Very recently my husband and I went on vacation to Hawaii, specifically the island of Oahu. For me this was a bucket list trip: for years and years I had been asking to go for my husband to respond, “We live in Florida, why Hawaii?” Yes we have beaches, and a fair amount of marine wildlife, but an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, mountains, tropical forests? Not the same biome.
As Disney passholders who have stayed frequently at Disney hotels over the years, we chose to stay at Aulani, Disney’s resort in Ko’Olina. Familiar. As a matter of fact, the hotel itself reminded us of our favorite in Orlando, Animal Kingdom Lodge. Aulani is beautiful, and right from entering the room and seeing our family name on the TV screen, we felt like we could be at home. Characters wandered the property for photo ops, the pool had a couple of waterslides, restaurants were themed appropriately. But walking out to the coastline? Not the same experience.
Ko’Olina is a dedicated “safe zone” for tourists visiting the leeward side of the island which we would learn was the rougher ocean side. To offset this for visitors, there are four manmade lagoons to swim in and a long walkway joining them all so visitors can move freely from one to another. Portions of each lagoon beach were also open to the public. We’ll call this still on the familiar side, but generally in Florida if a resort meets the ocean, you’re swimming in the open Atlantic, albeit a gentler experience than the Pacific islands.
The real foreign experience came in finding three adjacent coves. These were reached either by finding an out-of-the-way sand walkway at the rear of a tucked back parking area, or by climbing a series of rock walls when the tide was lower. The very first morning we went to the farthest cove thanks to a tip from our airport driver. It was gold. Sea turtles, or Honu, were happily swimming and feeding in the cove waters and as the tide went out got up close and personal with us. We went back in the early afternoon that day and almost every day we were there. Honestly I could’ve stayed there the whole vacation. As amazing as swimming with turtles in the wild was, we ended up completely falling in love with the Hawaiian Monk seals. Named Ilio-holo-i-kauaua, which translates to “dog running in the rough seas,” these creatures truly reminded us of big puppy dogs laying on the shore and moving through the water and interacting with each other. For five days straight we encountered them in various spots along all three cove areas. We don’t have those in Florida!
The marine wildlife was definitely the highlight of our trip, but there were other notable familiar yet foreign moments. While Hawaii is a US state, a fact we reminded ourselves of many times in preparing for the trip, aspects of our journeys felt like travel abroad. The plane trip from Florida was every bit as long as our more recent European vacations, as was the time zone difference. We rented a car for a few days and while yes, traffic laws were generally the same, the interstate highway system was not what we’re used to. Why “interstate” for one thing? Hawaii doesn’t not connect to any other US state. Heck it doesn’t even connect via roadway to its other islands. There were times we were on each of the main arteries across Oahu, H1, H2, and H3, and what looked and drove like a traditional mainland interstate in many respects would just randomly end and we would be at a traffic light. Language was another interesting “foreign” encounter. Yes, English is the primary language, and again we were still in America, but many place names, foods, and cultural nods went back to the original Hawaiian/Polynesian words. We honestly enjoyed seeing and hearing how much of the original culture remained sacred to the Hawaiian people. Each day we found ourselves wanting to learn more and happy to ask questions and hear stories about Hawaii’s past.
In the end the experience was so much greater than just checking another destination off the list. The balance of the familiar with the delight of the new and foreign made for a trip that we will be talking about for a long time.
