Visiting Pearl Harbor is a must do in Hawai’i whether you’re a tourist or a resident. And while there are endless blogs and Youtube videos regarding experiencing the USS Arizona, I still won’t hesitate to share mine. I’m a person who really loves and enjoys history, not just as a pastime, but as a traveler, it allows for deeper meaning, understanding, and appreciation when I make it to a place. It’s an learning experience I have taken with me across historic sites in Europe to the isolated atolls of the Central Pacific. Visiting the USS Arizona, was one of those places right here in my current island home of O’ahu.
I have visited Pearl Harbor once before but only visited the submarine Bowfin as well as the Aviation Museum. But a few days ago amidst the barricades of the coronavirus pandemic, I found it a priority to make the simple trip to a site that is so simple to visit. Like anyone else would, I entered the visitors center, put my name on the wait list, & waited 30 minutes before hopping on a Navy operated boat bound for the memorial for the sunken USS Arizona. Arriving at the Memorial is a smooth disembarking experiences walking up a handicap ramp and into the white structure that is in place of a memorial hovering right over the sunken hull as if you’re hovering over the resting place of over a thousand souls from the attack of Dec 7 1941.
While I can write a post about walking in and around the memorial, I really wanted to emphasize the importance of one thing: MINDFULNESS. The memorial was built and completed in 1962, and structurally composed to create an experience for the visitor and that is exactly what it was for me, an experience. The space and design of the memorial allows you to take in the loss experienced during the attack and what remains of the hull underwater to a point of being overwhelming to the spirit. At the rear of the memorial and to the port side of the Arizona, are all the names of those perished. Here is where I broke down, cried, and truly felt the experience that should be had here. The combination of the aesthetics of the memorial and the education I’ve attained of the attack, it brought me to the moment I felt was necessary for the visit.
That’s really it honestly! Simple of a post that reflects the simplicity of this visit. If you ever make it to O’ahu and plan to visit the USS Arizona, try and educate yourself on the attack itself. And then when you go, take a step back from yourself and your trip, and take it all in….for the experience!
July – October: 2020 A Few months before joining a hālau, I had a vision of things I wanted to experience in Hawai’i, 5 of them in particular. I uploaded a Tiktok highlighting 5 Cultural Experience I would like to have while living in Hawai’i and received the most incredible replies from the local community. From “Mahalo for caring for our culture” to “we need more people like you”. Out of the many, a few tried to convince me to join a hālau hula, basically a school that teaches hula. Why a hālau? Because it will teach you nearly every aspect there is to Hawaiian culture. And if there is any one thing about Hawai’i that has maintained and preserved Hawaiian culture so strongly, it’s HULA. One of the replies would be from one of the members of the current hālau I am in.
He said, “Honestly, I think you’re the only one that comes here for the right reasons. U Wanna join a hālau hula? Let me know, we are always looking for warriors.” We would exchange messages via Tiktok’s messaging service. I would ask innocent questions about monthly fees, location of practice, what a kumu does and such and so forth. He asked about me, where I am from and how long I’ve been here will putting in word with his kumu to arrange a meet. With covid rampant, I suggested a Zoom meet, and that’s when I met my future kumu.
Sept. 9: Yesterday I was in a zoom with a kumu (leader) of a Hula hālau (hula school) to get to know me and to know more about the hālau. I posted a Tiktok a couple of months ago sharing the top cultural experiences I wanted to have in Hawai’i and connected with so many people in the Hawaiian community. One of these people would be the one to gracefully invite me in as “we are always looking for warriors.” Because of covid, there isn’t too much hope in checking it out and getting started but I can’t wait for that day where I get a chance to dive deeper into Hawaiian culture. No better way to do it than join a hālau.
The second coronavirus outbreak on O’ahu was a difficult and trying time with a high infection rate and high stress. Hula practice was out of the question as parks were closed and this hālau practices in a park. But once the pandemic settled on O’ahu, I found myself attending my first practice on their hula mound and would start a journey of one of the greatest experiences of my travels thus far.
“I can’t wait to travel when things go back to normal” is what I’ve heard a million times via social media. In my honest opinion, what the hell will normal be after Covid? A different one for sure is all I could say! I can’t wait to travel and hit the open road like I did pre-covid. But to be completely honest, even if vaccines are rolling out tomorrow (totally rolling out right now), it will take a long time for things to go back to how they used to be. What I mean is, having open borders across the board and having that freedom to roam. In my eyes, this next year might allow us to see travel again but not all borders will open up. Which had me question myself, what 5 destinations would I chose to visit IF all 5 fully opened up for travel. What places would I specifically choose to travel to not just for the sake of travel, but for a mental rebalance minus some of the strains of issues you might find in certain places? Like visa issues, scams, robberies, overprices tours. A place where the destination was simply all you needed. I have chosen 5 places, one-offs and short extended trips I would take for that post pandemic mental reset.
