Just a Tourist in Hawaii

Walking on the beach, I looked like any other tourist, minus the sunburn.

I’ve taken an inordinate amount of pride in calling myself a traveller, rather than a tourist, these last 5 years. Yes, I have taken tours, but they tended to be more unusual ones, to the Arctic, the Middle East, the Galapagos. I lived in Barbados for several years. On trips to Europe, we did hit the “highlights,” but we fit those around gatherings of a group I belong to, and we often stayed with friends. Yet here I was, staying in a hotel on the beach in Waikiki, a hotel that came in a ten-day package with a flight. We even did a day tour of the island.

I had excuses, of course. By the time I’d had all the testing that ruled out the health issues that might have impacted travel insurance, there wasn’t a lot of prep time. With Scott now having his Canadian permanent residency, we need to be careful of how long we are out of the country. (We expected it to take two years, not less than one, and were surprised when it came through right before we left for Barbados for 5 months, which used up a big part of his out-of-country time.) Having lost my son a few months before, I didn’t have the bandwidth for complicated plans. I just wanted a warm ocean and a sandy beach.

Of course, the tourist sites are popular for a reason! Scott had never been to Oahu, so we couldn’t miss hiking up Diamond Head, attending a Luau, visiting Pearl Harbour, or snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. We even visited a pineapple plantation.

We bought bus passes, however, which gave us a taste of how the locals lived. We ate many meals in the beachfront restaurants at our hotel, but we also bussed to one where we were the only customers who did not order in Japanese. A Hawaiian couple we had met in Arizona took us touring for a day, so we visited beaches and sights on the West Coast that most tourists don’t see.

Our biggest connection to the local community, however, was attending an event with the Aloha Hash House Harriers. We joined this international “Drinking Club with a Running Problem” when we lived in Barbados, and we look for a local group whenever we travel.

Even getting to the start of the event was a public transit adventure! That was followed by a 10 km hike through the mountains, fording creeks and sliding in mud while we tried, sometimes unsuccessfully, to follow the set trail. Afterwards we socialized with a group of mostly military Hashers before we headed home— tired, wet, muddy, and very, very happy.

The next day Scott ran a half Marathon that he had spontaneously signed up for at the Hash the night before, perhaps after a few beverages. He won his age class!

There’s nothing wrong with being a tourist. We just find it more fun to fit in some of our interests that help us connect with locals.

Even a tourist trip to Hawaii can be part of brave travels.