Aloha

Exploring new places

For those who follow my activities on Strava – or if you are connected with my wife on Facebook – you already know that I’m in the middle of a glorious, two-week visit/family holiday to Hawaii, where our oldest son is stationed in the Air Force.

If you’ve been to Hawaii, you know that my “take” on this place is far from original: It’s a paradise on earth, filled with unparalleled beauty! Endless, incredible beaches (and I’m not even a BEACH person) + endless, breathtaking mountains and trails. And, we’ve just been on O’ahu! Apparently! The other islands are as good or better (we won’t be venturing off O’ahu).

Anyway, what is the point of this post? When traveling, there is no better way to get the lay of the land then exploring on foot – running through cities, finding trails or in my case walking around. Prior to the Internet days, it was fun just exploring without the use of a smartphone, apps, or even maps (for those who remember actual maps!).

I try to stick to that true spirit, as most of my walks have been in the predawn, pitch-black darkness – so I just wander where the city lights take me, aiming to reach the beach as much as possible. In my week-plus here, I’ve been able to explore almost every inch of Honolulu – Hawaii’s biggest city – on foot. We’ve also done some treacherous (for me) hikes, which have been far less enjoyable but at least gets us out and about.

Checking the weather app has me feeling pangs of guilt as I see snow and cold and wind back home. For our first five days here, we had virtually non-stop rain, Amazon forest-like rain. Now, it’s back to regular Hawaii programming. Cloudy, sunny, warm and humid. Glorious to be wearing shorts and T-shirt at the end of December. Mahalo for that!

Merry Fitness!