“Honolulu, it’s got everything. Sand for the children, sun for the wife, sharks for the wife’s mother.”
– Ken Dodd
While my trip was about seeing as much of the world as I could cram in with the budget I had, I found that for a while now I had thought of about going back to Honolulu – a place I’d been to once before and fallen completely in love with.
My original plan for the RTW trip included island hopping from New Zealand to Chile, going by awesome places like Samoa, Tahiti, Pitcairn and Easter Island. I made it to New Zealand before I started thinking this was turning into a “check everything ff the list”-trip rather than “what do I actually want to see”. (I also checked out the price of going to Pitcairn, which was the crown in the jewel for me, and I found out the boat trip alone would cost me somewhere in the vicinity of $3600 US(!)… Add to that my increasing feeling of being tired and not wanting to go on outings or see any more waterfalls, temples or whatever, by the time I was in Vanuatu I decided I would get myself to Honolulu as quickly as possible and celebrate my Christmas there. My next tickets took me to Fiji, but from there I would book tickets straight to one of my fav places on the earth.
I know a lot of people love Hawai’i but think Honolulu is the “worst part of all the islands”, they gush about Maui, The Big Island, Kauai, the hikes, the waterfalls, nature, lava, coconuts in secluded places and the non-touristy places… But that was never me. (I’m gonna love those places too, that’s not my point here, guys).
I’m not the kind of traveler who needs to be where other people are not. I love spending my holidays in cities. I adore Paris like nothing else. London feels like home. Budapest was one of my favorite stops on my trip… Honolulu is perfect for me. It has amazing hikes, waterfalls, nature, beach and sunshine within walking distance from the center of the city. A quick trip by bus or car and you have what seems like all the options in the world. And yet, you are smack in the middle of vibrant restaurants, cafés, ice cream stalls, street musicians, shops, parks, people… Perfect.
I completely lucked out this time though, cause on he bus stop going into town from the airport I met Becca (“Becky”) and we started talking. We immediately hit it off to the point where we ended up hanging out together the whole week she was there. I loved Becky/Becka/Other nicknames cause we had, like, three each and I still do. She is amazing and we had the best time. I’m gonna write about our road trip in the next post, I’ll just drop some images of our first “intro days” in Honolulu – which included:
- A mimosa breakfast where the bartender had a shot of orange juice in a glass full of vodka and champagne…
- A trip by the Waikiki Christmas Store at the Moana Surfrider because Becky was immediately on board with my Christmas ornament plan. I ended up getting a bauble with our names on it ❤
- Went to the International Market Place with a grand indoor tree and light decorations and found the statue of Don Ho, famous Hawai’ian singer known for “Tiny Bubbles” and “I Will Remember You” (check them out, he was amazing)
- New pair of sandals for me because my sneakers were way too hot and I remembered why I hate flip flops five minutes into wearing a pair. It’s the freakin’ helspawn of footwear.
- Plenty of beach, sunning and swimming, because Hawai’i
- Walking to find the tiny ice cream stall Becky loved that had shaved ice cream rolls ad getting caught in the rain so we had to both hide under her shawl. (Not the most effective, but whatever)…
- Night time dinner and drinks at Tikis Grill Bar where I decided I wasn’t buying more souvenirs cause I don’t have room for them. So I got both the tropical drinks that came with complimentary glasses… I have no discipline. Who cares. One of them was a Tiki figure with his tongue and butt out. We named him Keanu Tonguesten Jr.
- Seeing a couple having their wedding photos taken during sunset on Waikiki Beach ❤
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