Our weekend in Maui: Part 1.

Well, I just returned home from a relaxing mini vacay in Maui. I wasn't sure what to expect when Auntie decided that it would be best if I saw another island to get a full Hawaiian experence. One thing I discovered was this: Every island is completely different.

On Oahu, you mostly think of Honolulu and Waikiki. Waikiki being a touristy attraction, and Honolulu being a bustling city. (and continuing to grow)

It's still beautiful, and you can find quite a bit of astounding sights if you know where to look, but you won't find open land. Maui on the other hand, has tiny little beach towns and lots of space. I didn't think it was possible, but even the pace is slower in Maui.

We packed quickly on Friday night for our morning flight to the island. Auntie because she was busy, myself because....well....I thought our flight was on Monday. (Oh ADD brain. How you've reared your ugly head again.) Luckily, Auntie had called me on Friday afternoon to let me know that she would be home late to pack that night. That became my cue to return home and furiously fold things into my back back.

We left around 8am for our 9:30am flight to Maui. Flights between islands (generally) don't take that long, and the Hawaiian Airlines planes are nothing like the major airline ones. As we were checking in, Aunt Lynn warned me that our plane was a "puddle jumper". I wished she had warned me a little earlier, since I get airsick practically on reflex and would need to take Dramamine in advance. The smaller the plane, the worse it is. We got through check in pretty quickly, and I managed to take a chewable pill before I boarded. As we got on the plane, I became a little nervous. We had to go outside the airport to board and walk on the terminak itself. As I climbed up the tiny staircase to our puddle jumper, I figured I was in for it. Our tickets were for open seating. Auntie and I ended up in the very last two seats on the plane.
Did I mention I'm also sicker if I'm not in the middle or closer to the front?
As the plane took off, I could feel every dip and jolt in my stomach and the spinning in my head.
"If I don't vomit on this flight, I think I'll be cured." I said.
By the time a flight attendant came around with drinks, I definitely needed something carbonated. As I was sipping, Aunt Lynn reassured me that our flight was almost over. I thought she was kidding, since we were only in the air for 15 minutes. Nope, soon we were flying over Maui, then landing.
"Are you cured?" Aunt Lynn joked.
"Eh." I replied. Saying anything else would have been risky.
Luckily, when I'm on the ground, it usually takes a half hour to return to form. By the time we got the rental car, I was back to normal. As we drove to the hotel, I was amazed at how different the landscape was. Some areas were hilly, some were flat. All were open, luscious and GREEN. We entered the  town of Kahului (Ka-hah-loo-ee), which was more populated, but nothing compared to Honolulu.

I was amused when we passed a Costco.

Note to my favorite Costco employee back home: Transfer here why don't cha? Come on. You know you want to. Every one's nicer out here. And you wouldn't have to drive I don't think.

We stopped briefly at Krispy Kreme donuts. I should note that people go crazy for these donouts in Hawaii. Sometimes, people are even willing to hop a plane just to go there for a box and return home. Seriously.

I thought they were good, but not worth getting on a plane for. Next stop was....the Maui Swapmeet! You didn't think that Auntie could get away with passing by a swap meet with me in the car did you?

I didn't think so.

After lunch....

We visited the biggest tree ever!

This is serously all one. giant. root.

And I STILL didn't get all of it. It goes across an entire park.

Unusual for us, but soon after visiting the tree, we became pretty tired. We went to the hotel to take just a brief nap, and ended up sleeping until it got dark. This means our window of opportunity to do any more activities was gone. Maui is unlike home OR Honolulu, Even on a Saturday, they close up shop by 9pm. The only place we could find that was open to eat dinner? Ihop. We concluded then that it would be best to continue our adventure the next day. I didn't realize then that our adventure was just getting started.

Maui

Well everyone, tomorrow morning (or I guess today) I'm off to Maui! (I think my writing spirit will return after this weekend. New things to see and do.) There isn't much wi-fi where we're going though, so I can't promise I'll be able to update y'all while I'm there. We've decided to stay at a beach side motel/non resort type place. (My first idea was staying at a cabin. My second idea was camping outside. Auntie vetoed both. I can't believe it. I mean, who WOULDN'T want to sleep outside among wild pigs and cook spam? Don't lie and say you've never had that dream. You totally have.

