Twila and I have always enjoyed traveling. Being photographers and writers, a cool trip often gives us a new topic… or at the very least – inspiration. So when we were hired to do some work in Hawaii… a place we never expected to visit… how could we say no?!
We spent weeks planning the trip… which was mostly finding great shoot locations there as our flight, lodging and rental vehicle was taken care of for us. Sadly, the planning was more fun than the doing. Don’t get me wrong… Hawaii was one of… if not the most… beautiful place we have ever traveled to shoot pictures. But, to be honest, as they say… “It just wasn’t all that!”
First is the long flight. For being part of the US, it is a long, long, long way away. I don’t like sitting still in my office chair for an hour… much less five or six hours on a totally packed airplane.
The local people seem to still hold a grudge about being made part of the US. They seem thrilled to have our money for visiting but they would be a lot happier if we would just stay home and mail it to them.
Speaking of money… thank God I wasn’t paying for everything! A normal breakfast for the two of us was over $50 and the two decent dinners we got to eat were each over $150. We ate at our favorite fast food restaurant in Hawaii more than we do when we are here. But not because of money.
If you have ever heard someone laughing at a small town saying they roll up the sidewalks at sunset… well, that’s Maui. We were shooting pictures most mornings at sunrise. No big deal. We could stop by the fast food place or eat a late breakfast at our villa. But dinner was a totally different story. The entire place seems to shut down between 8pm and 9pm. We were usually shooting pictures at sunset, which was around 8pm, so by the time we got back to the villa, grabbed a shower and put the camera batteries on charge… well, the restaurants were all closed and it was fast food, here we come.
There’s lots more but I won’t try your patience here. If you want to see Hawaii… have at it. But for my money, I’ll just enjoy my wonderful home state of Kentucky… unless someone wants to pay us to visit the Grand Canyon. Wonder if there’s a fast food restaurant near the rim?