Here we go:
Alaska
Credit: thealaskalife.com
I am a little biased in this one as living in Hawai’i gives me a head start on a direct flight from the middle of the Pacific to the top of North America. But aside from my location advantage, there is something so overwhelmingly mysterious about Alaska in general. From it’s vast beautiful wilderness in the interior and islands to the cultures of it’s many tribes. It would not only be a badass place for a road trip in the right weather, but some incredible exploration in those national and state parks.
Bhutan
Credit: Brittanica
Bhutan is interesting as it’s the only country in the world to charge a fee per day to be a tourist in the country. $250USD per day allows you to be in Bhutan, allows you a personal guide, & accommodation. While this doesn’t allow for open ended travel freedom I would want post covid, I think it would still make for a fantastic one-off kind of trip in “the happiest country in the world.” My budget barely would allow for 4-5 days, but still….I would definitely go!
Azores Islands
Credit: Indietraveller
Maybe I have a thing for volcanic islands, let alone islands period. I mean I live in Hawai’i haha. The Azores islands are a volcanic archipelago similar to Hawai’i but part of Portugal. There are a total of 9 major islands and most of which have some incredible hiking trails and beautiful coastal scenery. There is also a strong spirituality I’ve found with volcanic destinations that has personally allowed me to cleanse my soul. So yea, this would be the perfect destination to shed the weight of a tough year and take it all in.
Faroe Islands
Credit: guidetofaroeislands
I hate places overhyped by social media, but if there is any exception to this for me other than Norway & Iceland, it’s the majestic out of this world beauty that the Faroe Islands have to offer. Faroe Islands aren’t very large but seems to be that the major islands are well connected by highways, bridges, and tunnels which make for one incredible road trip in a short period of time. And of course, those out of this world photographic stop offs overlooking jagged cliffs and inlets……😯 !!!!!!
New Zealand
Credit: Trail Explorers
For those who follow me already know that I have lived in New Zealand. And I am not hesitant to say that I am biased in this choice but I am. New Zealand is considered by many in the corner of the world and it is. This corner of the country is filled with endless beauty of high mountains, rolling hills, volcanoes, beaches, fjords, glacier lakes, subtropical rain forests, and Maori tradtion if culture is also your thing. Most importantly, there is so much land to simply enjoy and take in literally everywhere. Department of Conservation campground are nearly everywhere and set up for those avid outdoors people to campout or rv to take in all the nature. New Zealand was one of the best life decisions I’ve ever made, and wouldn’t hesitate to make it again.
To be honest and a tad bit realistic, this list would be much much longer but then that would be more of a discussion over coffee than a blog post. After all, this voyager could talk about the whole world. But for the sake of mental health, psychological balance, and a first step before transitioning RIGHT INTO world travel, I feel like trips like this in places like these would do justice for the soul after a hard year.
Road to Taranaki, New Zealand
Where would you go post pandemic to reset your travel soul?
As I typically like to write posts that are aimed to benefit the reader, whether it’s tips, insight, or simply photos of a place or experience, I guess this is more of a long over due journaling sort of a deal. And if any of you out there have been away from home during the pandemic and miss home, this is for you. For those just reading because you enjoy my content, ALOHA. Here it goes…
Frisco Airport..En route to the Carolinas from Honolulu
April 2017, I set off what would be an extended open ended voyage that would bring me to X & Y plus Z ….Z being New Zealand. With the possibility of returning home, the intention was one way with a great chance of not coming back home for a while. I had traveled across the USA by train, hitched Big Island Hawai’i, got injured, stayed here (Hawaii), left for a year in New Zealand, five additional months across the Pacific Islands & at the time of writing, been two years of living in Hawai’i. My intended path beyond that included additional Pacific Islands I haven’t been to yet and Australia with a foggy vision of far Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, etc etc.
That path has obviously changed dramatically having falling in love along the way calling Hawai’i home and a resting ground to save funds while also admittingly finding a belonging in the land of Hula. But after a point, I knew there was a time I had to go home to visit. After all in December 2019, it had been two and a half years since I left home and my family.
PANDEMIC STRIKES China that same month, and the months following, pandemic would straddle the globe with tight grips. Borders closed and hopes to travel again went from 10 to 0…FAST! I could have visited home prior to the pandemic but sacrificed that to tap on extra travel funds I needed. But add the stresses and anxieties of the pandemic with lockdowns, negative news, social distancing, quarantine showering on a daily basis, even that hope to see family fell through.
Last month I made the choice to go home not only because I needed to use vacation. And not only to see my family again, but my spirit & soul was longing for it for far too long. Early November, I caught flight from Honolulu-San Francisco-Chicago-Asheville & an hour drive later, I made it home. Nearly four years had gone by and I hadn’t been back. It was like my room was stuck in 2017 and my mind and spirit had experienced 10 years of travel and life in a matter of three and a half years. If that doesn’t make sense, read this quote:
So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.
Terry Pratchett
I got to see my family after a year since they came to Hawai’i. But nothing is like being with them within the confined of your home. We have three dogs, two of which i missed insanely, and one I had met for the first time. Two cats I also reconnected with, one of them being my dear Goldi, my cat I rescued 10 years ago in Florida. I walked in the house and before I could call her name, she cried out for me. like not a day went by for three and a half years. We enjoyed outings like a short hike, a couple of restaurant favorites for me to try, a drive up the mountains, and a short getaway to Dollywood in Tennessee. (I’m still shocked we did that with rising COVID cases.)
