Bikini Tops, Black Scotts and Board Shorts?

July 11, 2015

Dear Errand,

I've been living in Oahu, Hawai'i for a little more than 6 months now. With the curtains on this trip quickly coming to a close, I wanted to share a little bit about my journey so far and how I will choose to spend my last days on the island. 

I've only been here for a minuscule amount of time, but I feel like my previous life on the mainland was completely non-existent. At first it was a bit strange but I quickly adjusted and recognized the feeling to be liberating. I had the opportunity to do whatever I wanted and that's exactly what I did. 

Shortly after landing in Honolulu with nothing but a carry-on packed with a few essentials, I jumped on a bus and went to the only beach I had any recollection of from my past trip years before. White Plains in Kapolei; a beach the locals criticized for its sub-par waves and sea floors layered with sharp reef as far as the eye can see. Even so, warm sun and wind in my hair, I was like a fat kid in a candy store.

       I was only there for a couple of days before I met a man who taught me the meaning of the 'Spirit of Aloha' and I assure you, it is a real thing. I was basically a stranger to this man who had no home and had very little to his name yet he decided out of the blue to give me his only surf board that he was keeping as a memento from his glory days as one of the local surfer boys. People here are kind, in a way where I couldn't do them justice by trying to explain what the atmosphere is like. 

I spent the next several weeks commuting between several beaches and a couple different mountains but it wasn't long before I ran out of dough. I ended up working a full-time job in a warehouse for about a month until I woke up for a shift at six in the A.M. and took a "wrong turn" at Freddy's. I ended up surfing until the sun went down. 

I decided to put a close on the trip a little earlier than expected for several reasons but I also decided I was going to take the money I had just re-earned and ride it out as long as I possibly could. 

      That was about two months ago and since then I've met up with Bear and we've traversed the island a few times, spent a couple hundred dollars at different food trucks and adopted the lazy slang Hawai'i is infamous for. 

I have a little less than a week left before I go home so I plan to document some of my favorite places and share a little bit about the different locations and my experiences at them. Hopefully I can go out with a bang because I know I'll leave a little piece of me here on this lush island when it's time for me to fly home.