyday and every second felt like such a vibe. But Polihale Beach, recommended by a local…now that was definitely a less populated/touristy beach compared to Poipu. In order to get there, we had to have a 4wd car- so it’s convenient that we were blessed with the Jeep and not a regular 2wd sedan. Although we did see some guy with a Mustang busting through the road, we were concerned lol. The beach was magnificent, my friend especially loved the peace and solitude of it. I was busy taking pictures of myself of course. LOL It’s at the end of my Kaua’i vlog with the helicopter ride :).

Here’s me at the beach kickback!

On our last day we met up with my friend’s uncle for a kickback at a local beach with his uncle’s friends one of these days and of course we came prepared. Okay so we discovered these amazing bottled cocktails, similar to the On The Rocks brand one but it’s literally only in Kaua’i. It’s sometimes sold on the mainland in Safeway but it has been hard for me to find. Anyway, these cocktails are so good and strong, we thought we’d buy a bunch for the party. Not a single person drank one except for us. So here we are with all this alcohol, only a day left before we leave. Now my friend was the reasonable one, said it’s okay, a waste, but we’ll just leave it. Growing up Chinese, it’s hard to fathom wasting anything and not getting my money’s worth so I think you see where this story is going…

We had a super fun blacked out drunk last night in our hotel room. I’m pretty sure we both threw up multiple times, well I certainly did. The next morning, wow that was certainly the worst hangover I’ve ever had in my life (still to this day). I actually thought I was dying, and we had to check out of the hotel and kill some time before our flight back to O’ahu. Being in a car…while hungover…was so not it…my friend thought I was gonna die…I thought I was dying…but I was determined to spend our last few hours wisely, and exploring. 

This is honestly such a funny story looking back, even though I was dying in the process. It actually got to the point that he drove me to a hospital and I asked them to IV me. It was still covid at this time, so they turned me down since I didn’t have an appointment. I was determined, and said “whatever fuck it, let’s go to Princeville.” Meanwhile I’m dying of being hungover and I actually open the car door multiple times while he’s driving to yack out the car. There was like a trail of vomit LOL. At this point my friend is so concerned for me he’s not having a good time and takes me to a shopping plaza so I can use the bathroom and get some food at the grocery store. Immediately upon arriving I swing the door open in the middle of the plaza street (we didn’t even park yet) and I projectile vomit out the door while many pretentious families on vacation walk by and watch me throw up like it’s a show. Pretty sure my friend is super embarrassed, but we park the car and I drag myself to the bathroom where I spend probably an abnormal amount of time on the toilet and someone actually knocks and asks if I’m okay. When I finally get out I drag myself to the grocery store and by some packaged naan because I can’t imagine eating anything else other than bread, and then go back to the car and demand my friend we continue our adventure LMAO.

Although he was worried sick about me, I convinced him to drive us to Queen’s Bath. I threw up more on the way, but the drive was so beautiful! I saw so many different types of shrubbery and plant life that I didn’t see on the other end of the island. It was gorgeous and I was so happy we drove to the other side of the island despite me being in terrible condition.

As soon as we arrived to the trailhead entrance (it’s not much of a trail but it’s definitely hard to find), nature and adventure really does heal me haha, I hop right out- excited, and cut through the shrubs to get to the baths with ease- almost as if I wasn’t just throwing up out the car door. When we found a spot to relax I nibbled on some naan and we chilled in some tide pools and watched other people dive into the baths and the ocean. We even saw sea turtles swimming and chilling! We have absolutely 0 regrets and are so glad that we went to Queen’s Bath. I felt alive again after that and recovered by the time we arrived back in O’ahu. It was the most spectacular and fantastic trip, I would relive it all! Maybe not the belligerent drunk and hungover-throwing up part, maybe just a little fun drunk but not blacked out…but everything else was all so worth it!

Before I knew it, it was time for me to head back to Louisiana and pray that my car is safe and all my belongings are there. This trip took place right before my birthday, so I was excited to drive out of Louisiana and see where my birthday will be spent. That wraps up the Hawai’i portion of my roadtrip through America, and I’m so blessed and happy that I had access to a car to drive around 2 out of the many beautiful islands that Hawai’i has to offer.