A short trip is better than none at all. After five days exploring Maui’s beautiful coastlines and lighthearted culture this idea resonates with me more than ever.

My trip to Maui was a welcomed change from the frigid single digit temperatures I had experienced the last week in CO. Stepping off the plane and into the humid, open air terminal, I was immediately glad I’d decided to fit the trip into my hectic holiday schedule.

A need for contrast and adventure has dominated my life for years now and when I go too long without it, I begin to feel lost, disillusioned. I begin to forget what all this hard work is about (and why I’ve chosen to live my life in this fashion). I’m happy to say that Maui provided a strong dose of both. At least enough to get me through the holidays and to my next terminal, my next departure date.

The ocean, the culture, and the natural wonders are where I’m drawn in such a location. I dismiss 5-Star hotels for small, family owned rooms in Hana. I pass major tourist attractions and crowded streets for remote beaches, trails, and local restaurants. As a pisces I’m always drawn to the ocean but in Maui that desire gain more momentum and regularly drives my course of action. I watched the beauty and skill of pro surfers and windsurfers as they play, seemingly effortlessly, among the double overheads’ at Hookipa. I’m excited to pass the unmarked, barely noticeable dirt road that I know leads towards JAWS below. Any chance I get I immerse myself in warm purifying waters of the Pacific. I connect with nature, delighted when an ancient sea turtle clips me from behind sending my body onto the sharp coral below. The creature barely notices me, and moves along as quickly as he appears. I swim, I surf, and I cliff dive. I visit crystal pools on the Hana coastline too beautiful to describe and too special to name / publicize. I imagine these places have been this way for hundreds of years and I hope they never change. I try to etch these memories into my mind and hear the wisdom they contain. I make new relationships while deepening existing ones. I make love. Most of all, I live life. The trip is brief indeed but impact isn’t determined by time and duration. It’s determined by growth, connection, openness, and joy. It’s felt in these small, fleeting moments of realization and wonder, when you realize that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

With a stopover in LA I’m again headed back to Denver. Leaving LAX the plane circles out over the SoCal coastline and I take in the vast city below. I can actually see one of my previous residences out of the oval shaped window. Memories of that time and the many years I spent there flood over me in a wave of nostalgia. The memories are of another time. They represent another part of my life story…