Anyway, fear not readers, I will return. (Oh who am I kidding? The only people who really read this blog is Hayley and  maybe immediate family. Ah well. Writing for me is fun.)

See ya later dudes.

Hiking Manoa Falls

As much as I love (and when I say love, I mean LOVE) Hawaii, lately I've been craving to get out of Honolulu and nearby areas. They're great, don't get me wrong. But Honolulu has certainly become very city like. It's not Manhattan city like, but it's a different experience here now then when I last came here 10 years ago. (although granted, that was only for a week and I was 17) There's TONS of traffic, a lot more traffic then my last visit. There's throngs of people, and lots of car horns. It's still beautiful and the pace continues to be much slower then at home, but my heart's been sinking at every new shopping mall I come across. I wanted to get away from the attractions and touristy traps, and see Hawaii as it was meant to be seen: for it's true beauty.

I began looking up various hiking trails that were easy and were feasible to the best of my ability. The Manoa Trail was listed as easy to moderate. It's about a mile, and not TOO hilly. It's located in a rain forest and a bamboo forest. The downside is that there are a lot of rocky areas, and flat muddy hills that are very slippery when wet. Which is most of the time. I was determined to do it though, so I decided company would be best in case I fell. Auntie agreed that she would love to take me, and we waited until she had the day off on Wednesday to do so. First we did a detour and she took me out to lunch at The Wai'oli Tea Room in the Manoa Valley. I'm saddened to say that I did not take many pictures of the area because it was raining, but it was beautiful. The  Wai'oli Tea Room is surrounded by an awesome tropical setting, and most people have breakfast and lunch here. You can have afternoon tea here as well, but it's best if you make a reservation for that. I'll tell you what though: The food? WAS AWESOME. I had a roast beef sandwich (YUM) that was so good I'll probably be going again. I also had a mango mixer, and chocolate mousse cake. Thanks Auntie. :)

After that, we headed to our Manoa Falls hike.

If you ever come here, a few rules before you come out on your Manoa Falls hike: 1) Load up the bug spray. A LOT. I went on Yahoo Travel to research the trail and read the precautions on the swarms of bugs. I am quite proud to say that I only got two bug bites because of this, and Auntie didn't get any when I sprayed her down as well. I'm quite pleased with the results. Make sure to get your face as well, and wear a hat. Spritz the hat a couple of times on the top of the rim and the base. The bugs will swarm around the hat, then retreat quickly because of the spray. 2) Don't drink any of the stream water, or swim in it. Some Hikers have gotten very sick this way (or worse) due to a bacteria called Leptospirosis. It's really rare in humans, but, you really don't want that. Bring Purell. (Hearing this of course triggered my own recurring disease. It's called the Worry Wart disease and has affected my great Aunt Nancy, my Nana, my Momma, and myself. We're cool like that)  3) There are wild pigs on this trail. You'll rarely (if ever) see them, but just an FYI. I did hear one of the way back down the trail. They're usually spooked of you, and leave you alone. 4) I kept seeing hikers wearing shorts and sandals, (or "slippers" as they say out here). I guess you could, but I'd wear good sneakers at least. And I wore jeans. The idea of anything on my bare legs gives me the jeebies. 5) If you have balance issues, make sure you bring someone who's familiar with the trail. And of course, always stay on the trail. (I can't tell you how many times I heard "Lets go off the trail!" from others) Okay? Okay.

Auntie brought two walking sticks with us. I ended up using both of them for better balance. Again, thanks Auntie. With the walking sticks, I was able to begin my journey up to the falls.

