On Island Time

In May 2021 my spouse and I had the opportunity to visit the island of Maui for a month. I was on assignment for a wedding and it was also Ashley’s birthday on the 19th. So we decided to stay the whole month Ashley had to work remotely but was done at 2pm everyday which left plenty of time to explore. We rented a condo in Kihei that used to be the not so touristy town away from Lahaina but it now too was overran with sunburnt tourists and we were among them.

My parents lived in Maui back in the late 80’s. I grew up hearing stories about how they worked on a boat where they could take tourists out to Molokini crater to snorkel and how my dad almost drowned one time at the north shore. Or how my mom became friends with the locals working at a telephone company. As the local Hawaiians call non-native Hawaiians ‘Haole’ just picture a white man in a Hawaiian print button-up holding a mai-tai. You must respect the people, the island, and show aloha and it will show it back. Back in college my dream was to move to the islands and to become a surfer girl. I thought listening to Jack Johnson and befriending a classmate that was from Oahu would make this dream come true. While my dreams have since changed it was so magical to return to Maui and feel connected to my parents and my late father and a life they lived before I was born.

Please enjoy this visual experience of Maui. *Disclaimer overtourism to the islands have become a big problem due to the post-pandemic boom.