A Mellow Weekend in Hawaii

"It's time to try the Hawaiian roller coaster ride" - Lilo and Stitch

I feel pretty fortunate that I have been able to experience everything I have so far. I have worked hard and it has paid off in many ways. One way being that I can casually type the title, "A Mellow Weekend in Hawaii." A trip that would take years of planning and saving for most, was a weekend stop on my way home from Japan.

My creative juices were flowing when booking my ticket home. I had a stroke of luck when my one way ticket from Italy to Japan only cost me 350 dollars through Student Universe, a website that gives major deals to students or people under the age of 26. Yet when it came time to book my ticket from Japan to the states it was going to cost me 750 dollars just to fly to Seattle...Yikes! I decided to check out what the cost would be to fly from Japan to Hawaii and then book a separate ticket from Hawaii to Seattle. When I did the math and found that this route, including my stay in Hawaii for two nights, would still cost less than flying straight through, I quickly jumped at the opportunity!

I arrived at Honolulu airport on a Friday, pretty early in the morning. I took a shuttle bus from the airport to the hostel I was staying at in Waikiki. The hostel was a less than 5 minute walk to the beach so I spent the afternoon resting from jet lag and enjoying the 80 degree weather.

Free raft provided by the hostel

The beach view

The second day I decided to head to Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve to snorkel. Through my hostel I was able to rent a snorkel set for 5 dollars instead of paying 30 at the Preserve (score!) It did cost a small fee to get into the Preserve but I think the views were extremely worth it!

The walk down to the beach. At the entrance you are required to watch a short video about conservation and safety in regards to snorkeling. 

Fun fact about me: I love the ocean and the beach but I am irrationally terrified of sharks! However, I felt that I should swallow my fear and get in the waters anyways. I couldn't grab any pictures of below the water since I did not trust my water proof pouch to be submerged for that long but wow is our planet beautiful!

The beach

Me enjoying the beach

I took on the snorkel and I think the snorkel won

Look at all that coral reef, perfect for shallow water snorkeling!

Day three involved a little workout because a few new friends from my hostel and I decided to hike Diamond Head trail, only 15 minutes or so from where we were staying. 

We were sweating so much on the way up but...

... look at that view!

and this one!

Water for days

New travel friends

I was flying out that night and since our hike took only the morning, we grabbed lunch from a food truck and decided to head to the beach for a bit. After swimming we decided to clean up and head back to the beach to catch my last Hawaiian sunset for a bit.

Monica and I

The people from my hostel

I was happy to be back in a place where English was a native tongue after four months of foreign travel! I was able to navigate the public buses with ease and was very happy to have my phone service back. Two days in Hawaii was not long enough and I plan to return. Hopefully my future plans involve a cruise of the islands or something similar!

To follow along with my adventures check out my Instagram or Facebook Page! Until then, Happy New Years and stay tuned for my adventures in 2019!