The trail started off pretty flat. I was under the misconception that it would be easy the whole way up, but that thought was quickly dashed. The trail (after crossing the bridge) starts off wide, then narrows considerably. Random curves begin to appear. I managed to get around the bends with no problem, and Auntie was behind me to assist. Eventually, we came to roots and high stairs. Aunt Lynn would grab my waist, hoist me up off the ground, and I would use the walking sticks to bring myself up the rest of the way. The trail was supposed to be 45 minutes, but I think that's the timing accessed for an experienced hiker. Every once in awhile, I became tired, so I would step off to the side and take a break. In the meantime, I captured some pictures.

This is where branches became more apparent in the trail, and roots just grew bigger and bigger.

Auntie offered to get some shots of the stream for me with my digital. She's a good photographer. I'll have to add her shots in another entry, since I have no clue how to upload her pics from her camera.

After clearing another bridge, Aunt Lynn wanted to take a hiking picture of me for proof of our adventure and to let the dad know I was still alive. What a good auntie.

Eventually, we came to the Bamboo Forest. I loved the scene. I'd never witnessed anything quite like it before. My aunt said it used to be thicker, but sadly, some Bamboo has been cut down.Why on

Earth such a thing would be done I have no idea. There are pictures of the Bamboo Forest on her camera, since I put mine away when it began to rain. (her camera is waterproof. Alas, mine is not) As the trail went on, Aunt Lynn pointed out areas where scenes from the show Lost were shot. There are quite a bit.

Suddenly, we came to a dead stop in the trail.

I hate to admit that I uttered these words:

"I don't know if I can do that," I told Auntie. "I think I'm nearing my end of the trail."

Ahead of us, were a lot of rocks, some boulders, and a tree trunk. With my aunt's assistance, she was able to point out where dirt was that I could safely step on. I used the big boulder to hold onto as I walked around and over the rocks. I thought the tough part was over, only to find steeper stairs and more rock piles.

On January 10th, 2002, a huge landslide went over the end of the trail. Luckily, it happened when the trail was vacant, so no one was injured or killed. It shocked everyone, since this type of incident does not occur often. While no one was hurt, it did change the landscape ever since.

Auntie said there was no pressure over how far I wanted to go on the trail."I'm leaving it up to you," she said. "No pressure at all, but I think the falls are just up there." I looked at the rock piles. I thought for a moment. I decided that I came all this way, I might as well go a little further. I was determined to see what I came to see. After struggling with the walking sticks, I handed them to Auntie, rolled up my sleeves, and grabbed onto the rocks. I proceeded to climb on my hands and knees up the muddy boulders. Finally, I reached the clearing. Covered in mud from chest to toe, I reached this sight:

Many hikers had long since turned back at this point. There was a bench on the left hand side that I was grateful to sit on. Finally, the Hawaii that I came to see.

Sometimes in certain seasons, Manoa Falls is as dry as a bone. I came at the right time of year. Auntie and I sat and talked for a little while. Then that's when I recorded my video blog to all of you.

Then, we decided to turn back before it got dark. I felt so accomplished. It was easier going down the trail then going up. When the going got tough, I just sat on my butt and slid down the hills. I wouldn't recommend it, but it worked for me. Auntie and I took turns alternating between the walking sticks and holding on to each other. Before I knew it, we were at the bottom again, sweaty, muddy and tired.

But not defeated.

Out and about: The start of my adventure in Honolulu

April 20th, 2011

It didn't take long for me to venture out and about around the island. When I woke up, I debated on staying in the apartment to gather my barrings or immediately taking the bus and going out. Old me had "What ifs" swimming about in her head: "What if I get lost? I have no idea how to find my way back here!" New me decided to just go for it. After looking at the bus route map in front of me...and realizing that I couldn't read a map....I hopped on the bus and winged it. The first place I visited was Iolani Palace.

'Iolani Palace is the official residence of King Kalākaua and Queen Lili'uokalani, who were the last in  line of ruling Hawaiian royalty. This palace is the only one in the US. I kind of stumbled onto this site by accident. When I got off  the bus (after thinking "Hey this looks like a good spot!") A sweet tour guide called out to me: "If you go over there and get your ticket, we'll get started with the tour!" Too embarrassed to admit that I had no intentions of seeing the tour or even what it was about, I sheepishly went across the grounds and got a ticket for $13. She instructed me to sit on the bench provided and put slippers over my sandals (also provided). No photography was allowed inside the building, and nothing was allowed to be touched. I was allowed to take photos outside though.

