My Maui, Hawaii Experience

Outfit Details: Short Sleeve Poet Blouse – Vince | Drawcord Cotton Short – Vince | Seamed Popover Dress – Vince | Kayu Isabel Bag – Vince |

It’s been a few days since I’ve gotten back from Hawaii and man I am really missing it. Waking up to the ocean, warm air, and ridiculously happy people is something I had gotten used to in just the few days we were there. I wanted to give a little bit of my experience with the Island from my trip along with some realness of what actually happened. I know a lot of people see Instagram an are extremely envious or inspired but realistically, there is always the downside of travel.

We had four nights and roughly four and a half days on the island. I was nervous about the flight but Hawaiian Airlines was super easy, comfortable and fast (5 hours there and 5 hours back). The one thing that really made me less excited for the trip was the fact that I got sick the day before. I’m pretty sure I had some form of salmonella which made me really useless/uncomfortable on Monday prior to our departure. Not to mention my husband also had a few issues with the same feelings. Luckily the next morning I was feeling OK and made it to the island without issue. We grabbed our rental car and drove off towards our hotel. We stayed on the west side of the island in the city of Ka’annapali.

Now with being sick prior to leaving there was definitely some anxiety on my end on what I could eat and my appetite overall. So the first day we tried to venture out but it was still just too soon for us so we finished the night with room service and I fell asleep at like 5pm until the next morning. That being said the next day I was ready to go! We hit old town Lahaina (was recommended by a bunch of people) which has some surf shops, and PLENTY of food. We stopped at a cute coffee spot called Belle Surf Cafe which had a local pup that just hangs out there all day and we played with her! After that we explored a bit, Nick went fishing and we headed back to the hotel for a little R&R in the sun.

After a fun day out we decided to grab the famous fish tacos at Leilani’s on the Beach right next to our hotel. It was beautiful and having a sunset over the ocean right in front of you, whilst drinking a Mai Tai is definitely a nice feeling.

Unfortunately this is kind of when things started to go wrong. My husband started feeling sick after this and actually did get ill afterwards back in the room. It’s never fun to travel when you’re sick but it’s even harder when one person is seemingly fine now and then the other person gets sick. Not to mention we had no clue what was going on. One minute he was fine and the next he wasn’t feeling good. We eventually realized he was suffering from panic attacks and crippling anxiety that made any sort of sit down dinner situation basically impossible. This definitely limited us on what we could do during the day (how far to venture out, what to do about eating, etc) so a lot of our meals weren’t ideal and were somewhat limited to what was close by or at the hotel.

The following day we had breakfast in the room (we stayed at the Westin and their new updated Beach Tower which was beautiful btw) and went beach hopping up North and found a TON of sea turtles which I was so excited for! The beaches were beautiful and if I wasn’t so tired already from being in the sun most of the morning we would have continued along the coast. I really am bummed because we were down to hit one more spot and I was itching to find a jungle led beach as most of the jungle portions of the island were on the Road to Hana (and that definitely wasn’t happening for us this trip). I ended up finding the perfect spot on the night before our last day! It’s called Honolua beach which has a little path from a parking lot to the beach which is great for snorkeling (not so much laying out since it’s all rocks) but the entrance features beautiful trees and plant life so it will definitely be a must next time we go!

The nice part about staying at the Westin was that the beaches out front were perfect. We found a spot over near the Hyatt that was perfect for doing a little snorkling ad well as swimming since there was no shore break. Also let me tell you I’ve swam in the ocean maybe like a handful of times in my life but this was the first time swimming in WARM water and I was SO HAPPY. Also my husband being a surfer was so happy to see me in the water for once HAHA. The last day we really just spent swimming and hanging out around Old Town Lahaina, we stopped as the sun was setting and turned down a random street (to get photos of course) and came across the coolest little area. We took some sunset photos and were on our way back to the hotel.

Overall the trip was amazing, nothing beats the weather or the view we had from our hotel balcony onto the ocean. I could have sat up there for hours on end. While I would have loved to have eaten more Hawaiian food I definitely still felt a connection. If you didn’t know already, my grandparents are from Hawaii and I actually am part native Hawaiian (my Grandfather’s mother was). I’m excited for my next trip to visit Oahu and see where my grandpa and grandma grew up along with getting a better familiarity with the culture.

I’ve always dealt with my own personal anxiety and after realizing what it was a few years back I have learned to cope and understand where my head is at, at all times. It was the most heartbreaking to see someone who’s never dealt with the issue before. You really do feel like this is the end at some points. It’s still amazing to me that you’re brain can become so overwhelmed with thoughts you can actually make yourself physically ill. Either way when I left I didn’t feel “fulfilled” I suppose and it really bummed me out. I felt like I barely got a taste of anything. But the few days I’ve been home already I’ve realized we really did get to see a lot and overall just being on the island in the weather, in the ocean, etc was an incredible experience. Here are some of the takeaways I learned:

1. Plan out your food! (there were so many cool restaurants and foods to try, I really wish I would have done a better job mapping that out)
2. Figure out what you want to see/do (my husband and I aren’t big planners since it stresses us out sometimes but I do wish I would have pushed to see some more greenery/jungle that wasn’t on the Road to Hana, ended up finding spots AFTER)
3. Don’t overpack (I definitely regret bringing so many options. While it was nice to change it up I definitely didn’t need it. I think a few pair of shorts, a skirt, and a few dresses would have sufficed.)
4. Rent a car (we did this and I’m so glad we did. It gave us freedom to go wherever we felt and we didn’t have to rely on ubers / lyfts which I feel can be few and far in between sometimes)
5. Wake up early (we woke up at like 6 or 6:30 almost everyday and it made the days feel so long and wonderful. You were able to take breathers in between activities and it helped us go to bed at a nice hour)