In addition to my time at The Banana Bungalow, I was lucky to spend an additional week in Maui hanging out at my Aunt and Uncle’s house in Lahaina. I was really excited about this week for a lot of many reasons. First of all, I was getting to spent more time in Hawaii — hello…

At this point, you might think all I did at The Banana Bungalow was hike up enough muscle soreness to justify an entire evening spent in the jacuzzi. But far from it — a vast majority of every Bungalow week is spent beach bumming. Monday is hiking in the ‘Iao Valley, Tuesday is surviving the twisting…

Deep in the heart of a Jurassic Park-like jungle, you will find the 2,250 foot ‘Iao Needle, famous for gracing postcards all over Maui. On Mondays, you will also find a roaming pack of Banana Bungalow travelers enjoying their free hiking tour to the valley. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out for me to join the…

When I saw that my time at the Banana Bungalow would include a Saturday, the day of their famous Haleakala hiking trip, I briefly considered changing my dates. Yes, it’s true, I’ve become somewhat of a hiker lately, but this was another beast entirely. And while obviously the free tours aren’t mandatory, there’s no way I…

My stomach flipped a few rounds as I dragged myself out of bed and towards the tour vans, regretting my last few drinks the night before. “There is no way I can do this trip unless I’m in the front seat,” I said to the guide Isaac, partially hoping for a swift return to my bed…

When I began planning my trip to Hawaii, it was entirely based around the generous hospitality of family and friends who live there. Frankly, I didn’t know there was any other way — I pictured nothing but endless rows of high-end hotels, far out of reach of my teeny tiny budget. And then, in my research…