After the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, the building was used as the capitol building for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory, and State of Hawaii until 1969. Then the palace was reopened in 1978 as a museum to the public. I was enthralled by the history, and saddened to learn what had become of  the monarchy, especially by how Queen Lili'uokalani was treated. If you'd like to learn more about the monarchy, go here and here where it can be explained way better then I can explain it here.

The tour took about an hour and a half. After that I walked to downtown Honolulu, in the business district. It was there that I found a great store called Local Fever. Awesome modern clothing, in addition to some vintage things. There were a lot of GREAT finds in that shop. This is what I bought for just $11.

Awesome right? I was so proud of myself. I didn't think in a million years that I would find cheaper clothes in HAWAII of all places then at home.

Jet lag hit me after lots of walking, so I decided to hit a cafe, and people watch by the university district. I love watching college kids. The excitement is always buzzing.

I wanted to see more, but my body just started to crash. After getting lost (I took the wrong bus back to my Aunt's) I had a sweet bus driver drive around the island and back to my area. Want to hear something crazy? If you miss an exit, or get off at the wrong exit, you CANNOT get back on. You have to go around the entire island, and that can take an additional 45 minutes to an hour. Crazy right? The locals joke that they're not proud of their horrible road system. I'm just glad I don't have to drive it. The lanes are very confusing. It took until 7pm for me to get back home...and slept.

Arriving in Hawaii

On April 19th, I said goodbye to my buddy and thanked her for her hospitality. Tana and Troy were just wonderful. Providing me with a place to stay, as well as feeding me great food and giving me shampoo and other things that were confiscated at the airport. I can't thank them enough for their generosity.

The day I was leaving, I awoke at 3:45am. Now let me tell you, waking up at 3:45am does not put me in the best of moods. I can wake up, (pretty easily actually when I have to go somewhere) but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy doing it. I was going to get up at around 4:15, but I was too nervous to sleep soundly. Since I was afraid I'd fall asleep again and NOT wake up, I decided against going back to bed. Tana and I were going to leave for the airport at 4:30, since everything was packed and placed by the door. (I also checked in my luggage the night before. If you're traveling, especially switching planes, I strongly recommend you do this. It makes life so much easier, plus you can save money in baggage fees)  I took a quick shower, ate some breakfast, and we were out the door. When we pulled up to Orlando International Airport, Tana helped me with my luggage and then wrapped her arms around me in a huge hug.
"Thank you for everything," I told her.
"You're welcome! Anytime, you know that. We loved having you."
She told me she loved and would miss me and I said the same. Then she and I were off. When Tana disappeared, I started getting nervous, but realizing I had a lot more time then the week before to gather my bearings put my mind at ease.

Going through security check in Orlando was much easier then going through the security check in Newark. Before I knew it, I was at my gate then had time to chill out. I caught my reflection in a nearby window and realized I looked pretty crappy. My hair was sticking out in the back and it looked like I had a bowl cut. Oh well, it made me laugh. (besides, it was before dawn anyway.

My first flight was to Phoenix, Arizona. I boarded the plane at 6:10am, and we took off at 6:30. The flight was pretty comfy and uneventful, and nearly 5 hours later, I landed to this:

The land was flat, red, and totally interesting. I'd never seen land like that before. (Then again, I'd never been out west before, unless you count the few days I spent in Hawaii 10 years ago, and our connecting flight was in Houston.)

