The timing of this trip couldn’t have been more perfect. In Jan I found out that the company I worked for had a bad 4th quarter and my job was one of the 10 to get cut. I was devastated. 😯 I couldn’t even control my tears when my boss told me. It was like I had the wind knocked out of me. To make matters worse, my best friend died unexpectedly Feb 18, 2012. So needless to say, I needed a vacation. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So when one of my friends in CA heard the news, she called me up and insisted I come on a trip to Oahu Hawaii that she had planned with her mom in March. All I had to do was get there, and everything else would be taken care of. I don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like this, but I will forever be grateful!
Flights from Nashville to Oahu are NOT usually cheap. Especially on short notice. I purchased my tickets about 2 weeks prior. The prices were over $1,000. 😯 But I didn’t let that discourage me. I had a place to stay when I got there so I HAD to get there. This is when I discovered the Priceline Name Your Own Price tool REALLY works. I had to do some finagling, but I ended finding a round trip ticket for about $700 saving me $300+. The travel times sucked, but all those sacrifices were worth it. So now whenever I’m desperate for cheap, last min tix, I turn to Priceline. I’ve learned so many new tricks that I’d probably never pay that much for a flight again. In fact, I never have and I’ve been to Turkey, Paris, Canada, Amsterdam, London, Rome and a bunch of other places since.
But anyway, off I went!! I’ve traveled since I was little, but this was my first time off the mainland. It was an 8 hour flight to Oahu from Dallas. This is when I learned that layovers are your friend! I’ll be traveling through LAX from now on. lol By hour 5 I had taken 2 naps and read 3 chapters and was totally over it! Eventually I landed at my destination and had forgotten all about my journey! 😉
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And so began my love affair with travel. I went snorkeling for the first time ever in Hanauma Bay. I LOVE being in the water so I really enjoyed it. The breathing was difficult to get the hang of at first, but I stuck with it and figured it out. It awakened my inner mermaid! lol I secretly wished I was a mermaid when I was little. One time I added a ton of salt to our all black bathtub hoping that my legs would turn into a fin. I don’t remember what upset me more, the realization that I was not actually a mermaid or the wet ass whoopin that followed. Reality SUCKS!!
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I also went surfing… or at least attempted to. That shit is hard AF!! People on tv make it look so easy and sexy! Well let me tell you, it is neither especially when you don’t know wtf you’re doing. I ended up cutting myself on a rock. Then immediately called it a day out of fear that a shark would taste my blood in the water and come kill me. With my luck back then, I felt like it was a major possibility! lol I haven’t given up on surfing though. I just gotta get my shit together before I try again.
I had my luau cherry popped at Germaine’s Luau. They put on a great show and kept the drinks flowing so no complaints from me!!! I even ate a pig that was cooked in the sand. Yeah, that’s really a thing.
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