Maui: Day 1

When I decided to set off to Hawaii for my 'funemployment trip,' I wasn't planning on publicly journaling through it, but several of you have reached out asking if I'd be telling stories along the journey so I thought I'd give it a whirl. If I'm being honest, it helps me capture the moments that might someday fade into distant memories, so I'm grateful that you all enjoy the ride alongside.

Let me just be super honest to start. Yes, I booked a trip to Maui. No, I wasn't overly excited about it. Why? The older I get, the more I find it hard to be 'excited' about a place that I have no context of. Anticipation of the adventure? Of course. Excited about what lies on the other end of a long day of travel? Eh. I'm turning more into a 'gotta see it to believe it' kind of girl, I guess.

Left OKC this morning at 8AM. I still continue to be grateful for our airport. It took me 6 minutes to get from curb to coffee this morning and when I said 'wow, busy morning in OKC' to the security guy, he was less than amused. Sorry, not sorry, for appreciating the quieter things about Oklahoma.

Easy flight to PHX. With the way travel has been lately, I went into today almost counting on a delay somewhere. I'm thrilled to say, there wasn't a single one. We were actually 'early' on both legs.

6 hours from PHX to OGG. Anyone who knows me knows that American is less than my favorite airline. Our relationship started rocky today with broken wifi on a long flight, but we made up in the fact that it was 20% full so we all had our own rows, we got into Maui early, safely and only 1 person clapped on the landing (yes, I'm serious).

The line for 'exemption approval' from their mandatory quarantine was long, filled with several individuals that didn't understand the need for submitting a form before you landed so that it could be reviewed, including someone named 'Rome' who I'm grateful not to be married to, because throughout the 45 minutes of waiting, I heard ALL of the things that 'Rome' didn't do well enough in being a traveling parent, or a human, in general... Needless to say, I was prepared and thrilled when it took me less than 2 minutes to navigate my time with the agent. ID, vaccine card, QR code - done.

My friend Jerry Pham lives in Maui right now. He's an incredible pilot and an even better human and one of those people that inspires you to take chances and truly live life. He met me outside the airport with a rental car that he had coordinated and I was shocked to my core when he flashed the lights of a '21 cherry red Camaro convertible that I'd be driving for the week. Um. I'm sorry. Is this real life?! I can't thank him enough for the icing on the cake of an already awesome getaway!

Grabbed the car and headed to stock up on the essentials for the 24-hour period until I figured out what my life for the next 7 days would look like...sunscreen, coffee, fruit...and my good friends Chandon and Decoy.

Checked into my Airbnb around 4 (8PM CST) and literally cried when I walked into the condo. I'm not sure there is a better unit at this place. 2nd floor, right on the ocean. Everything on this island is green and there's a lush greenbelt right in front of the deck, between the condo and the ocean, that provides this...oasis of ambiance.

Local poke truck takeout for sunset dinner on the patio. The guy swore to me that it was 'the best on in the island.' I plan on testing that theory and eating my body weight in poke this week. The sun has been set for 30 minutes, but the warm skies are still holding on while I wind down for the evening. My neighbors below have set up a candle-light dinner on the lawn.

Again...is this real life? I'm fairly certain I'm living someone else's dream today, but while I'm still in it, I plan on embracing every damn moment.

Malaho for what's already occured. Malaho for what lies ahead the week. My heart is full.