I had about an hour and a half until my flight to Honolulu, so I quickly grabbed some grub in my terminal. I'll admit at this point I began to get confused time wise. I was already three hours behind. I wanted lunch and that's what my brain told me to get, so you could imagine how thrown off I was when I saw breakfast items. I looked at my ipod. 11:45 my time. I looked at my phone, which automatically updates when you cross a timezone. 8:45. My pizza craving would have to wait. The only restaurant closest to my terminal was Burger King. Ew. No matter, I had breakfast (again) as fast as I was able and sped to my gate. My phone started beeping like crazy, and as I glanced at it, I felt a sense of relief wash over me. Final well wishes from family and friends, telling me to have a safe flight. Before I knew it, it was time to take our seats on the plane. As we were about to take off, an announcement came over the loudspeaker:

"Good Morning everyone and welcome to US Airways flight 20, destination Hawaii!" The whole plane cheered, and THAT'S when it everything hit me full force. I was going to travel alone. I had met a major goal and was so proud of myself. I DID IT. I settled into my seat. The pilot proceeded to tell us what the current conditions were in Honolulu and what the day's high would be. (Current temp: 75 degrees. The high for the day: 86 degrees) After the plane lifted off the ground, the pilot told us that we would be seeing two movies in flight that day: Gulliver's Travels (crowd response: "Ehhhhh.") and The Tourist. (audible booing, which cracked me up). Of course if we wanted to view these movies, we could purchase a headset for $5 dollars. Um, no thanks. (I'm pleased to say that I got around this anyhow: I unplugged my ipod headphones and stuck them into the outlet, getting sound right away for free. HAH. Why no one else in my section thought of this is beyond me. I saw ipods and ipads everywhere, and STILL people were shelling out $5 bills for headphones used by others.) After deciding that I didn't want to see the rest of Gulliver's Travels, I shockingly fell asleep. (I say shockingly because anyone who knows me knows that I can't fall asleep anywhere except my own bed.) It's a shame it was only for an hour. By the time we were getting ready to land, I'll admit we were all ready to lose it. Everyone started getting up to use the bathroom just to leave their seats. Kids began crying. I felt short tempered, but didn't show it. About 20 minutes later, we dipped through the clouds and I saw an awesome sight. Islands getting bigger and bigger. I wish I could have taken a picture for you all to see because it was beautiful.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The pilot stated "Welcome to Honolulu, Hawaii! The time is now 2:50pm and the temperature is..." I lost him as that point because all I could think of was "WHAT the hell time is it?" I was wiped. I was so tired that I felt keyed up. Would the sun ever set? When I left the plane to go to baggage claim, I was struck with beauty. To get to baggage, you had to walk across a hallway that was outside. The temperature was perfect. The breeze tickled my hair. Birds chirped, and I was greeted with my first Hawaiian sight:

My second sight was gift shops, gift shops, and more gift shops. You name it, Honolulu International had it. I resisted the urge to buy crap before I even left the airport.

You thought I was kidding?

After an ordeal with my luggage (which was confiscated after I was late picking it up, because my plane landed late) I was greeted with a warm smile and an Aloha hug by my Aunt Lynn. After dining at a cafe and shopping for food, I crashed face down on her futon and didn't get up until 3am. 9am my time. Yeah, I'd have to work on that.

TOMORROW. Awha?

My room's packed. My bags are packed. I'm all ready to go. Brother took me out to lunch before saying goodbye and wishing me well on my three month journey. My friends sent me off. Special thanks to my Aunt Michelle for giving me travel goodies and to Lynda for the GIANT bag of M&M's. (Mmmmmmm....M&M's.....)

I will miss everyone, but I have a confession to make. I will miss my house the most. I love my house. It's where I've curled up on the couch. It's where I've hung out with my furry babies. It's where I buried my face into my English Mastiff's giant neck and wept when I was stood up on a date, but instantly felt better when she  tickled my face. It's where my friends and I have chilled out in the yard on awesome summer nights.

Don't get me wrong...I'm thrilled I'm going. But I'm a tiny bit sad to say goodbye. Just a little.

26 days. :)

That's it. 26 days till I'm off on my adventure. I can feel the excitement all the way down to my toes. I know this because I've started dressing for warmer weather and am quite stunned when I'm met with a blast of cold air as I leave the house. I guess it's not time to put away the winter coat yet.

