Let your Dreams Take Flight

For my final passion blog, I am going to bring it closer to home and talk about travel within the United States. In the summer of 2012, I traveled with my family to Oahu, Hawaii.

At the time, Disney had just opened up a resort called Aulani on the island of Oahu, and of course, my family being avid fans of Disney, had to check it out. My parents surprised my sister and I with first class seats that reclined straight back so we could actually sleep on the plane. I never thought that was even possible, but I certainly slept good on that overnight flight. They also brought us little drinks with an umbrella on the straw that got my sister and I even more excited!

When we arrived at Aulani we were greeted with smiling faces and received leis over our necks. I always thought that they only did that in movies, but this was the real deal now, it was so cool!

Since I had never been to Hawaii before, I wanted to take full advantage of all the opportunities the hotel had to offer. I became the trip planner, and I made my family try EVERYTHING. We went on nature walks around the resort, made our own leis, learned how to play the ukulele, and even took a trip on a catamaran to see the place where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed! I even tried to paddle board and succeeded in not falling off the board, though my mom wasn’t so lucky.

On one of the excursion trips, we got the chance to go to a ranch and ride horseback on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was terrifying, but it was the experience of a lifetime so I tried to not think about my chancing of falling off the cliff too much, especially because my horse was a bit feisty and liked to randomly start running whenever he felt like it. The ranch was where the movie “Jurassic Park” was filmed so it was cool to see some familiar scenery.

After the horseback, we went on a boat ride and spotted some sea turtles! I decided to stand on the front of the boat so I could get a better view of everything. It was a good idea in theory, but when the boat suddenly hit a wave I was drenched from head to toe in salt water. I didn’t mind much though, it was refreshing!

We got to attend a traditional luau and I learned how to hula dance, my dad was actually brought on stage and taught by one of the dancers! We enjoyed delicious pork that came from a huge pig that was cooked on a spiket in front of us by two guys in grass skirts.

I was glad to have experienced all these new things and hope to go back there one day and hopefully learn how to surf. The area was rich with culture and I am glad we took the time to learn all about it. The people were all so welcoming and happy to be alive in general. I didn’t feel like we were still in the United States and I had to remind myself that I wasn’t actually that far from home. It was amazing to see how different the culture was here compared to any other place I had been to.

I hope that from reading my blogs you have learned that each place has its own unique characteristics that make it truly worthwhile. Travel is a way to open your perspectives and expand your horizons and learn that you are apart of something greater. I hope I have inspired you to go see the world, because there are just some lessons that you can’t learn if you stay put. Don’t be afraid to take chances, try something new, and let your dreams take flight as you explore all that the world has to offer.

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