The first time I went to Hawaii was Christmas 2011 with my husband (boyfriend at the time). My husband is from Honolulu, so he was going home to visit his family and brought me with him. It’s a different kind of experience traveling to a new place with a local… especially to a place like Hawaii that is so big on tourism. My husband just wanted to relax and grumbled at the idea of doing touristy things. I wanted to see everything, of course, because it was all new to me! Now it’s kind of a running joke with us that I am shamelessly an “embarrassing” tourist, and even dress the part with my bright floral dresses and plumeria accessories. Hawaii is a great vacation spot, and I intend to take full advantage of it every time! I feel lucky to have had many more opportunities to visit Hawaii, including two more trips during the holiday season.
The first thing I noticed when I landed in Hawaii and went outside was that the air smelled like flowers… in late December! The weather is so mild, you will definitely look like a tourist if you are wearing a sweater and boots. It’s very humid too, of course, which I’m not used to at all. My fine wavy hair is always a frizzy mess when I’m in Hawaii. We went to the beach many times during my first trip, and I was amazed that the water was so warm! Even when we have warm winter days in California, the water is ice cold, no good for swimming. In Hawaii, you can jump right in without hesitation! Hawaii beaches have totally spoiled me. I love the beach, but I rarely go except when I’m in Hawaii.
The photo above was taken during my first trip to Hawaii, at one of the hotels at Ala Moana Center. Of course I had to take a photo by the pink Christmas tree with cherry blossoms and butterflies! It’s not particularly Hawaiian, but maybe a little Japanese, with the cherry blossoms. Hawaii has a lot of Asian influence, especially Japanese. I was surprised at how often I heard Japanese being spoken while there.
These selfies are from our latest trip in 2019. They were taken at the Shirokiya Japan Village Walk, a large Japanese food court with a festive atmosphere. Sadly I heard it has closed permanently since the pandemic. I’m glad we were able to enjoy this trip in 2019 just before I became pregnant and the pandemic started. It’ll be a while yet before we can travel again, but I’m looking forward to the day we can bring our son on his first trip to Hawaii!