My parents are leaving on a trip for Hawai'i very early tomorrow morning. It's their 50th state and I'm so hoping that they have a great time...and I'm a little jealous. I was in Hawaii at this time last year (they were a little jealous then) and loved it. It was my 49th state, and it was amazing! I was looking through the photos in an attempt to remember how it felt to be there, and this one stood out to me.
I took it of myself on our first morning in Waikiki. Remember, I have just arrived from freezing cold NYC, so there is some justification for my extreme whiteness. I remember walking down to the ocean with E & D, and trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was standing in the Pacific Ocean looking east to the mainland U.S. (not that I could see it, but it was east). I just could not grasp this. The water was warm, and the sun was shining, and the whole place smelled great. (I later learned that this is because plumeria and jasmine grown everywhere there, and perfume the air with their amazing scents). It was blissful.
Those moments of transformation in thinking are a big reason why I love to travel. I remember so many of them: my mind boggling that I was on the Metro, going past the Effiel Tower, or the first time I saw a red phone booth in England, or being alone on top of a mountain in the Rockies in Colorado. They tell me that while I am not in my house, but I'm somehow at home in the world. I love that feeling. It's not so much that I feel that the Pacific Ocean at Waikiki was waiting for me, but rather, that it accepted me just as much as it accepts and embraces those lucky folks who walk down to the Waikiki beach every day.
The world is a magical place.
I hope my parents have a great time... and I hope I get back to Hawai'i soon!
I feel all warm and fuzzy reading your words about this Shannon. Travel means much to me as well and I feel what you're saying. Thanks!
Posted by: Rich Perrotti | February 07, 2012 at 10:27 PM