Whenever I tell people I am a traveling Nurse Practitioner, they often suggest I do an assignment in Hawaii. Although I think it would be fun, I do not consider it as an option just because of the distance from home and the time difference. It is an 11 hour plane ride back to Miami, and 6 hours behind in time!
Regardless, I have always wanted to visit Hawaii and see what the hype was about. I decided to plan a vacation there while I am in California since the flights are only about 5 hours long. Luckily, my vacation time was approved prior to the start of my new assignment.
I spent 1.5 weeks in Hawaii visiting the island of Oahu and Maui with my family. We spent the first few weeks on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. The water was beautiful and warm – similar to water in Florida. I was automatically intrigued by the culture of the island. Everyone was laid back and friendly. We went to a luau which was fun!
I enjoyed Maui a bit more during the second half of the trip because it was quieter and different from Florida. There were huge waves that were pretty fun to swim in (when you weren’t drowning). There were beautiful views of volcanic mountains everywhere. On one of our last days we hiked and drove up to Haleakala, which is a volcano that makes up 75% of the island of Maui.
The island type of food was tasty! We practically ordered coconut shrimp and calamari everywhere we went. We also shared Hawaiian shaved ice almost every day. My favorite flavor was coconut! Before going to Hawaii, people warned me that the food there was costly. I didn’t believe them until I saw that basic food such as a burger or tacos were easily $30.
I really enjoyed my vacation in Hawaii. It was definitely relaxing and different. I still don’t think I would ever live there, but I do recommend everyone to visit at least once in their lifetime.
