I haven’t written a blog since June, so I’ve decided to combine July-Sept into one. Here it goes! Thanks in advance to my loyal followers for reading…
Philosophy – the studying of knowledge, moral values, reality and existence, has always been a topic of interest for me. While I didn’t major in this subject in University, the few electives I did take were some of my favorites. I tend to read books and often have conversations with people pertaining to philosophical debates. It might not be surprising to my close friends and family that many of my past blogs have had a similar philosophical spin to them.
While I was travelling in South America in 2011, I read a fiction novel by Paulo Coelho called “The Alchemist“, which tells the story of a man’s journey through life in search of his purpose. Throughout the book, he comes across many different situations and people that the author referred to as omens-signs that would help guide him. This book really resonated with me because I too find myself looking for signs as an affirmation that I’m on the right track. There’s an extraordinary sense of personal fulfillment that comes from being on the right path. Everything that was once difficult suddenly becomes easier and bizarre coincidences start taking place more often. Serendipity “happy accident” as they say, seems to be a part of your everyday life. You feel an overwhelming feeling of happiness and contentment from simply just being. It’s a deeper state of consciousness and personal awareness. This feeling of happiness is completely separate from outside sources like places, people, things or money. It can only being felt from within.
For me personally, the last two months have been about getting back on that path and staying on it. By that I mean asking myself important questions about what I want to achieve, where I want to go, and how I want to live. I’ve been making an effort to truly honour who I am as a person and answer these questions as authentically and compassionately as I can. One of my favorite lines in the Alchemist’s reads, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.” I believe our minds are powerful tools. I’ve seen ideas turned into realities and it all starts with believing it is possible.
It’s really important for us to understand what it is we truly want for ourselves. It’s not always easy to know, or you may know but feel like for one reason to another, you can’t do it. However, that’s a fear-based thought process, which we have been conditioned to believe is the truth. Finding your purpose in life should be really exciting…Challenging yes, but still exciting. As John F Kennedy once said, “Efforts are not enough without purpose and direction.” It’s really exhilarating to think about the goals you want to accomplish, whether it is work, health or travel; it’s a blank slate with the freedom to write on it. What do I want to write or rather ADD to mine? Well, that’s still in the works. For now, I will briefly describe my amazing adventure in Hawaii. After all, this is a travel blog…
July was a highly stimulating month for me. Two exceptionally exciting things occurred, one going to Hawaii to see my mom and sister and two being granted my Australian Visa sponsorship through work. At last now I was able to envision what the next year would look like for me. There’s a certain sense of excitement that comes from the unknowing, but in order to go in a particular direction, understanding your circumstances is vital. Finally, I knew exactly what my circumstances were.
Hawaii was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It truly is a paradise. However, I had a pretty rough time getting there. About 4 hours into the flight, the plane turned and diverted towards Fiji. This was obvious to the 306 passengers onboard because we had the flight information was on the screens in front us. Shortly afterward, the pilot came on the PA system announcing that there may be an oil leak and possibly an engine failure (don’t worry planes have 2 engines). The flight crew began to demonstrate what to do in the case of an emergency landing…Not an ideal situation when you’re over the Pacific Ocean. Out of protocol, they had called the fire department at the airport in Nadi to be prepared for our landing in case the wheels didn’t come down, or the plane set on fire from the oil. I appeared calm but actually pretty scared. The situation got to me most when the flight crew started handing out the baby life jackets. As you can imagine, those were 2 very long hours for me and every other passenger on that plane. Thankfully the plane landed safely, I spent a day in Fiji, met a few cool people, and got back on that plane (fixed) around 8:00pm that evening. I finally got to see my mom and sister at Kona Airport…48 hours later.
I was really stoked about our accommodation. We were staying on a farm in Hawaii because my sister was house-sitting for a friend. If you can imagine a small little farm house with open concept, which essentially means no walls or windows around the kitchen or dining room, that was where we stayed. Also, the home was powered by solar energy, so no Wi-Fi and no hot water, unless there was sun. We had quite a few farm animals that roamed around hanging out with us, including a donkey, miniature ponies, chickens, ducks, a rooster and kitties. I bonded most with Donkey because in the mornings I would feed him kale chips, which he loved. Plus, one of the ponies chased me down once so – we weren’t good friend’s ha-ha. Another thing I loved about the farm was all the organic food options we had. We cracked and roasted or own nuts picked our own fruit (dragon/ passion fruit) and peeled our own coffee beans. This wouldn’t be an ideal living circumstance for everyone; some might prefer hotel experience like the Hilton. But, for me, hotels are hotels…This was the real deal and I enjoyed every minute.
From an activities perspective- we did some amazing things like night boating to see the active volcano- the only place on the island you can see lava flow into the ocean. Statically speaking, less than 5 percent of people will see that in their life time, pretty amazing. We went swimming with wild dolphins where we were arm’s length away from them. We went to hot springs and snorkeled in shallow waters. Thankfully, we had a car so we were able to drive around the whole island stopping at beautiful waterfalls, black sand beaches, and small local stores. In addition we went to Hawi markets on Saturdays, where I was able to meet some of the locals and try some of the delicious treats, organically made.
There were quite a few funny things that happened over the course of the trip including our moonlight dip! Being that it was the 3 of us girls, we had a blast together, but most of which you had to be there for. However, there is one situation that was serious at the time, but now we can have a giggle about. My darling mother innocently ate 2 cookies with her morning tea on my second day on the island (as if I didn’t have enough panic from the flight there) she told us she was suddenly feeling faint and to call 911. The Paramedics came to check her heart rate which appeared to be normal but she still wanted to go to the emergency room for fear that her symptoms of dizziness, anxiousness and nausea could be related to a heart attack or stroke. As one should imagine, this wasn’t funny at the time. We all took the situation very seriously, including the hospital staff. It wasn’t until later that the situation turned for some prime entertainment. When all the tests came back perfectly normal, the paramedic asked my Mom, “Ma’am have you ever been stoned? “ Turns out those cookies had some “special” ingredients in them. So, we all came home, ate some food, had a sleep and she was feeling back to her healthy self again. We won’t be forgetting that one…
Overall, Hawaii was an incredible trip and I loved spending time with Emily and my Mom. THEY are a great time! It was tough saying goodbye to them, but I’ll be seeing them again soon in CANADA for Christmas! Plus, I had a certain special someone in Sydney to home to <3.
I came back from Hawaii smiling a little bit bigger and stepping a little bit lighter…Now my challenge is to maintain it. Tomorrow I’m starting a TESOL course, which I’m really looking forward to. I’ll discuss more about that in my next blog. Mahalo!!
