"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list": Hawaii!

This post is a bit overdue, but in October I headed to Hawaii for a little relaxation trip. One of my best friends, Amanda, lives out there for grad school, and she and her fiance were so accommodating and put me up for a whole week. Without the cost of a hotel, the trip was able to be really affordable.

I was able to do some really awesome things while out there. One of the number one things would be that I was able to go Scuba Diving! It's been a while since I had been able to go diving, and it was so cool to go. It was my first time diving out in the ocean rather than a spring or lake, so ti was a whole different feel. I saw about 15 sea turtles, an eagle ray, several eels, and tons of tropical fish and coral! I had a great time, and it was great that one of my dives was led by an amazing divemaster, Amanda!

We also did a really cool hike in O'ahu called Koko Head. The hike was about an hour long, and it was RIDICULOUS. Imagine an hour on a stairmaster in the heat and sun. THe views were totally worth it though. Plus the breeze at the top was really nice. I was so glad I did it, even though my thighs definitely weren't the next day!

Of course, since I was in Honolulu, I had to visit Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. It was really sad, but also really powerful. I think sometimes the war in the Pacific is overshadowed by the war in Europe, so it was really interesting to learn more about what happened leading up to and after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

We did several other fun things. We went boogie boarding, which was really awesome! The waves were huge! I visited the International Market, which reminded me a lot of shopping in Ghana, which was pretty funny. We did a drive around the city, where we checked out the Blowhole, the Byodo-In temple, a shrimp shack (yum!), and Sunset Beach, where we watched a beautiful sunset. And we spent a fun night dancing at an underground rave.