1. The thing I miss most about Hawaii is the ability to run outside every single day. Even if it rained in the morning it was done in a few hours (or less) so I was able to get a run in every day. I've never run in a place so beautiful and it was definitely a challenge because I've never run up mountains before, so some days were so darn hard but it was always worth it.
2. While I was on the south end of Kauai I ran to Spouting Horn every morning and watched the sunrise. I always used to be a person who never stopped once I started running, but running in Hawaii taught me to slow down and enjoy the beauty. Watching the sunrise became my favorite thing about the day and it was the best way to start my morning. Almost every day I had Spouting Horn to myself so I was able to be alone with my thoughts. I can't imagine being lucky enough to run in a place so gorgeous every single day.
3. Coming from the Midwest seeing signs warning about a tsunami hazard zone was definitely different. I had to question some of their placement of signs though because some of the exiting tsunami hazard signs were right by the water where a tsunami could easily reduce the area to rubble. But what do I know I'm not a scientist🤔
4. I'm serious when I say I don't think running in Hawaii could ever get old. On one side of me was the ocean and on the other side were mountains! I was literally surrounded by beauty and I was so in awe of everything. I loved the days where the mountains were clear and you could clearly make out their jagged features. I'm already missing these views while running.
5. Another reason I'm missing vacay is because I did not do my hair or wear any makeup at all🙆 my hair is naturally very wavy but I think the salt water made it even wavier but it was beachy so I went with it. I was also surprised by how at ease I felt wearing no makeup. I'm not one to wear a lot of makeup anyway but constantly being surrounded by people perfectly made up to go on camera can make you feel like you have to measure up. Nothing feels better than bear skin👌
6. There are so many awesome foodie place on Kauai so one night I stopped in Papalani Gelato. They had a ton of dairy free and gluten free flavors so I was pretty excited. While it wasn't as good as the vegan ice cream I had in Kapaa it was still good and coconut shavings were a nice touch.
7. I'm not one to complain about airlines because despite having my luggage lost by Delta or delayed flights Delta has always treated me very well. This time I flew Alaska airlines and I can honestly say I've never had such a terrible time with an airline. I've flown quite a bit in my life (and a number of different airlines), but I will never be flying Alaska Airlines again. I had several problems when I was flying out to Hawaii, but returning was a total nightmare. My amazing dad surprised me by getting me a first class seat (I've never flown first class before) since it was a red eye flight out of Kauai. The day my flight was to depart I never got my flight confirmation, well come to find out Alaska Airlines had cancelled my reservation and resold my seat, so I didn't have a seat. I got stuck in one of the last rows on the plane in which the seats did NOT recline- absolutly horrible for a redeye flight. I was also nervous because I had less than 30 minutes between connecting flights so getting off the plane was going to be problematic, but it turned into an even bigger problem when my flight was delayed by over an hour. It was basically 1am by the time my flight departed, thankfully there was a lot of other people connecting to the same flight I was so the next plane was held for us. There was one last first class available so I was thrown in that because my original first class seat had been resold. I was starving because I didn't have anything to eat on me, but luckily they had steelcut oats which I could have and some fruit. I couldn't have the muffin or nuts, but overall it was pretty good for airplane food. However, my overall experience with Alaska Airlines was incredibly poor- from the flights, to bad customer service over the phone, to wasting my last day in Hawaii stuck on the phone with them, so needless to say I will never be flying with them again. I guess there's something to the say ole reliable.
8. I think the biggest lesson I learned while I was on vacation was the importance of self-care. I'm going to write a separate post about it, but basically I had been wearing myself ragged trying to do everything, have everything be perfect, and trying to be everywhere at once. Hawaii was the perfect reminder that self-care is absolutly necessary and self-care is not selfish at all.
I'm going to end it here for the week. Have a terrific Thursday and even though it's a day early Happy St. Patrick's Day! Please be safe and have fun celebrating if you are🍀
What is your favorite way to treat yourself while you're on vacation?
Are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day or what are you doing for the weekend?
Sad that you had a bad experience with Alaska; we've ridden it to Alaska a few times, and it's always been good.
ReplyDeleteYour views on the Hawaii runs were just jaw dropping; that was such an awesome blessing to scroll through my Instagram and see those slices of God's incredible beautiful work and His awesomeness in creation. :)
Running outside is just so wonderful, but I'm thankful we have treadmills so we can do those runs too when it's not feasible to do it outside. <3
Love ya Rachel; you are a sweet friend. <3
I was really disappointed with Alaska, especially with how poorly I was treated by customer service. I'm not one to complain about airlines but I was definitely turned off.
DeleteAwe thank you so much Emily! I think you'd love running there. You're surrounded by the beauty of creation and there was times I would just stop to take it all in. I cannot fathom how any place could be more beautiful.
That is definitely a very valid point, but having to come inside after running by the ocean definitely made me sad. Running outside is where my heart is at. I hope you're having a wonderful week sweet friend <3