R and J in the USA

News flash. Hawai’i is gorgeous.

If you are looking for truth in advertising, Hawai’i is your state. It is everything you could hope for and everything you have dreamed of – unless, of course, you’ve never spent time dreaming of Hawai’i . For the rest of us who have floated away in such hopeful and indulgent wanderings of the mind, the waters are every bit as blue, the sun is every ray as delightful, and the feel in the air is every bit as peaceful as you imagined.

Another news flash. Like every other United State before it, Hawai’i was once replete with a rich culture of native inhabitants before an influx of westerners and decades of disease had seriously reduced their population to a fraction of those living on the island. Unlike the other United States, Hawai’i is the only one that was a monarchy before becoming a state and the only state to become a state as a result of a coup. A group of American businessmen staged a coup of Hawaii’s monarchy and, rather than see any violence come to her people, Queen Liliuokalani surrendered to the coup in the hopes that the United States government would eventually recognize that the coup was illegal and would return its sovereignty. No such thing occurred. The closest approximation was in 1993 when the US government formally apologized for its role in overthrowing the Hawaiian government. Hawai’i became the 50th state in 1959 after 93% of Hawaii’s voting population voted to join the US, though only a small fraction of that 93% was made up of native Hawaiians. 

Again, as is the case all over the United States, the native culture is very much alive and very much still here and perhaps even more so in Hawaii where you will be just as sure to hear the native Hawaiian language over a loudspeaker as the English version and where every town, street and most every other sign has names that are in Hawaiian. As a tourist, you can learn a bit about the history of the Polynesian people that came to the islands through any one of the many luaus built to cater to a curious audience of tourists or you can partake of any number of historical museums to get a taste of the complex history. But, unlike many states on the mainland, the native roots of the place are everywhere you look, not just hidden away into small pockets or separated in reservations. In Hawai’i, it is the pockets of total Americanization that can seem, or at least did seem to us, more out of place and separate. Whether it is a statement from Hawaii’s Governor speaking to the Ohana of the whole state (a word that means family) or the ever present “Aloha”s or “Mahalo”s you will hear multiple times in any given day or interaction, it seems that there has been a reciprocal marination of cultures over the decades, rather than a separation, resulting in a state that is more clearly a fusion of the many rich and distinct cultures and histories that make it up than anywhere else we’ve seen so far in our travels. It is a state that truly embodies the American ethos of being a melting pot, with significant populations contributing to what it means to be Hawaiian today and having storied history on the islands – from Japanese, to Chinese, to Portuguese, to Filipino to American and, of course, native Hawaiian.  As an outsider very briefly looking in, it seems that the native Hawaiian spirit of aloha infuses all cultures equally, tying them together into one whole and strongly beating Hawaiian heart. The Aloha Spirit seems to greet, engulf and welcome everyone who has the good fortune to get a chance to step foot on the islands of Hawai’i.

The Aloha Spirit is not a turn of phrase in a write up about Hawai’i and we certainly are not the ones to have put those words together. It is a Hawaiian philosophy that is taken so deeply to heart that it is even codified into state law. If you are in the mood to be enriched as a human being and uplifted about the presence of goodness and decency in the world, it is worth reading the actual Hawai’i Law of the Aloha Spirit.

It is easy to superficially generalize Hawai’i as a paradise, especially if you can afford to enjoy it from inside a resort or oceanfront AirBnB, even though, like every other place on earth, and certainly every place that has people, life is made up of reality and the various complexities that come with it. If you are willing to venture outside of the beaten paths of tourist-focused charm and entertainment, more and more of that reality is visible to the naked eye, even as a mere passerby. Whether it is the impact of natural challenges, geographical challenges, the legacies of painful histories or any of the challenges that occur when human beings congregate and cross paths with each other, Hawai’i has its challenges too. But, as a visitor, only moving through for a short time, especially in a place whose economic engine is fueled not just by military and agriculture, but by tourism that leads the islands to be built to delight, entertain and welcome travelers at every turn for their short and memorable visit, it is so very easy to be lulled into the feeling of perfection here. It is extremely tempting to believe you might be in some sort of utopia when your senses are subsumed in the atmosphere of brilliant blue waters and relentlessly breaking waves; breaching whales on the horizon and tropical fruits filling one’s belly; brilliant beaches of every color and the freedom of swimsuits and flip flops all year round. There is a feeling of perfection that pervades the temporary visitor when one’s senses are so consumed and one’s heart is steeped in the peaceful spirit of Aloha that abounds throughout.

We count ourselves lucky to be among such visitors.

We have been fairly conscientious about reminding ourselves that we are here in Hawai‘i, not on vacation, but on our 50 states tour. That means, we are here to get to know the place, as best we can, in a short time. But, we have also been on this trip for a full 7 months and, while our trip is very much vacation-adjacent, and much more vacation-like than most people’s lives and than the previous decades of our own lives, our constant, breakneck pace in the pursuit of seeing as much of each state’s natural, cultural, historic and geographic features as we can muster brought us to Hawai’i with a hankering for some serious laziness. We couldn’t wait to melt into true vacation-mode here in the glorious setting that is Hawai’i and, for more than a few days of our time here, that is exactly what we did. 

