Hangin' Loose in Hawaii

On November 15th I flew out of Chicago O'hare International Airport to meet my dad and his family in Hawaii, where we would spend the next 7 days chilling and enjoying the island life. This adventure was a vacation that my dad, Shilo and their friends had been planning for a while. My Dad's family, my Uncle Travis' family, and a couple of their friends family would all spent a week at a resort on Maui. Overall, it felt really good to take a break from the usual day to day of exploring the states, but there were a couple of factors that personally held the trip back for me.

Saturday, the 15th, was mostly a day of travel and settling in. Once my flight landed, I found my brothers, Jack and Brock, and we waited for my luggage in baggage claim and for Dad and Shilo to bring the car around. We did some quick shopping at Costco and then began the drive to our resort. Once we arrived at the resort and found our room, we pretty much spent the rest of the day getting settled. The only time we spent in the pool area was in the hot tub after dinner. Despite the chaotic nature of the first day, it was still nice to catch up with everyone.

Sunday and Monday were both pretty basic days at the pool. After traveling so much on Saturday, a whole day at the pool on Sunday was pretty nice. Additionally, Monday's pool lounging was broken up by a professional family photo shoot at a nearby beach and an afternoon workout, so I was still quite enjoying the pool area.

Chilling with my brothers in a cabana (Brock left, me middle, Jack Right)

Forcing Jack to take a photo for the blog

Hanging with Dad and Shilo by the pool

Waiting for our table to be ready at Hula Grill

Family photo outside the Hula Grill

With all that in mind, Tuesday was kind of my breaking point. I didn't realize that we were going to spent our trip in Hawaii at a resort, and as much as I love hanging by the pool, three straight days of it is about where I start to go a little crazy. When I looked off into the distance-both to my left and to my right-all I could see where more resorts, and this resulted in me starting to feel a little trapped. We did go Whaler's Village later that day, which acted as a fun side activity, but almost the entire rest of our trip was composed of pool days.

Selfie from the balcony of our room

Still not December, but I guess we had to get a photo in front of the tree

Trying to capture a pretty family photo with the sunset

Feeling like the pineapple king on my new throne

Showing off my new shell necklace

Now I want to be clear, I wasn't hating every moment of the trip. I actually had quite a bit of fun playing with my younger cousins and my brothers at the pool, but those moments were small in number and didn't solve my overall feeling of being trapped with nothing to do. Playing with your brothers and cousins is fun, but not if that's one of the only fun things to do. I was also quite happy that my Dad, Shilo, and my brothers all had their friends around to keep them company. However, due to the fact that college was currently in full swing and our trip didn't overlap with any kind of break, over the course of the seven days we spent in Hawaii, I saw very few people my age.

Eventually, on Thursday, I decided that I had to do something else and I had to see something new. I woke up that morning, threw on some clothes, my flip flops, and some headphones and headed out the door. Over the course of my walk, I traveled on the beach walk trail for 2.5 miles in one direction and saw plenty of new things... New resort things, that is. Despite the fact that I walked 2.5 miles in one direction, I was still not able to escape resort land. I was quite disappointed by this revelation, but I would not consider my walk a failure. I didn't see or do anything new, but I did get some much needed exercise and felt my spirits were slightly restored.

Admiring the design of these resort villas on my walk

Testing the limits of this abandoned stone dock by walking to the edge

Accidentally getting a cool photo when the timer went off sooner than expected

Friday was our last full day in Hawaii and it was pretty much like every other day. However, with the knowledge that this would be my last time to chill outside at a pool in a long time, it was a lot easier for me to enjoy it. I had a good time seeing how long I could hold my breath underwater for the last time, I had a good time playing water tag with my cousins for the last time, and I had a good time burying myself in sand at the beach for the last-and first-time.

Feeling really grounded in Hawaii (Bu-dum Chhh)

I'd be lying if I said my trip to Hawaii was exactly what I expected it to be-I often felt trapped at the resort and eventually got bored of spending whole days at the pool. However, I'd also be lying if I said I'd take back the trip in retrospect. Overall, my Hawaiian vacation afforded me the opportunity to escape the cold and to sleep in a real bed-an opportunity that I am greatly appreciative to my dad and Shilo for. It's safe to say that after this vacation, I am excited to continue my travels!