Not a Wasted Word

We felt a little beached out after our marathon first day, so we decided on our second day to brave the road to Hana (or at least part of it).

But first my son and I hit up a nearby beach to see some see turtles. The two things I really want to do on this trip are swim with sea turtles (in their general vicinity) and swim in a waterfall. We didn’t see any sea turtles on our first day snorkeling, but it was exciting to see them on the beach!

The road to Hana is long and windy and it takes a while to actually arrive in Hana (2.5 hours!) We were told it might not actually be worth going all the way there, so we decided to just go half way. We stopped at a bay that locals love, and then hit up a hiking trail a friend recommended.

There were so many incredible views on the road – we pulled over a few times just to take photos.

On the way back home, we stopped for some amazing BBQ on the side of the road. The food here is so good.

At home we realized our friends had gone to a spot that was too far for our liking (after all that driving earlier), so we tried to think of something else to do. I have to admit, the adults just wanted to stay on the property and chill out (we were exhausted from all the driving), but we knew our son couldn’t handle that much down time. Finally, we found a beach that was only 30 minutes away, and we committed to that.

And Charley Young Beach ended up being just what we needed. The wind was wicked (locals say the last two days have been windier than anything they’ve seen in years – like tropical storm windy) but we had a ton of fun playing in the waves and exploring the lava rock formations. I even did some body boarding!

Before we left I wrote a thank you note in the sand, so I could take a picture and our friend could send it to his friend whose property we’re staying on. But right after I took the shot the waves came and washed away everything but the thank you. It felt really perfect, because I’m so grateful for this trip, so I took another picture.

Today we leave on our final trip of the summer. This is our last minute trip to Maui, which we made because we were invited to spend a week with friends in a large house on the beach. The flights were relatively cheap (and I had a $300 credit from my Covid-cancelled Portland trip), and all we had to pay toward the lodging was a quarter of the $2K cleaning fee. It’s an incredible opportunity to visit a place that normally would be very much outside our price range, and we felt we couldn’t pass it up.

So today we fly to Maui (barring any transportation complications). After flying to London, a 5.5 hour straight shot feels very manageable.

Unpacking from the KOA trip and repacking for a beach vacation in 10 hours felt a little less manageable yesterday, but I made it happen.

This has been a really nuts summer for us, travel wise. I was doing some math in my head at the KOA and I calculated that there were 68 nights in my summer break, and I spent 34 of them sleeping somewhere other than my bed, which is weirdly exactly half of the nights. So I’ve spent half of my summer traveling – St. Louis, the rafting trip, London, the KOA and Maui. That is crazy.

And I don’t anticipate it will ever happen again. While I’m incredibly thankful for all that trips we’ve taken – and the fact that Covid did not derail any of them (yet! All appendages crossed!!!) – it was a bit much for little old me. I just don’t have it in me to unpack and pack over and over again all summer long, or to sleep in so many different beds.

And the only way we could afford all this was a combination of special circumstances (my parents paid for the AirBnB in London and our accommodations in Maui are basically free) and a very large tax refund that had something to do with us no longer being landlords. We certainly don’t usually have the money to fly four of us across the Atlantic (our London flights cost SO MUCH), let alone fly us to Hawaii after doing so (even if the flights are cheaper than expected).

Luck also played a roll. The fact that we left late on Monday for London meant I could go to the rafting trip, even though I got back late Sunday night. The fact that our kids’ school district started on a Wednesday (for the first time in the seven years they’ve attended), and mine started a week later than usual, meant we could fit in Maui during literally the last week of the break. We come back Monday night and our kids start school Wednesday morning. I have my first staff day on Thursday or Friday (I’ll be at work on Thursday either way).

The KOA trip was really fun. It was intense, but highly enjoyable. After so much time with family, my son, daughter and I all appreciated spending some time with friends. The weather was lovely (warm enough to swim in the cold pool, but cool enough at night to sleep without air conditioning), and the company was lovelier. It helps that the KOA is only an hour from our side of the city, which made bringing my son home halfway, and then returning with a friend, fairly easy. It was also our second year going, so we had a much better idea of what to bring and how to execute the trip.

I’ve spend almost no time thinking about work this summer. And I’m going to try to keep it out of my mind until we get back. Last summer I spent two weeks packing my room in June and another week and a half unpacking it in August, so I very much appreciate the extended break I’m getting this year. I do think I’ll be ready to go back in mid-August. I know I’m ready for my kid to be back on their regular schedules.

I’ll try to post a bit in Maui. Thanks for sticking with me this summer!

We’re at the KOA. It feels strangely like we never left.

Being here last year was our attempt at normalcy. Our kids had been in school for 10 days the whole school year before, but we were promised a return to the classroom in the fall. The last of us was finally eligible for vaccination. The future felt full of possibility, the possibility of normalcy. Of things returning to what they had been.

Or maybe I just want to remember that it felt like that last year. Maybe it didn’t feel like that at all. Time is hard to hold on to. The years melt together. The threads holding together the narrative are brittle and break easily.

The ways I felt and when I felt them exist in liminal spaces that I can’t really grasp from here.

Time is a flat circle*. I don’t really know what that means but I’ve thought of it a lot these past years, because for me it means that time doesn’t always makes sense in the ways I want it to. And that’s okay.

Right now I’m in a place that seems to exist, for me, in both this year and the last one. And it’s a weird place to be, but not necessarily a bad one.

Also floaties.

*I know this phrase from the first season of True Detective but I believe it’s from Nietzsche originally.