Travel off the Grid : Oahu Hawaii
When I visited Hawaii last spring, I was blown away by how different it is from any place I have ever been before. Since it is a part of the United States, I expected it to look pretty identical to Florida, California or even the beaches of New Jersey, however, what I found was completely different. Before the trip, my mom emphasized the importance of not staying in the Waikiki Beach area of Oahu: making it *very* clear that we were NOT taking a ten hour flight to see something identical to Atlantic City. She made sure to rent a house from a friendly couple for the ten days that we were staying for, deep in the jungle of Oahu.
Once we arrived Honolulu, it was as if we took the ten hour flight and ended up back where we started. Starbucks and Mcdonalds were everywhere, but my mom was sure that this would not be our authentic hawaiian experience. The house where we were staying was a little over an hour away from the airport, and as each minute passed in the car, it became evident that things were beginning to change. We saw fewer and fewer buildings and more trees. The amount of flashy cars were replaced with small mopeds and wild chicken (jungle fowl) running loose. Spray painted on various rocks were “keep the country country” and “let us be." At first, I had no idea what this meant, but as my trip continued I quickly began to understand the true meaning behind these slogans.
The house was beachfront with a beautiful view of the ocean, but the front of the house had an amazing view of the mountains and an elementary school. A few doors down the road, a local woman owned and operated a thrift store. In the opposite direction, there was a liquor store and small local dive bar. Each day we saw the kids arrive to the elementary school playing while many locals walked along the street to their workplace. After deciding to explore, we saw the vast amount of food trucks, lining the roads, up and down for miles. Local men and women taught surf lessons out of their own trucks and used their personal boards for demonstrations. People biked, skateboarded, and walked wherever they needed to go.
We spent our mornings waking up to the sunset (especially because we never got used to the time difference) and our nights eating amazing food. Each morning was spent walking up and down the beach, collecting beautiful pieces of sea glass. Throughout the days, we went surfing, horseback riding, hiking, and exploring new towns and places. I can truly say that Hawaii is the most beautiful place I have ever been to, and probably will ever visit.
These...are...cows.
Towards the end of the trip, we met an amazing man named Junior who owned and operated one of the food trucks we ate at for dinner. He sat down with us and welcomed us with open arms. He taught us about the traditions of the people of Hawaii. I was shocked to see how friendly and inviting everyone was to complete strangers. After a thirty minute talk with us, he invited us to his Easter brunch at his house with his immediate and extended family. Unfortunately, we had prior commitments and were unable to go. Everywhere you looked, it was as if time stood still in Hawaii. The only people who were in a rush were tourists who were shuttled in from Waikiki Beach to see the destination hot spots nearby. The locals took their time eating meals together, talking, relaxing, surfing, and even feeding the jungle foul that strolled around.
The amazing food from Junior's food truck! Absolutely loved it!
Where we stayed, there was no sound of construction or blocked off roads due to new buildings going up. There were barely any paved roads and almost all of the buildings were shacks. The businesses were all locally run by families who have passed them down for generations. The supermarket was locally run with various products from local distributors and farmers who I have never heard of before. The restaurants that we went to, the owners came out and introduced themselves and chatted with the surrounding regulars (whom they were on a first name basis with). The thrift store that was down the street was owned by a wonderful elderly woman who gave a string shell necklace to every customer whom she didn’t recognize, even if they did not end up buying anything.
“Keep the country country” means more than just the words that you see. It means to keep the authentic culture of Hawaii. If construction continues to go from one end of the island to the other, then that rich history that the locals cherish and love so much disappears.
Although I have visited various parts of the United States, where the lifestyle of the locals are incredibly different and traveled to different countries- only staying for a few hours off of a cruise, I have never experienced this sense of a “culture shock” prior to my trip to Oahu. When traveling in the future, I urge you to go off of the grid. Despite there being limited cell service or wifi ability, I promise that the trip will be worth it in the end. Seeing what life is like outside of what we live everyday is an amazing experience that I wish everyone could have at least once in his or her lifetime. No matter where you go in the world, each place has their own history and culture that is waiting to be explored.
I spent a lot of time on the hammock right outside in the backyard! An amazing place to nap.
Woo...watch this video to see more parts of the trip! Make sure to play it in HD. The beautiful and elegant jungle fowl do make an appearance in this!