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! Second, I had been going full-force for some time, hopping from non-stop activities in Oahu to a jam-packed week in The Big Island before hopping over to hostel madness in Maui — I really needed some time to recharge and catch up on work. And really — can you think of a better office than this?
But most importantly of all, I was really looking forward to spending time with some family that quite frankly I hadn’t spent much one-on-one time with prior to this trip. My aunt and uncle — my mom’s brother and his wife — split their time between Chicago, Hawaii, and seemingly the rest of the world! They are on the move as much as I am, and so I hadn’t seen them in three years before this trip. They were part of the family I was referring to in number nine on my Happiness at Twenty Three list — I’ve really cherished developing adult relationships with various members of this wild family I am lucky enough to have.
And so my week fell into a very predictable pattern. In Hawaii something about the energy or my happiness there meant I didn’t sleep more than six hours a night, so I usually woke up between six and seven and went for a run along the waterfront. After, I worked the day away from the deck or by the pool with an afternoon break to swim or read or stroll through Lahaina town. Later, the family would gather for dinner or sunset drinks on the beach a few moments from the house. In a word, it was blissful.
But if you’ve been reading for a while, you know me — I can’t sit still for too long. I did have a few shake-ups in my week. First, my friend Paula from The Bungalow called me and told me she was going to go for it — she was getting that tattoo we talked about over drinks on the beach. A map of Hawaii, with each of the islands filled in as she returns to visit them all. I was so happy for her!
She drove into Lahaina town and we giddily made our way to the tattoo shop. I had actually never seen anyone get a tattoo before, so it was pretty exciting for me too. Living on the edge right here, am I right?
Afterwards, we celebrated with drinks with my aunt and uncle. They were pretty much Lahaina celebrities — we couldn’t go anywhere without people coming up to greet them!
Then, later in the week, right around the time I was starting to feel a little restless and my aunt generously offered to lend me her truck, another Bungalow friend called and said he too was feeling a little restless. So we set off, meandering mostly aimlessly around the island with some second-hand directions to a forest hike scribbled on a napkin.
The forest, when we did eventually find it, was mostly damaged in a fire and kind of a bust. But heading up-island in search of it, we stumbled upon a charming farm that wouldn’t have been out of place in my hometown of Albany, New York. Pumpkin picking, hay mazes, tractor rides…. and a distant view of some of the most beautiful islands in the South Pacific.
Do you know how rare it is that a week in an exotic destination will garner just one blog post? Not often, as the mass amounts of content I churn out here should tell you! But this week off in Lahaina was exactly what I needed to recharge for my one day adventure to yet another new island — Lanai! Stay tuned…
Long term travelers, do you ever take a week off to just recharge your batteries and not worry about doing anything blog-worthy?
BEAUTIFUL photos Alex! Ive been to Maui a bunch of times and these photos really capture the wild natural vibe of the island beyond the marriotts. the cow and pumpkins are the ones I love the most. awesome. hope you are enjoying Asia 🙂
I was definitely surprised by how much of Maui had such a wild, rural feel! I was definitely pretty ignorant about the true Hawaii before this trip.
This looks like the perfect week off! I’m enjoying a week off right now as well… people forget that just because you live in a travel destination doesn’t mean you’re permanently on holiday. Glad you enjoyed the well-deserved break!
Yeah, it’s funny that my idea of a holiday is basically working every day without the obligation to do anything “fun”… ha, kind of the opposite of most people!
I loooove her tattoo!!! What a brilliant idea! Great pics! And btw I’m sooo jealous of your Uncle’s home.
It was a stunning house! And my uncle has done so much of the renovations himself, he had his work boots on every single day I was there!
I feel like I’ve taken months off being lazy, but that’s about to change. Yet it is good to recharge once in a while and staying with family looks like it did the trick.
Being around family is always pretty recharging I feel. Best of luck getting back to business!
Looks like pure bliss. Sometimes you just need to take it easy for a while. But like you I can never sit still for too long.
Ha, again I reread this post and see that my idea of “relaxing” is… “working all day without interruption.”
Aloha Alex,
My name is Anthony Hunter and I found your blog when I clicked on a picture of you getting tattooed in Lahaina by my co worker, tattoo artist Curtis Baldwin, who is now working with us here at Hula Girl Tattoo in Paia Maui.
I wanted to let you know that we have a sister shop on Oahu in Waikiki called Victorian Tattoo Waikiki. If you haven’t already gotten Oahu filled In and you happen to be there and would like to do that at Victorian Tattoo Waikiki I would like to Comp that for you. Any of our talented tattoo artist can fill that part of your tattoo in for you. Just have them call ahead (they all should have my number) and I will give the ok.
You have an awesome blog btw. 🙂
Best regards and Aloha!
– Anthony Hunter, Manager
Hey Anthony! I’m actually the one taking the photos — that’s my friend Paola getting tattooed. I don’t have any ink yet 🙂 If I decide to, I’ll know who to call! Thanks for the kind offer!