To get to know Hawaii is, in many ways, to become one with vacation. While locals are here living their lives, there are a whole lot of people on the islands here to relax, enjoy and make memories that they will remember fondly and long to return to for years to come. And there are a lot of people here, some that we met, that are working hard and making their living facilitating this state for their temporary visitors. We got the sense that, like any place where tourism is a central industry, there is a mixed feeling about tourists and tourism. However mixed those feelings might be, we pretty much saw the side of it that was accommodating and welcoming to us, though we wondered what that was like from the other side. We did our best to stretch outside of this touristy, vacation-mode when possible. Even though we certainly vacationed, and vacationed hard – we made sure to see neighborhoods that no vacation would lead one into. In Hawaii, it is harder to do than other places since the delights set up for tourists are everywhere and they are so effectively delightful that it is hard to escape the desire to simply surrender into them fully, but we managed to escape that bubble a few times and see what life looks like, at least on the surface, for the people working and living in these places.  

While in Hawai’i, for the first time in 7 months, we enjoyed another kind of luxury beyond just that of being here in this tropical oasis. It was the luxury of staying in the same place for 4 full days and 5 glorious nights. One of the best ways to appreciate the little wonderful things about any aspect of life that one might easily take for granted is to go without it for some time. We love being on the move and being on the road – but, through doing so virtually nonstop for 7 months straight, we have developed a special appreciation for waking up in the same physical spot for more than two consecutive nights. Whether in Hawai’i or anywhere else it would be pretty fantastic. Add to it that the place we are waking up in day after day is the north shore of the garden isle of Kaua’i, now we are talking heavenly. 

We kicked off the first morning of 2025 running a 10K (which we are considering counts as a 5K, since we ran two 5Ks right in a row) amidst locals and travelers alike. You can, of course, read about the race in our 5Ks in 50 States section. We also got to ring in the New Year through the fog of a little jet lag from the porch of our Honolulu room where we watched the fireworks ring in the occasion over the waters of Waikiki. Julie took in as much as she could of the vast Hawaiian culture and history at the wonderful Bishop Museum on Oahu and we engaged more island specific history at the Kaua’i Museum. We toured the capitol building in Honolulu, saw Iolani Palace from outside and learned about the evolution of systems of law and justice on the islands when we visited the Supreme Court building. We made our somber and educational pilgrimage to Pearl Harbor to pay our respects and feel the impact of this crossroads in global history. 

We also made sure to taste the tourist delights beyond the lazy beach days. We toured a chocolate farm and “endured” the long and varied chocolate tasting that was part of it. We marveled at tropical wonders at many different local farmers markets, we hiked to waterfalls, swam in swimming holes, got knocked down by pummeling waves and, of course, spent hours doing a lot of nothing on any number of beautiful ocean beaches. We watched tropical birds dance in the surf and threw our bodies upon boogie boards with all the unearned confidence of youth that we refuse to surrender. We ate as many regional cuisines as we could find – from the marvel and delight of shaved ice to poke bowls and the delicious taste of Hawaiian-style pork on a Hawai’i plate. We experienced the oddity of the mix and match quilt of the most American mainland culture fused with ancient Polynesian culture while sitting on the porch of a golf club that could have been in any suburb in America as we watched the dancers in front of us invite us on a journey through Polynesian history at the Gilligan’s Island Luau in Maui. We did the most touristy thing you can do as we sailed about the gorgeous garden isle of Kaua’i, looking out at its tropical beauty from the inside of a helicopter where John William’s theme from Jurassic Park filled our ears as we soared over the waterfall, oftentimes now referred to as Jurassic Waterfall. Julie, who is a huge John Williams fan, experienced pure heaven for those few minutes. We found private beaches that were only peopled by surfers passing through to hit the most coveted surf spots. We lingered on the famous beaches peopled by tourists throwing frisbees, taking surf lessons and enjoying the respite of a family getaway. We tasted the most fruffy of resort life at the Wailea Marriott Beach Resort in Maui (for the one night we decided to shell out the big bucks to do it) and hopped from one Airbnb to another for the rest of our time – from an HOA run condo village in Kauai’s gorgeous north shore, to the small lanai with a massive oceanfront view of breaching whales and swimming sea turtles in an eighth floor studio in the towering, crowded apartment buildings of West Maui, to a two-story cottage-like structure in the middle of the old lava fields of the now active Kilauea volcano of the Big Island, to a rainforest getaway amidst the trees 3 miles away from the Big Island’s Volcano National Park. There was not a single spot we were in that we didn’t lament leaving and not a single day that passed that we weren’t so glad to be in Hawai’i.

