We are a family of five that decided to leave our normal lives behind and travel around the world for 180 days. Joey and I are both physicians back home in Lexington, KY and our kids are Wilson (a smart, funny, pragmatic 14 year old who approaches life with the wisdom of an 80 year old and the mischievous grin of someone who gets the inside joke), Bailey (an opinionated, strong-willed, compassionate 12 year old who never misses anything and may rule the world someday), and Gus (an energetic, passionate 9 year old who lives every second of his waking life with everything he has and would give the shirt off his back to ease the suffering of an earthworm). We love traveling, trying new things, meeting awesome people, eating good food, and adventure sports. In this blog, we will be sharing the stories of the places we experience along the way. We will share our successes and our failures in hopes that this is inspiring, helpful, and entertaining to our friends, family, and anyone else who happens to discover us. For more on why we decided to do this, see our blog post on “Traveling is my favorite thing”. Read More About Our Philosophy.
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12 hours in Maui - Why You Should Stay Longer
Tips for Maui:
1. Don’t plan on spending only 12 hours there. It’s a beautiful island with so much to see! Give yourself 10 days.
2. Allow for plenty of driving time. I really stressed Joey out by packing too much into the day and not accounting for traffic.
3. Visit Lahaina for great food and the largest Banyan tree in the US.
4. Visit Maui between the months of January and March for prime whale watching and perfect weather. (You can see whales November-May, but January-March is prime viewing.)
5. If you do a whale watching tour with Trilogy and you don’t want to have to climb a moving, slippery ladder in the ocean to board the boat, do the tour out of Lahaina.
6. If you are in a hurry, don’t order a deep fried dessert.
Why you Should Go to Yokohama Bay and hike to Ka’ena Point
What we liked: Swimming in Yokohama Bay!; Albatrosses; Views of the coast line and mountains
What we didn’t like: The point itself was a little anticlimatic as a destination. The trail was hot and exposed, even at 5:00 PM. Getting locked in the park at 7:00 PM!
I highly recommend visiting Yokohama Bay. It is our favorite beach on Oahu. Combining it with the hike to Ka’ena point before or after is a perfect half day activity.
Summiting Mauna Kea at Sunrise
You can only be at the summit from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.
You will be traveling from sea level (if you come from the coast) to 13,803 feet in around an hour. This change in altitude affects everyone differently. If you have a history of altitude sickness or health problems affecting your heart or lungs, you should sit this one out. I recommend stopping briefly at the visitor center half way up to let your body adjust to the altitude before heading on. If you don’t feel well at any point, turn around.
You will need 4 wheel drive due to the very steep and sustained grade of this road. You do not need a car with high clearance. The road was well maintained and even paved throughout a large portion at the top.
48 hours on the Big Island, Hawaii: Volcanoes and their destructive, yet beautiful consequences
7 Foods to try in Hawaii: Deliciousness and Diversity
Hawaiians should get more credit for their food. They have a reputation for eating Spam, a canned meat product, and it is true that Spam is eaten with much greater frequency here than in other US states, but I feel like their appreciation of Spam really overshadows their unique and complicated cuisine. Just like the Hawaiian people are a melting pot of Asian, Pacific Island, and American cultures, Hawaiian cuisine incorporates and takes the best from all of these culinary traditions. Mix that up with tons of fresh fish and fresh fruit and you have a cuisine to match the scenery. Hawaiians have also embraced the food truck, the roadside stand, and the divey fast casual joint, so some of the best Hawaiian dishes are found in unassuming digs and won’t break the bank. Here is a sampling of some of the uniquely Hawaiian foods we have tried so far.
Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens and why you can skip it
The Ho’omaluhia botanical gardens are nestled just south of the Ko’olau mountains on the windward side of Oahu in Kane’ohe. Entrance to the gardens is free and they are open from 9-4 each day. The gardens comprise 6 different areas and a lake that are connected by a dead end road. Each area has a different theme and it’s own parking lot with restrooms and a walking path through the gardens. A few of the gardens are also connected via mowed, grass paths, so that you can piece together your own loop trail. Additionally, there are a couple short trails that meander through the property and are separate from the gardens.
