“Everything flows and nothing stays.”

(Heraclitus Greek philosopher, 5th century BC.)

Enjoy life, wherever it guides you.  Traveling has exciting moments of envisioning yourself in far off exotic lands and cultures.  This is followed by hectic times of searching the internet for tickets, packing, researching visas and studying cultures as you make a general plan.  Looking back over our 9 years of travel I can say that very few of our ‘plans’ worked out as scheduled.  A schedule, what is that?  One of the most important elements in travel is to remain flexible and open to what unfolds.  Embrace the changes thrown your way and enjoy the scenery along the detour.

Life catapulted us from Africa, through Asia, back to our home in Hawaii.  Having watched enticing videos of wild Okavango Delta in Botswana we drove closer and closer, avoiding wild elephants along the road.  It was at a crucial junction in the road that we decided to allow change to chart our course.

My dear Mom had suffered a severe stroke, right in the midst of plans to move to Hawaii.  This spunky woman, now 87, had flown to Sumatra, Vietnam and Thailand by herself to join us on our adventure.  A real trooper she was always game for whatever happened.  Our son Kevin flew to the Midwest from Australia to help her through rehab and her upcoming changes.  It was during a phone conversation that we decided to carry out her wishes.  Why let a little bump in the road like a totally debilitating stroke stop her dream?

Feeling like Tom Hanks in the movie “Terminal” (worth a look) I flew from Africa to Asia to Los Angeles to Minnesota and back tracking to Hawaii.  Only about 50 hours of travelling non stop.  The plans were in place for the ‘kidnapping’!  A dear cousin Mike & wife Mary checked my Mom out of her nursing home in Wisconsin and met me at an airport hotel in Minneapolis.  Our son flew in 2 hours later from Seattle.  My Mom was safely tucked in bed, jazzed up and excited to be part of the caper.  The following morning we literally wheeled her then lifted her onto the plane, as she was unable to move.  They held the plane for us in Los Angeles as we rushed onboard.  Lifted once again into her seat by her strong grandson (with a sore back by this time) we breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief.  We had food packed, pictures to look at and stories to share.  Landing in the Land of Aloha, the Big Island, we were helped to the car with the welcome Hawaiian hospitality.  After a stop for a check -up at the hospital we were warmly welcomed into the coffee shack on the organic coffee farm, where daughter Mariah, son-in-law Shane, and vibrant little 2 year old Kayla had a welcoming, cozy room waiting.  Tired and a bit dazed we all slept like logs up on the side of Mauna Loa Volcano.  We pulled it off!
 

Life in a coffee shack.  Kona, Hawaii is famous for it’s Kona mountain coffee and when the coffee pickers came all the way up the mountain they would stay in little shacks until the harvest was complete.  It has been fashionable to refurbish and rent out these little buildings tucked back in the jungle.  Surrounded by organic gardens and coffee trees we nibbled on healthy fresh organic produce and unwound in the serenity of the lush vegetation.  It was during this month that my children showed what they were really made of: kind, compassionate and responsible.  It made both Mom and Grandma proud.  Kayla with her dynamic personality and spontaneous joy reminded us how important love and patience were in all situations.  How the cycle of life from toddler to senior is full of unexpected turns but enjoying the moment – right Now – is the key to happiness and success.  It was a month teetering between the delight of family time surrounded in warm memories and quality time together; to the agony of realizing the 24 hour care required for our precious ‘Gami’ would be a permanent reality.  The cycle of life is a strange thing.  When we realize in our hearts that our lives can change forever with the blink of an eye and that death is always around the corner, it makes the life we are living more precious.   

My Mom, LaVerne, had helped those around her for her whole life and now it was her turn.  She had worked hard back in her first rehab to be near family in Hawaii and especially little Kayla.  Watching the interaction between a 2 year old and 87 year old was priceless and worth every bit of effort in care.  Real kindred spirits, both lived in the moment, painted the colors of their wild imaginations, and laughed as the chocolate ice cream dripped off their chins. (Oops, that was our secret!) 

Thanks to my close girlfriends in the area we held a rip roaring 87th birthday bash, celebrating the miracles at hand.  Wrapping up over 70 years of someone’s life was monumental and pointed to how ridiculous all the details and paperwork we worry about really are.  So much of what we consume our lives with is all ‘bull’ anyways.  Simplify while you can.  Travel lighter through life.  Spend your time living instead of worrying.  Like they say in the local Hawaiian dialect, pidgin, “If Can, Can.  If no Can, no Can.”    

Once tucked into first a private care home we then moved my Mom into a 50 bed rehab hospital with excellent, loving care and a livelier roster of music, bingo and new friends.  As her mind fades she is happy in her imagination.  The cycle of life goes round and round.  How will the cards play when our turn comes?  The impermanence of life.  Memento Mori.

Joseph joined us from Malaysia and we relaxed on Oahu with good friends.  It was a whirlwind of beaches, scenic vistas, Thai food, eating at health food stores, dancing on the beach at Dukes to Henry Kapono, sunset hula and music at the classic Moana Hotel on Waikiki Beach, First Friday in historic old Chinatown, holiday activities with friends, and visits with Kevin and Roberta. 

Back on the Big Island for the Christmas season we rented a friend’s apartment and enjoyed this fabulous island, holiday activities, long time friends, between visits to see my Mom.  We hiked, relaxed on beach outings and shared meals with family and friends.  We visited friends in Puna, loving the rugged coastline, thick jungles, dolphins jumping at Kahena Beach, and the eclectic weekend markets full of ‘Punatiks’, some of our favorite people.  Up north we watch a humpback whale breach 16 times in front of us as we gazed on the burnt orange sunset from our friends Hawi home. 