On Monday, I began a three week business course at the local community college. Before I even had a germ of an idea in my head about going to Hawaii (or rather, others had that germ of an idea), I signed up for this. I figured I had nothing to lose, could do something to pass the time, and put something new on my resume. The course was how to begin your own animal business. Everyone who knows me knows I love animals. Dogs are number 1, but hell, I'll even snuggle with my cousin's rat or two.

Getting paid to do what you love? Why not? It's every one's dream. I will say that the class was kind of disappointing for me. I say for me because the instructor was wonderful. She told us about her dog walking business and how she got started 6 years ago. Through her hard work, she now makes enough to support herself and her three new employees. I got a cold, hard dose of reality however. She also told us of the sacrifice’s she had to make. She walks up to 11 miles a day with the animals. She now has bad knees and a bad back. She spoke of breaking up dog fights. Due to my Cerebral Palsy and Scoliosis, I already have a bad back and weak legs. She was concerned that I wouldn't be able to handle walking the dogs, although she did come up with a solution down the road for me: Hire employees to walk the dogs while I took care of their inside needs. That still left questions on what to do in the meantime. I'll admit, I get frustrated from time to time. When your mind works, and your body kind of doesn't, it's like a war. If it were up to me, I would have started something like this years ago. While she was going over networking your business I thought: "I already know this! This is great!" My mind immediately started spinning: Google, Facebook fan page to place clients’ dogs’ photos up. A wall where they could chat. Webcams, "Doggy/kitty of the week", Twitter. Fliers to place in vets offices. My mind was there. If it were up to me, I would happily walk those dogs, rain, shine, sleet, snow, whatever. I know this sounds crazy, but I LOVED taking care of my dogs. Feeding them, playing with them, making sure the bowls and everything was clean. Hell, with the little money that I had, Noah was on a special diet so his hypoglycemia wouldn't overcome him and his skin allergies wouldn't make him miserable. And I had to really SEARCH for that food. You couldn't get it at the grocery store. Hell, you couldn't even get it at PetSmart or Petco. It was either a mom and pop pet store, online, or from the vet.

At any rate, I knew that I would have to adjust my plans to work in the field. I wasn't going to write it off entirely, but if I did work with animals, it had to be where I wouldn't sacrifice my health to get there.

In other news, everything is drawing near, I keep forgetting that not only do I have the task of packing for a four month trip to tackle; I'm moving at the same time.

Things to do:

Wash the car, get oil change, get spare key.
Sell things I don't want/need (or give away, I don't care)
Organize and pack belongings I won't need with me. Put in storage.

Packing for trip checklist:

-Medication & Medical Supplies
-Toiletries
-Camera, video camea, laptop
-Clothing (I'm buying a lot of summer clothing because everything I own is just worn out or doesn't...um...fit well anymore)

Am I missing anything? Or do ya think I'm all set? :)

My trip just became the real deal. :)

I have a date and all of my flights booked! AHHHHHHH! Now I feel much better. I can't believe it's actually real.

I am leaving NJ on April 12th and won't be returning until the middle of July, when I will be moving into my new place. I will move my things into my parents furnished basement (It's huge), my bed into their spare room, and my car will be with the Dad. (all of his suggestions) Dad said he'll be driving my car a few days a week to keep it up and running. (I know she's an old girl but I just couldn't bare to part with Bridget...yes I named her. Why do you ask?)

I'll be getting her washed several times until then, make sure she has a perfect oil change and a full tank of gas for Dad. It was awfully nice of him to take over my baby's duties until I get back. (He said he'd like two cars to have anyway while I'm gone, in case someone needs it) It's also time for a yard sale, cause I'm getting rid of a bunch of stuff I no longer need ASAP. I will be traveling (and moving) light. My first stop will be Orlando, Florida to spend a week with my oldest friend.

