Time travel at its finest thanks to the international dateline: we departed Christchurch at 4pm and arrived into Honolulu at 9am on the same day! Since our airline, Jetstar, cancelled our original flight we set off from New Zealand a few days earlier than anticipated. No big deal though since that meant tropical Hawaiian sun!
We scoured up a super-cheap but surprisingly upscale condo one block from Waikiki Beach -- the oasis of Japanese tourists, flawlessly tanned surfers, bikini-clad girls, and amateur weightlifters. Our week in Oahu included hiking Diamond Head (a volcanic crater that overlooks the city), driving to the rural north shore, laying on the Kailua Beach, playing tennis in a windstorm, and receiving a history lesson at the Pearl Harbor Historic Site (U.S.S. Arizona).
In our first days back on U.S. soil, we basked in the comforts of home we had forgotten:
- Unlimited TV channels (especially Sportscenter as Ken became “Bob-Costas-deficient” after an entire year without U.S. sports commentary). On the rare occasions of TV access, it included BBC World News or football (soccer) matches.
- Unlimited food selection at grocery stores: the endless rows of colorful packages and organic goods at the Whole Foods marveled our minds and melted my heart (of course, we had to fill our cart with liberal hippie goodies like non-dairy almond milk ice cream).
- Unlimited internet: New Zealand tested our patience, as we spent too much time on a game we liked to call “internet-hunting” (as in, where could we hop on free WIFI without getting kicked off?).
- Unlimited clean water from the faucet: we completely took this one for granted pre-trip - we are so excited that we are over-hydrating on like 10 glasses a day now (and a related side note: no traveller’s diarrhea to worry about, woo hoo!).
- Safe streets: we don’t miss the adventure of crossing the street (shout out India).
- Plush beds: or better yet, not having to find a bed to sleep in every night.
- Dresser drawers: as opposed to stuffing everything in a wrinkled nylon sack.
- Washer and dryer: (confession) number of times we’ve worn the same outfit without washing.... hmmm....we are embarrassed to say it’s measured in weeks, not days
- Microwave: it’s a beautiful machine that works like magic.
- No beggars: no more getting hassled for money (except from your wife - love you dear).
- Time difference: knowing that we are not accidentally calling the U.S. at 3am (sorry Mom).
- No currency conversion necessary: no job, no currency conversion = our brains are turning to mush -- back to the land where everything makes sense: Fahrenheit, miles, gallons, and pounds.
- Native English speakers: we’ve missed you, although Ken became skilled at miming and saying “I’m sorry” in 24 languages.
Unfortunately, we rediscovered a few annoyances we had forgotten about until we returned (apologies for some minor venting):
- U.S. Currency: seriously, why are we still using pennies and nickels? We can’t buy anything for less than 25 cents, so they seem totally irrelevant. Plus, all the bills are the same color and size... boring!
- Pharmaceutical ads: completely forgot about these, ugh, they are everywhere! If you are reading this blog you may become inflicted with boredom, lethargy or jealousy. If you are aware of any of these symptoms make sure to immediately contact your travel agent.
- Paying retail: it was so nice to get movies for $1 each from the “DVD store” aka the guy on the street
- Paying for parking: with no car for the last year, we totally forgot we have to pay to park our rental car - we could have survived for three weeks in Cambodia on that!
And in the category of “still on the fence:”
- Driving on the right-side of the road: we have mixed feelings as left-side driving grew on us ... unfortunately, it triggered major mental blocks. A) Regarding blinkers and windshield wipers: if you see us in an intersection with our wipers on and it’s not raining, have compassion. B) Regarding crossing the street, we are afraid to step into crosswalks now without looking both ways about five times.
After successfully reintegrating into Hawaiian society, we’re heading to the natural wonders of the Big Island. Aloha!
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