By the time we were going to be leaving Hawai‘i to head to our next state, we had visited Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. We didn’t get a chance to touch ground on Lanai or Molokai, but we did see them from our lanai in Maui. We originally had planned to just visit three islands even though we had really wanted to include a trip to the Big Island to see the volcano in action. We had heard, while in Kauai that the volcano was flowing and, while Julie had seen that during her first time in Hawai’i decades ago, Ryan had never been here when it was actively flowing. Despite that, we had originally decided to forgo it in favor of taking a rest from the breakneck pace of the trip and luxuriating in being in one single place for 5 full nights, especially since we’ve both had the pleasure of traveling to the Big Island before. 

Once again, life had other plans in store for us.

When we first planned our itinerary before the trip began, we had planned to spend a full two weeks on the island to get through some of the colder months on the mainland. When we extended our stays in Maine and Michigan to catch up on itineraries and blogging, the time needed to come from somewhere, and five of those days were taken out of our Hawai’i itinerary, so we had gone from 14 to 9.

A few days before our planned departure from the islands, we got a few emails from American Airlines letting us know that there were present or impending natural troubles that would make it wise for us to change our plans. Our original flight out of Hawai’i would have us going through Los Angeles and Dallas on January 9th. The tragic fires that overtook parts of Los Angeles began on January 7th and a massive winter storm was set to land squarely in Dallas on the day of our flight. None of our flights were cancelled yet, but the airlines were allowing us the opportunity to change our flights with no added fees. 

Believe it or not, we both had some hesitation to extend our stay in Hawai’i. Everything had already been so perfect and, even though we both wanted to stay another month, we both felt like we had experienced enough to feel satisfied and we liked the feeling and the logistics of sticking with our trip as planned. That said, when considering the reality that taking the risk to take our flights could mean that, instead of being “stuck” in Hawai‘i for 5 extra days, we could be stranded in LA amidst the disasters unfolding there where resources are needed for anyone but a couple of needy travelers or being snowed into the Dallas airport, or worse, it would be best to ride out the storms by extending our Hawai’i stay. We are sure zero people are feeling sorry for the “troubles” we faced in navigating this change, and we are certainly not asking for any pity. We sent some donations to the relief efforts in LA and got to work making our arrangements for our extended stay in Hawai’i. While we most certainly weren’t happy for the tragic reason that our plans needed to adjust and though our thoughts were with those navigating the horrific fires in LA, we certainly weren’t complaining about extra time in Hawai‘i. It would stretch our budget significantly, but now it was undeniable that we would need to make time to get to the Big Island with the hopes that we would get a chance to see the volcano flowing. Alas, by the time we arrived, the powers that be beneath the earth had decided that this wasn’t the time for Ryan to get to see lava on the move. Still, we were glad to be on the lush and beautiful oasis of the Big Island once again.

Speaking of budget, the one night we decided to stay at a beachside Marriott resort (and we didn’t have enough Marriott points to cover it) and pay more money for one night of accommodation than we have ever dreamed we would spend for a bed for the night, we spent the entire morning changing flights, figuring out our itineraries for the next 5 days, readjusting the state by state itinerary to follow in such a way where we’d still be able to hit a 5K in every state and get home in time to celebrate Julie’s nephew’s birthday. We were reminded we wouldn’t be getting so much bang for our buck when we were kicked out of our room by housekeeping while we were still feverishly working to put our logistical puzzle back together. It wasn’t until hours later that we finally figured out where we would be staying that night. But, if you are going to spend the whole morning on a computer working out travel arrangements, there is no more delightful place to be doing it, so we were certainly not complaining. 

Every single moment in Hawai’i has been dreamlike and so remarkably rejuvenating. We count ourselves more than lucky to have gotten the chance to experience such a remarkable place that time and tectonic plates birthed into the world in volcanic glory.

Perhaps, more than any other state, it is intimidating to do a write up that does justice to Hawai’i. We feel we’ve barely come close to giving it its due, despite the sincerity of our attempts. Julie had spent 3 weeks here on the Big Island in her early twenties and those 3 weeks changed her life for decades that followed. That is the kind of place that Hawai’i can be. For all that we were able to experience in our 2 weeks here, it’s hard to say that we truly got to know the place, as it seems like every single nook and cranny is rich with culture, history and natural wonder worth exploring for months. On another level, we got to know it as much as we really get to know any state on this whirlwind tour. And just like every state, it has quickly come to feel like a home away from home, or an old friend that we know we’ll only get so much time with over the course of our lives, but are touched and enriched throughout our lives by having known them at all. We certainly did our best to get to know this most uniquely unique state in the union. To assert such a moniker to the state is a subjective opinion, but one that we suspect may have some objective truth to it. While every state has things that set it apart, Hawai’i is, both literally and figuratively, set farther apart than any other.  Whatever degree of success we had getting to really know this place and attempting to express what we have learned and experienced with all due respect and appreciation, we know we triumphantly accomplished enjoying the heck out of every single delicious and rejuvenating moment that we had the good fortune to enjoy here. If you should be so fortunate as to spend some time on these islands in the sea, thousands of miles away from the mainland, you will surely be changed by it, if only in the slightest of ways. Once the Aloha Spirit touches you, it gets into your bones, and, thankfully, that is where it stays.