But it’s not what we did and where we went that I was anticipating the most. It was the Anthony Perez, personal, deep rooted re-centering of self kind of trip I was anticipating and needed for so got damn long. Arriving home the first few days was just weird and obviously felt so out of place. My old car I had sold to my step dad went from 70,000 miles to 125,000. Several lots in the community had been built on or cleared for building. My room had been rearranged and cleared up to make dusting as easy as possible. Having gone through endless bins, drawers, clothes, and shelfs to get rid of shit I really didn’t care to have anymore.
It was this deep cleaning and hard work that really allowed me to go to the core of my very existence. Reminders of myself, why I am here, and what purposes I serve in life. I had gone through so many things I’ve saved in my life, from homework assignments in elementary, Six Flag stuffies, coin collections, books, photos, old harddrives, & my favorite of all, 9 years worth of travel I had brought back home or shipped home to keep. From beer bottles with sand, pamplets, magnets, maps, international currency, you name it. It was these moments scattered across 15 days back home that brought me so much peace during a time of chaos. But even without the Pandemic, sometimes in order to know where we wish to go, we need to look back at where we have been. And this trip defined that on so many levels.
Here are some pics of basically, some of my life.
Some of my early blogging hahaha
I can live anywhere in the world, from Portland, Oregon to the banks of the Nile in Egypt, there truly is nothing like home and not only the peace you can have in a vibrant world, but the re-centering of who you are. Leaving home was hard as saying goodbyes has always been difficult. But overall, I felt some semblance of completion. I have no idea what future travel will look like for me, where and when that will happen. All I know is, is that when that time comes, I will be ready!
Transferwise is an innovating resource that allows for ease and time efficient money transfers from one bank account to another, domestic or international. Founded in London in 2010, over the course of the past decade, it has grown to become one of the leading money transfer tools of the time.
When & How Many Times I’ve Used Transferwise
From personal experience, I have so far only transferred money four times. But enough to love and trust this service.
NZD to Euros, once
NZD to AUD, once
NZD to USD, twice
(Note: My visa ended in New Zealand and needed to get my money home somehow 😀 )
First things first: Is it safe?
This was the initial question that held me back the first time I needed a transfer and it cost me 140USD doing a bank to bank wire transfer when it could have cost me maybe 10USD. Transferwise is a highly reputable company backed by many large named investors such as one of the founders of Paypal. It’s legit!!!
Lets say you are a Canadian planning to live about a year in the U.K.. You obviously have a Canadian bank and plan to open a British one. You have your British bank set up but want to have starter funds from home before you start working let’s say (Or you want to buy a car and would be easier to pay with funds in a British account). You send money from the Canadian to Transferwise’s designated temporary bank account for holding. Once Transferwise receives these funds, they will send those funds off to the bank in the U.K..
That’s it!
Currencies Available to Send/Receive
Screenshot of Currencies available (May 2020)
Fee’s and Costs
I cannot simply write what the fees are as they vary but I’ll just say that it’s affordable to use Transferwise in comparison to a bank to bank wire transfer which can be very expensive. In fact I believe it is the cheapest option (Correct me if I am wrong but I am confident on that). Costs are dependent on where you are sending from and where the money is going. Also depends on how you are sending:
Bank Debit (ACH) – What I’ve Used
Wire Transfer
Debit Card
Credit Card
Inputing amount I wanted to send with breakdown of everything.Example of fees depending on how you send the money and it’s delivery date.
Note: Before I started using Transferwise, I transferred 2,000 USD to NZ via Bank to Bank wire transfer and cost me $150 USD in fees. I eventually transferred three times more of this back from New Zealand to US and only cost me around $22 USD. INSANE!!!!
(Note 2.0: Xoom is another money transfer service that seems to not have fees. The thing is, Paypal is a rough credibility with scams. Call me biased, but no thanks)
How long it takes?
Time to transfer money can be quick and easy but individual bank institutions can be responsible for longer durations. With that being said, the times I’ve used Transferwise, it took approximately 2-3 days from bank A to bank B. New Zealand to Australia took 2 days to no surprise. And the two from New Zealand to the US took 3 days on one transfer and 5 on the other I think because of the time of day I had sent it.
(Personal Note: The transfer to Euros didn’t matter. As long as the money was sent from me to the captain of the sailboat I was on for 19 days. Had to pay for my usage and stay somehow 🙂 )
Why I Use It
I am a world nomad, and if anything has been the most complicated in my travels, it’s getting my money sorted from border to border. Having lived in New Zealand temporarily and with intentions on living in far flung places whether for a few months to over a year, I now have no fear of having to deal with hurdles and high fees just to have my money. With that being said, Transferwise has become my number one go to platform and resource to get my money from home away from home to…my home home :). It’s fast, cost efficient, reliable, easy to use, and best of all, it’s safe.
If you’re interested in trying out Transferwise, click the image below. This is an affiliate link and any services used through this link will support me in every way.
