One type of paradise

I’m sitting in a studio apartment on the North Shore of Kauai, listening to the night sounds of insects outside this room and the nonstop whirr of multiple fans inside this room; there is no air conditioning. It’s the last night of this trip to Hawaii, my third visit to the state, and though I’m thinking partially of the adventures from this trip, I am also thinking of writing, and Wandering Introvert, and the summer’s looming end.

I’ve got something to say about all of them, but for now I just wanted to pop in, really, and say hello. Kauai, if you haven’t been here, is truly stunning. The ocean grabs on to every shade of blue and green available and tosses them all back out in rumbling, rolling waves; the mountains are covered with trees that jut and spire out at strange and untamed angles; the waterfalls barrel down great walls of canyon browns; the jungle bumps up against the beach, which runs headfirst into the water, which hungrily swallows the whole thing in a great, harmonious show.

It’s magnificent.

With only a few days here, I’ve tasted just a bit of this island, and look forward to returning. The next time I visit, I’d like to backpack, camp, wake up to the sounds of waves greeting the day as I look east to do the same. Not one to typically choose an island vacation as my first choice when it comes to traveling, I’m guessing I won’t be back here all that soon, but who knows? Hawaii has hooked itself into me in a way that no other tropical land has, so that the sense of deep calm I experience here has become something I crave.

I’m boarding a plane for the mainland tomorrow, heading back to my real life. I’ve neglected all sorts of things in the last week: emails, decisions, communication. It’ll come rushing back soon enough; in the meantime, I’m so grateful for these few days somewhere else, to remind myself of a part of me that sometimes seems to wander completely away. How nice to be reunited, in this place where beauty unfolds languidly before me at every long, slow, lazy turn.

With so much before me, it’s especially easy to say mahalo tonight.