sv evi

Taylor is my bonafide mermaid friend. She’s a spear fisher, surfer, free diver, wing foiler, artist, kid magnet, and chef. She’s also humble, kind, funny, and generous. When we parted ways in Fiji last summer, we both cried, along with Luz. We had been talking about trekking in Nepal for her 40th…then she decided she’d rather her friends come visit her in Kauai. I’d never been to Hawai’i before, and I was so excited to get to see her home and life there.

My trip from Langkawi, Malaysia to Hanalei, Kauai was very long (around 50 hours). I chose this flight because it was the cheapest, and it was on Alaska partner airlines, which would give me Alaska miles. Welp, I won’t make the mistake of flying the long way around the world again!! At least I didn’t have to be a parent on all those flights.

It started with in a stressful manner when my domestic flight from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur was delayed by an hour. The agent who checked me in raised her eyebrows when I said, “but I’ll still make my international flight, right?” On the short plane ride, I devised a plan to make my international flight (the first of three international flights: Kuala Lumpur to Doha, Qatar, then to Seattle, then to Lihue, Kauai). I decided to abandon my backpacking pack in the baggage claim carousel because I didn’t have time to wait for it. I texted my mom and sister Libby a list of clothes I would need to borrow for our backpacking trip on the Na’pali Coast Trail. I hoped that the airline would find my bag and keep it for me, but in the end, I thought: experiences are more important than things. So I ran for it. I ran to the train connecting the two terminals, and got to the check-in counter with 30 minutes before it closed. The immigration line was extremely long and slow, and I made my flight during the “final call for boarding”. Qatar Airways had free WiFi, which I used to email the AirAsia lost baggage folks. They confirmed that they had my backpack and would keep it until I returned 12 days later. Whew! I slept in a sleep capsule in the Doha Airport, then continued to Seattle. In Seattle, Mom picked me up, and we met Libby, Celeste and Julian for dim sum at Jade Garden. Mmmmm, delicious!

I arrived at 10:30 pm to Kauai, and we drove about an hour to get to Taylor, Brad, and Rex’s house.

I slept for 12 hours that night! The following day we ambled around the property, admiring flowers, picking avocados, and taking a dip in the river.

The next few days were full and relaxing: we got massages from Taylor’s friend Summer; I tried surfing; we went to Taylor’s yoga class (that she teaches) then stayed for the Honey Pop class that involved lots of booty shaking, lunges, and sweating; we went to the restaurant she started and sold Sushi Girl; we went out for Taylor’s birthday dinner and got the royal treatment at the sushi bar.

And then, the highlight of the trip was our backpacking trip on the Na’pali Coast Trail to Kalalau Beach. It was an intense 11 miles, as we forded rivers in the rain, climbed up and down steep slopes on slippery mud, and traversed Crawler’s Ledge in strong winds. We arrived just at sunset to Kalalau Beach.

Kalalau is a magical place. The water source for the campsites is a waterfall with a small pool at its base! There are so many steep ridges on the mountainsides rising up behind the beach.

The scenery was just phenomenal!! Wow. Such a stunning place. I felt so grateful to Taylor for bringing me there. Here are some more photos…

After 2 nights at Kalalau Beach and a mellow day swimming in the river and napping, we hiked 11 miles back out….in time for me to catch the 11:30 pm redeye back to Seattle. Ma picked me up at the airport, and I slept for 4 hours in her apartment. My trip home went smoothly until the final flight from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi kept getting delayed…by two hours, by two more hours, by two more hours. Finally, I just said I would sleep in a hotel and take a flight in the morning. In the morning, my flight was on time, and I collected my luggage. It was sooo nice to arrive back home to my family and the boat. Unfortunately both bags’ contents were soaked. Oh well. Just things in the end.

A big shout out to Riki for holding the fort down with all parenting duties so I could have my luxury mom vacay in Hawai’i! Also to Brad, who was full-on parenting Rexie so Taylor could gallivant around with her friends. 🙂