I've fallen and I'm leaving...someday

As the plane took off and the gravity pulled us back in our seats, I kept thinking two words over and over. “Fucking Awesome” I was looking out the window as the land turned to sea, white puffy clouds became like snow beneath us. Our plane touched down in Honolulu and as we stepped out into the warm fragrant air I was instantly amazed at how open the airport was. There were not many walls and reminded me of a very large covered deck. The palm trees and hibiscus flowers were flowing in the breeze and the air was moist and warm. The excitement rose in my stomach yet again as we boarded the last flight to Kauai and I became completely giddy. My cheeks got sore from smiling and I had to physically stop myself to stop my face from cramping up.

Paradise was everything and more than I ever imagined it could be. The food was to die for at every little place we ate. My favorite was the Island Burger in the Coconut market just out side our hotel. I had pineapple waffles with coconut syrup and it was heavenly. The restaurants were all open like all the rest of the buildings which made me wonder what they did in the rainy season, but the locals told me that it has never really been a problem. There were chickens and roosters that walked freely all over the island, which I later learned was because they were accidentally set loose from a chicken farm a few years back and had since taken over the island. You could see them everywhere you went, even as you were sitting in a four star hotel, they would walk through as though they too were just enjoying the sites. This island gives new meaning to the joke “why did the chicken cross the road?”

I fell in love with the sites and smells of paradise as soon as I stepped foot into the sun. Every where you look there is a view worthy of photographing. I was in sensory overload the whole time I was there. It was easy to become drunk off of the experience of it all. The only feeling I could compare this to be falling in love. My head swam and I found myself swaying to tropical music at every turn. Life in a place like this is slow and stress free. The locals smiled warmly and were quick to laugh their big hearty laughs.
I’ve never gone anywhere and had people be that happy all of the time. I was told that the unemployment rate had risen in the last year to a whopping two percent! There were help wanted signs everywhere.

I am in love with that place. People wait their whole lives to have one day of that life, how lucky the people of Kauai are to have it every moment…. I can’t imagine a life where I was that happy all of the time. The romance of the place was dreamlike. I watched as a couple gently kissed as they walked out into the sun holding hands. They seemed to be sleepily walking as though in a fragile dream. Seeing the happiness in their stride made me long for a life like that. I’ve decided that one day, I am going to buy a one way ticket and never come back. I just have to finish college first…. J mahalo universe for showing me that