Oahu + Maui
OAHU
Greetings from Oahu! The original goal of the Greetings Tour was to live on the road for just one year. Our plan was to end our travels with a long trip to Hawaii. We thought living there would be a dream. Those plans changed after our love for full-time RV life grew, and we decided to stay on the road. However, we still managed to spend two weeks checking out Oahu and Maui.
We left Los Angeles the day after Thanksgiving feeling pretty worn out. Unfortunately, we both got food poisoning and missed the holiday all together! After that, we ran into issues trying to park the RV at the airport but luckily managed to catch our flights in time. About 6 hours later, we arrived in Honolulu to beautiful island weather. We stayed at the Moana Surfrider hotel on Waikiki Beach. While it was known to be a touristy area, we wanted the true Americana experience of this vacation. Our first meal was a light açai bowl as we were still recovering a bit. Once we got better, we rented some surfboards and gave it a shot. Our hotel was right on the beach which made things very convenient.
After getting enough of our cliché Waikiki experience, we traveled up the island and rented out a small Airbnb studio in the North Shore. Pipe Masters was happening, so we got to watch some impressive surfing and huge waves. We biked around the North Shore to get a sense of the area. After that, we drove around the island and checked out some places including the Pineapple Plantation, Valley of the Temples and also hiked the Lanikai Pillboxes.
UPDATE: RETURN TO OAHU
In 2019, we returned to Oahu for a beautiful 3 weeks to see our dream come true: painting a postcard mural in Hawaii! A newly renovated hotel Alohilani Resort in Waikiki Beach brought us out to create art on their property. During our down time, we took an Uber to hike Diamond Head which we didn’t get to do last time. We also rented a Tesla through Turo for a day and drove up the Windward Coast to the North Shore. Most of all, we had some time to relax in the beautiful hotel with Ocean views. This definitely didn’t feel real and it was a reminder of how crazy our journey has come since we first left to live on the road.
MAUI
A short flight from Oahu, and we had a whole new island to explore. We stayed in another Airbnb on the west side of the island. There was a distinct smell of burnt sugar as we drove by fields where they were harvesting sugar cane. Apparently this practice was an environmental health issue on the island. Maui did not have the same feeling of a big city like Honolulu which we really liked. After all, we came all this way to get away from cities in the first place.
We were sure not to miss the Road to Hana scenic drive. This was a windy road and be weary if you get car sick easily. Because we were short on time, we skipped most of the beginning stops and booked it to the bamboo forest hike that eventually led to a waterfall. Most people turn around after that. However, we continued on the ‘back countryside’ and thought that was actually the best part. Some turns were so sharp & tight that you had to honk your horn when approaching as a warning. Please be advised that some car rental companies don’t cover you if you decide to go this route. There was a magical moment where we found a lone horse in the middle of the road who got loose. Of course, Lisa had to get out to pet it!
The next day, we took a fruit tour at Ono Organic Farms where they give an in-depth explanation of their seasonal harvest while serving samples of delicious fruit. This is where we developed a new love for Hawaiian papayas with lime juice squeezed on it!
Near the end of the trip, we drove up the volcano of Haleakala that actually makes up 75% of the island and leads to a very windy but beautiful view. A lot of people recommend watching sunrise from there but that was too early for us. We did see a lot of people enjoying downhill bike rides which looked super fun. From there, we visited a lavender farm and ate all the shave ice we could get!
We finished off our trip at another rental on the waterfront in Lahaina. We have a distinct memory of this one commercial playing again and again on the radio. It was for a local restaurant called “Tiki Tiki Thai in La Haina.” We still joke about it to this day. On the last day, we just relaxed and grilled on the community BBQ. From the pool, we even spotted some whales breaching in the distance. This was definitely a place where you could retire peacefully!