Wanting to take advantage of my Mom’s strength we were able to take her out to the family home of our amazing friends Tim, Kelli and family in South Kona for 3 days.  A festive Christmas dinner complete with presents, lights and song was the best gift we could imagine.  We have so much to be thankful for.

Hawaii, translating as “The Lonely One”, is one of the remotest populated places on earth.  Six hours by air from Los Angeles it offers a treat to anyone making the journey.  From the beginning of time changes have produced a one of a kind ecosystem full of rare plants and animals, many of which are disappearing at an alarming rate.  This true paradise, with year round near perfect climate, stunning beaches and scenery, and a relaxed “Hang Loose” pace attracts millions of visitors annually.  There is only so much room on these 6 small volcanic islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and Nature as worldwide, is the loser.

When the cosmopolitan pace of Oahu, with the tourist Mecca of Waikiki gets too crowded, escape to the peace of rural Big Island.  With a fraction of the state’s population scattered over 5 times the land mass, this island boasts 21 out of 22 possible world’s climate zones (only missing arctic).  Small towns dot the landscape that is filled with remote white and black sand beaches, thick forests, fragrant flowers, wind swept coastlines, with a backdrop of 4 towering snow topped volcanoes.  With Kilauea currently active there is often a lively display of orange molten lava, a sign of the fury of goddess Pele.  Seemed a fitting place for someone like me, with adventure surging through my veins, to settle down and raise kids for 15 years.  Having hiked and backpacked a good portion of this island through the years it is always a joy to revisit some of the natural wonders offered on the Big Island (the island of Hawaii).  Imagine peering into a bubbling cauldron at Volcanoes National Park or hiking down the steep one lane road into the ‘land beyond time’ of Waipio Valley.  Camp along a remote beach, star gaze on top of 14,000 ft. Mauna Kea or hike through a lush forest sweet with the songs of brightly colored birds.  Breathe and take in the ‘mana’ or power of this unique island.  No matter what far off corner of this spectacular planet we are in, a piece of my heart will always be in my dear Hawaii, the Land of Aloha or Love. 

Lately my Mom’s mind was fading in and out but on my final day in Hawaii I was blessed with a full day of her presence.  We laughed and cried and she wished us well as we continued our travel sojourn, promising to meet us at one of our favorite ports of call.  We still plan the rendezvous’ on our regular Skype phone calls.  Her words of wisdom ring clear in my mind, “Smile Nancy, life really IS funny!”

Off to the land of gators – Florida.  After a fun visit with Joseph’s brother Mark and gracious wife Marie we drove from Orlando, home of Disney World, to Fort Meyers for a great visit with long lost relatives Aunt Betty, Dave & Cheryl.  We hiked with gators in the Florida Everglades along Alligator Alley, discovered an incredible array of waterfowl, continued down and out 127 miles along Highway 1 to explore the Florida Keys. 

This road consists of bridges connecting the string of islands – the longest being 7 miles.  It’s like driving on the water.  The  Calusa and Tequesta Native Americans originally inhabited these islands.  They were later found and charted by Juan Ponce de León in 1513.  (In other words they didn’t exist until charted by Ponce de Leon!  What an arrogant lot we white Europeans were.)
Key West on the end of the chain was the largest town in Florida for years.  It has a colorful history with ship wreck salvagers, pirates, smugglers and drug operators ruling the seas.  In the 1910’s an oversea railroad was built to Key West on the end of the chain.  With a history of destructive hurricanes (June-December), this ambitious project only lasted 25 years when a massive storm took out the trestles.  Using the remaining structures US Highway 1 was finally completed, stretching the full length of the Eastern United States up to Maine.  Only 90 miles from Cuba the Keys had a nasty reputation for drug and people smuggling, so roadblocks were set up.  Disrupting life of Florida Key residents they petitioned to have unimpeded access to their homes.  When this was ignored, the mayor of Key West in 1982 declared independence for the city, calling it the “Conch Republic”! After 1 minute as Prime Minister he surrendered to the U.S. Navy, requesting one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in foreign aid.  The publicity stunt worked as support was generated worldwide.  The roadblocks came down and money from a new influx of tourism was an added bonus.  Great plan, man. 

With all the tourists this once remote, laid back strip of islands became crowed and today it consists of strip malls and concrete.  You must seek out quiet waysides to chill by the ocean in search of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville .  Worth a look once we enjoyed an evening out with excellent Mexican food and then watched the Humphrey Bogart classic movie ‘Key Largo’ in where else but Key Largo?  Joseph’s small computer hard drive full of thousands of movies has added color to our trip.         

We slowly drove back up through Ft. Lauderdale for pizza and catching up after 35 years with my cousin, Dennis, strolled Miami Beach, then added a bit of class to our adventure by dropping in for a visit with one of Joseph’s former business associates, Neil, in West Palm Beach.  It was a whirlwind week full of the wide spectrum of what this attention grabbing state has to offer.  Hiking through the cypress swamps of the Everglades dodging gators, hanging at little riverside bars with ‘red necks’ pondering whether we vegans should have gator tails or mud crabs, a highlight catching up with old friends and family, and dining at the exclusive Breakers Hotel in West Palm Beach.  Versatility – all from an 18 inch suitcase!     

And so it goes…………………………………..Next month a cheap ticket to Jamaica launches an exploration of the islands of the Caribbean, then on to Central and South America.  We thought it better to be more accessible to Hawaii for now.  We will return to our beloved Africa, Western and Northern, in the future.  A trip of 25 years allows time for the many unplanned changes and detours .  Until then let’s remember to frailty of life, enjoy the moment and embrace the inevitable changes along the way.  Thanks for sharing this website with anyone you think would be interested.  Spread the word what a great world we share!  Over 125,000 visitors last month.  Thanks so much.