Welcome to Hawaii Girl Travels! I was born and raised in Hawaii until I packed my bags at 17 and left for college and the northeast. I loved it in Boston, and then later in Connecticut and New York. Changing seasons and the ability to jump in a car and hit Canada in 6-hours or hop a 6-hour flight to Europe became possible.

As we traveled, it changed my understanding of the U.S. and the world. Life was great. I functioned under the work hard – play hard mentality. Crazy work hours in stressful environments coupled with fun-filled trips to new locations. And then I had a kid and my priorities shifted. Fancy dinners and Broadway musicals in New York City and weekend getaways to places like Nantucket or Florida came second to giving my daughter the best childhood she could get. And that meant that in 2015 my husband and I packed up our 7-month old (at the time) daughter, three cats, a household filled with the last 16-years of our lives, and moved 5,000 miles across the country. It was the best decision we ever made. We found jobs that challenged us yet were fulfilling (I’ll be honest we were both pretty miserable working in New York) and made a new life for ourselves surrounded by friends and family. It truly does take a village to raise a child and I love ours.

And so we get to the reason for this blog. As mentioned above, it’s pretty great to live in Hawaii. But it’s not as great to travel given the remoteness of the islands (just to get to California takes longer than flying from California to New York). What my child gained living around family and happier / less stressed parents, I felt she lost in terms of the experiences she could gain living on the east coast. And so when financially (and job-wise) it is possible, we take off to introduce the world to our daughter (and now our infant son), one trip at a time. And this tiny space on the interwebs is where I will document it all.

 

Mendenhall Glacier – Juneau, Alaska