{Destination Highlights} Hawai'i

In getting the ball rolling with my new venture in blogging our travels, I knew I wanted to share more in depth than Instagram or Facebook allows. I wanted to share more photos, deeper thoughts, things we learned, etc. on specific places (restaurants, parks, activities, beaches) in every locale we've visited. Maybe the details will be interesting to you, maybe some won't. So to accommodate the details and the highlights, I'll be sharing "Destination Details" posts and "Destination Highlights" posts of our travels. They will be exactly what they are titled, in depth details and highlight reels from each trip. There are so many things we learned and places we visited that you can't find specific details about, or honest opinions, without some major digging. So I'm hoping these posts will help with that.

I've thought long and hard on how to share the information and photos, and I've decided to focus on one trip at a time. So in the next week or two you'll see "Destination Highlights" posts for each trip. Then we'll get into Destination Details, and if you want to see all of the details of each trip, just click the side bar on the right hand side for the trip. Easy peasy, all in one place. As we travel more, I'll focus on each trip as it happens. I'm so excited to take you flying with me. So let's get started with a journey to Hawai'i!

About 5 years ago, well into my 20s, I created a 30 before 30 list. A list of 30 things, mine is 40 #indecisive, big and small, I wanted to do before turning 30. Hawaii was one of the 3 trips I had listed. A little back story" at the time of the list's conception, I'd never even been on a place. Dream big, right? I didn't actually think I'd ever make it to the places I'd dreamed about, but I jotted them down anyway. Best decision ever, making that list, writing out those goals. I now have marked off 29 of the 40, including two major trips. So write down those goals! Ok, back to the trip! When Hawaii started to become a reality, we were ecstatic! We'd hope to go on our honeymoon, but it just didn't work out. So, we considered this sort of a belated honeymoon. We planned the trip around our work schedules, which lucky for us happened to be during whale season, a highlight for me! Though these photos don't include every single highlight, you'll at least get a great feel for Hawaii.

100+ year old Banyan tree in Lahaina, Maui

Sunrise from Mt. Haleakala, Maui

Whale watching near Kihei, Maui

Ka'anapali Beach, Maui

Sugar Beach, Kihei, Maui

Sunset at Lahaina Harbor, Maui

Beach of lava rock off of Honoapi'ilani Highway, Maui

Rainbow in Upcountry, Maui

Dole Plantation, Oahu

Pineapple Fields, Oahu

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu

On this trip, we saw an endangered monk seal, swam with sea turtles, experienced the coldest weather imaginable, ventured to the bottom of the sea in a submarine, paid our respects at Pearl Harbor, and marveled at Christmas trees on the beach. Soon I'll be sharing the details of all of this and more. Thank you so much for flying to Maui with me! I can't wait to share more of our grand adventures with you.