Linda and I met in the Salmon Creek park and ride in Vancouver, WA on a very cold Saturday in early November of 2009. Over the next few months we paddled a lot of whitewater together in Oregon and Washington and by early March 2010 we had been dating for a few weeks. Naturally it was time to take our first real out of town trip together. The destination: Maui, Hawaii. At the time Linda had a timeshare in Kihei and I found an incredible deal on flights. It was a no-brainer.
A few days later and well before sunrise we found ourselves standing in blue bus shelter O in the economy parking lot at PDX waiting for the bus to the terminal. We have less than one hour before our flight departs and Linda is freaking out. I’ve never missed a flight in my life due to tardiness and I’m not about to start today. For me this is pretty normal but Linda’s not used to traveling with me yet.
This first trip will come to define our travels for many years to come – pick a destination based on cheap airline tickets, do very little upfront planning and figure things out once you’re in country. But above all – never waste time getting to the airport hours before you really need to be there. Over the years this has led to some amazing adventures and allowed us to meet some truly incredible people we never would crossed paths with if everything was planned in advance. More importantly though, if there’s one thing that defines our travel style its that we don’t ever worry about what might happen – we just let things happen.
But I digress…of course we make the flight with plenty of time to spare and a short five hours later we touch down in Kahului, Maui. We spend the next five days swimming, snorkeling, hiking and stopping for food at every roadside stand, truck or person with a grill we come across. We navigate the windy, one-lane Road to Hana and hike the Pipiwai trail through the bamboo forest up to Waimoku Falls. We drive to the top of Haleakala Crater and shiver as gale force winds send a wall of white wet clouds swirling around our heads while the temperature drops from 80+ into the 30’s. Each night we watch the sun disappear into the Pacific, barely sleeping because we’re still getting to know each other before watching the sun rise again the next morning. For five glorious days we worry about nothing – no jobs, no dogs to walk, no responsibilities. The only thing we do is have fun. Lots and lots of fun!