Last week, after several months of work, I finished writing my ebook on how to be the Chief Financial Officer of your own life. Editing has begun, and we’ll soon be compiling support material for a release date sometime this spring. In the meantime, Kim and I flew to Maui.
When I was a boy, classmates would disappear every winter. They’d be gone for a week (or two or three) at a time. After they returned, they’d have dark tans (while the rest of us Oregonians remained pasty white). My friends would describe long hours of frolicking on beaches and swimming in the warm ocean. Warm ocean? I couldn’t imagine such a thing. In fact, it wasn’t until two years ago — during my trip to Easter Island — that I first experienced a warm ocean
Kim, on the other hand, has a long history of vacations in tropical climes. Ever since we met, she’s been talking about introducing me to Mexico, Costa Rica, and Hawaii. And so, here we are — finishing our ten-day trip to Maui.
We’ve had a lot of fun. We’ve spent tons of time in the sun. We’ve also spent tons of time in the water, swimming with sea turtles and fishes. We got up-close and personal with whales. We took a couple of drives around the island (although we opted agains the Road to Hana this trip), enjoyed some excellent dinners, and consumed many Mai-Tais.
Here are some photos from our trip (click an image to view a larger version) — and there’s a short video at the end of this post:
Honolua Bay, where we snorkled one rainy day…
At Black Rock in Kaanapali, brave souls did cliff diving…
Kim and J.D., enjoying the sun while watching whales…
A couple of humpbacks putting on a show…
Swimming with the fishes…
Two sides of Kimmie!
As you can tell, I loved swimming with the sea turtles. Kim loved watching the whales. I captured a bit of video from both activities and compiled it into a four-minute clip:
This has been a great trip. Very relaxing. I feel re-energized, and I’m eager to return home to take on the big projects I have ahead of me! Maybe I ought to take a warm-weather vacation every February…
The sea turtles are endangered and protected to you’re not supposed to touch them. I find it funny that you made it to *Easter Island* of all places before you went to Hawaii. Glad you had fun. 🙂
JD,
I also went to Hawaii last week and had a terrific, relaxing time. It was so great that we’ve already planned to return next year in January when the cedar allergies where I live are horrible. Looks like you and Kim had a great, enjoyable trip.
Aloha!
Aloha! So glad you had a relax and recharge. Please be in touch should your travels bring you to Kauai. We’d love to acquaint you with The Garden Island.
As Tyler mentioned, honu are protected species. Many visitors are completely unaware that they should keep a respectful distance. “All sea turtles in Hawai‘i are protected under the Endangered Species Act (see above) and wildlife laws of the State of Hawai‘i (Title 13, Chapter 124, Hawaii Administrative Laws – posted online at http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/rules/Chap124.pdf
These laws prohibit harassing, capturing (possessing or removing), harming or killing, sea turtles. Under state law, violation is a misdemeanor criminal offense, punishable by a fine up to $2,000 and/or 30 days in jail.
Research on sea turtles both in captivity and in the wild requires federal permits. It is important to remember that sea turtles, both alive and dead are protected. If you are lucky enough to see a sea turtle in the wild, do not attempt to touch or grab it. The recommended distance for observation of sea turtles in the wild is 50 yards. Please remember that feeding, touching, or attempting to ride them could cause distress.”
Great pictures and video! Love your writing too. Hope to make it to Hawaii this decade!
So beautiful! I can imagine those soft tropical breezes right now.
Yeah, I cringed at the sea turtle photo, too. I’m surprised that Kim didn’t know since she’s been to Hawaii before. I went face-to-face with one accidentally when we both surfaced in murky water in a cove. They’re so prehistoric looking. We swam away from each other as fast as possible.
JD —
I LOVE the idea of a warm weather vacation every year. It really breaks up the winter and makes dealing with the cold much more bearable.
The last two years we lived in Michigan, we took cruises to the Caribbean and loved them. Our trips were just like yours: warm water, swimming with turtles, etc. And it really broke up the 4-5 months of winter we had to deal with up there.
This year we moved to Oklahoma, so the winter is not anywhere near as bad. We didn’t take a vacation this winter, but I think we may head to Hawaii next year just to check it out. 🙂
Aloha JD!
I’m not gonna pile on (much) to the sea turtle comments but thank you to those who mentioned this – I also cringed at that photo. I know it is so hard to resist when they are so close and cute, but it can be dangerous for them to have so much human contact. Fish are the only ones who should be touching them, eating algae off their shells. 🙂 When you and Kim are ready to head back to Hawaii again, try Kauai – so gorgeous and less developed than Maui. And drop me a line if you want to start scuba diving – the best way to see all the underwater marvels of the tropics!!!
I love to read about your and Kim’s travels. I also loved my times in Hawaii. We went out on a glass-bottomed boat and we saw a turtle swimming near to us. They are so perfect!
As far as fear goes, I have a fear of my taxes not getting done. I’m sure you are on top of them coming up soon.
Looks like a great trip! I’m jealous – I love Maui and I so want to see humpback whales! I jumped off Black Rock last time I went to Maui – it.was.terrifying. I swear it’s even higher when you are standing up there! in fact probably the main reason I actually jumped was that I had climbed the rock barefoot and it’s so uncomfortable on your feet I couldn’t take the idea of climbing back down it. Kim’s “dive” is more my speed for future trips I think!
Nice work on the video! If you are starting to get interested in making home videos, I highly recommend the book How To Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck or something like that. I’m still a total novice but it helped my videos a lot.