I’m gearing up for a fairly long Thursday. I’m heading to Hawaii (Oahu specifically) for a week. My cousin and her family have been renting the same house for 13 years on the North Shore. Last May, while I was on the way to London, she sent me a message saying something like “I know it’s not glamorous but would you want to maybe go with us to Hawaii next year?” Ok, first of all, I get that I had done a boatload of travel last year that when I think of the destinations does make me sound jet-settery. Travel was a promise I made to myself when I was lucky enough to have caught my melanoma early enough. However, it’s not like I’m hanging out in private jets and living it up in Monaco or anything (ok, Dubai and the Maldives does sound pretty freaking glamorous). But Hawaii, I mean, really? Who the heck is going to say no to Hawaii? (Those of you who would say no, I mean, that’s cool, that’s your right – but I’m never going to turn down ocean and palm trees and the very remote chance of seeing Kelly Slater in the flesh again…)
Getting to Hawaii from Austin is basically going to take all day but the bonus is that we still have a half day when we get there. I love flying westward… I haven’t been to Oahu in, well – I don’t actually want to say how long ago it was because it makes me feel ancient. Seriously, how in the world has that much time passed? Anyway, it’s been quite a while. I’m curious to see how much of it has changed and really hoping much of it hasn’t. Hawaii was one of my big trips when I was in my 20s. I went by myself and despite my misgivings about going someplace all romantic as a solo traveler, Hawaii grabbed a tiny little piece of my heart. Since that initial trip, I’ve returned to the islands way more than I ever expected. This will be my fourth trip there. And as someone who wants to see pretty much all of the world, that’s a pretty big commitment to one location. (And as I typed that I was thinking to myself, this is from the same person who went to London twice in one year, hypocrite…)
Anyway, as usual, I will be checking a bag full of sunscreen. My cousin has two kids (12 & 8) and I’ll probably be chasing them around with a bottle of sun block; even though they live in Southern California and I know they probably are pretty sun-smart. The last time I saw my cousin’s young daughter, she was sweet and loving and I had a blast hanging out with her. But that was a year ago and kids these days morph into sullen and silent creatures in a heartbeat so I have no idea what to expect from either of them on this trip (this is why I don’t have kids or are around kids that much because that whiplash is more than I can handle). I’m hoping that my foray into a family-style vacation won’t end with a major blowup and one of those Irish feuds where the participants never speak to each other again (our fathers actually have a running contest to irritate the hell out of each other and neither my cousin nor I can figure out when they’re speaking to each other and when they’re not).
And as usual, I’ll be doing more work than I wanted to thanks to a combination of a bunch of “last-minute but super urgently critical to the whole future of our company” stuff that I seem to be responsible for. Funny how it works when everyone gets amnesia around review time though…Hopefully I won’t be sitting in the yard overlooking the ocean over the top of my laptop most of the time. I swear, one of my life goals for 2018 is to take a trip where I don’t do any work for the duration.
Wish me luck that I avoid too much sun exposure, too much family exposure, and too much work exposure!