When I lived in Ohio, Tana and I grew up across the street from one another. We met when we were just 12. On the first day we were in our house, Tana decided she wanted to be my best friend. Boldly walking over as we were unpacking, she rang the bell and asked my parents if I was 12 too, and would I like to play? Dad smiled and took her out into our new backyard where I was looking for trees to climb. He introduced us, and we've been friends ever since. Now, closer to our thirties then our twenties, we keep in touch often through Facebook and on the phone, but I haven't seen her since she got married. I know what will happen though, it's the same thing that always happens: We'll get together after not seeing each other in years and it'll be like we never left. We've attended weddings and graduations together. Here she is at mine and Brother's.

In addition to being married, Tana also has a little boy, who will turn three shortly after I get there. I can't wait to meet him. He looks so much like Tana in the photos she sends me.

After spending a week with Tana, I'll be flying out to Hawaii on April 19th. The Orlando flight will take me to Phoenix, then I will board another plane to the big island (I think that's where it lands anyhow. I'm already a little confused.) then I will board ANOTHER plane from the big island to Honolulu. Even though I have to change planes quite a bit (long flight and all) my airfare for Orlando, the Hawaiian islands and back home cost me $971! That's it! I was so pleased with finding that deal that I was giddy. I love a good bargain. I saw most prices for $2,000.

I've got my camera ready (Finally. No more crappy cell phone pics) and I've got my video camera ready. A youtube account will be set up so I can also post vlogs for you all here. I want to share as much of Hawaii as possible with you guys.

I'll close for now. I'm currently battling a wicked cold at the moment and I can feel my eyes getting heavy. Bye everyone!





Reactions to my Hawaii adventure.

I've had a wide array of feedback to my travel plans. I was afraid to tell some of my friends who I believed wouldn't react as well to my being gone for a long period.

Twin brother: Brother and I have always been close. We've shared a lot of things over the years. (Birthdays, ideas, happy and difficult moments) He hasn't really said it (well, not all of it), but I can tell he's not all that thrilled at the idea of my traveling and is concerned about the cost, considering my recent layoff. I expected this, since he's incredibly protective of me to a fault. I can always tell when Brother isn't thrilled. He gets very quiet and if you didn't know him any better, you'd probably think he was mad at you, but he isn't. That's just how he gets when he's worried. His concerns: Money, not being able to find a job when I get back while living with my friends and  not at home. (Which, I pointed out, was happening regardless of my traveling or not) "Will you be alone?" He asked. "Yeah," I answered. "Most of the time, but not always." I told him about (hopefully) finding a part time job. If not a part time job, volunteering, Plus, there's a lot to do in Hawaii anyway. Bottom line: I think he doesn't like the idea of my being 5,000 miles away. Oh and he'll miss me. I'll miss him too.

Dad and Stepmom: The rents' are thrilled, and are actually encouraging me regarding this adventure, even if I'm hesitant myself. (a wave of panic will still come over me on occassion, so there the ones that keep my feet on the ground.)

Best friend Erin: "Awesome enjoy every minute of it!"
Best friend Tana: " Yeah! Way to stick it to the man!" (Okay?)

Buddy Jason: Thought it was a bit reckless considering the job situation. He suggested I stay with him to save money, I told him that wouldn't be a good idea for either of us. I think he's slightly worried that I won't return, but I reassured him that I'm not leaving permanently, just for a little while. I can't afford to live in Hawaii full time anyway. (although that would be cool wouldn't it?)

Erin's amazing mom Ginny: "That should be awesome! Have a wonderful time!"

Brother in Law Dave: "Hey, if you don't go, then I'm just taking your place...so you'd better go."

The best one of all though, was from my Aunt Michelle:
"I'm so proud of you! This is the best time to go! Think about it, few bills right now, no job at the moment, and you're single." I told her I'll be blogging about my adventures and if she would read it. She assured me she would, laughed and added to post blogs only "You and I would read." I laughed too. Then she added: "You've got wings now baby. Go fly."
I love you. 

Oh and I wanted to add this: When I was googling my trip through google maps by car (because there was no other option) I found this in the directions:

Not gonna lie, I laughed right out loud in the library.

Edited to add this:  "I just know you'll have a great time sis it'll be good for ya."-Brother through Facebook. Okay, now I can go. :)