Makapu’u Lighthouse Point Trail at sunset: A must do.
What: Nicely paved walking trail that winds along the rocky shoreline of the southeastern tip of Oahu and ends at a lookout above the Makapu’u lighthouse, a historic lighthouse built in 1909 and still functional today. While the lighthouse may be the main attraction for some, and it is quaint and historic, the real stars of this hike are the AMAZING views throughout the entire hike.
Where: The southeastern tip of Oahu, just past Hanauma Bay and Sandy Beach, at the most eastern turn of highway 72.
Learning to surf, week 1: what not to do…
We felt we were set up for success; however, 6 surf breaks and 7 days later, we have made very little progress. Below are 3 lessons we have learned so far on what not to do.
Don’t try to teach your kids to surf if you don’t know how to surf yourself. Looking back, I’m not sure why this seemed like a good idea. When we first started learning to snow ski and I was a beginner myself, I knew better. I sent my kids to ski school for 3 years in a row where an expert taught them the fundamentals of learning to ski while I spent the days on the slopes learning to ski myself. When we finally started skiing together, when Gus was 5, Bailey was 7, and Wilson was 9, we hired The Rev, a private instructor, to ski with us all day as well. We spend a lot of time in the water; swimming, water skiing, snorkeling, boogie boarding, cliff jumping, etc, and are very comfortable in the water and I can only retrospectively justify my decision based on this. Now I realize, however, that not hiring an instructor was the wrong move.
Hiking Diamond Head Crater
What: Paved trail with multiple sets of stairs, originally built by the military in 1908 as part of Oahu’s defense system, which leads to the summit of the crater rim along the Southwestern point. Diamond head is the remnant of an extinct volcano that erupted approximately 300,000 years ago, leaving behind the crater. Located along the Eastern border of Waikiki beach, it is an iconic image of Hawaii and you have likely seen a picture of it at some point. The summit offers amazing views of the Southern and Western coasts of Oahu, including Waikiki. We could even see the smaller islands of Molokai, Lanai, and the peaks of Maui in the distance from the top.
Ewa Beach, Oahu
When picking our place for a month-long stay in Hawaii, we made some major sacrifices on size and luxury for location. We wanted to be, not just on any beach, but on a beach with surfable beginner waves in the winter. One of the main reasons we chose Hawaii as one of our month-long stops was to fulfill our goal of learning to surf. Unprompted, Gus also shared his Hawaii goals with us the week before we left.
Gus’s Hawaii Goals:
Eat killer Ramen 2. Learn to surf 3. Catch big fish.
What is this Creepy Sound? Ewa Beach, Hawaii
We had been trying to find the source of the creepy noise for a few days. We thought it could be a cat, but there’s are lots of noises in our neighborhood, and it can be hard to tell what or where the noise comes from. There are many children around and people often have their windows open so sounds drift through the neighborhood. At one point Wendi crept through the street trying to localize the noise, honestly thinking there was a chance there was an abandoned baby in the dumpster, or a dying rabbit, or a mother cat giving birth…maybe a lamb caught in a trap.
Lu’au Kalamaku
No first trip to Hawaii is complete without a lu’au. A lu’au is a feast that is often held to celebrate a significant life event. The lu’au traditionally involved the serving of specific dishes, often massive quantities of food, and was accompanied by music and hula. Until the 19th century, there were strict hierarchical elements incorporated into the traditions, which involved men and women eating separately and certain foods being consumed only by the royal class. Over time, the lu’au has evolved into a tourist attraction and a way for visitors to get a glimpse of some of the traditions of Hawaiin culture.
The Sun Rising over Kauai from Poipu Beach. January 23rd, 2022