Here Today, Gone To Maui...

Well I have gone and done it, I picked up my life and I moved to Maui. This is perhaps the most difficult thing I have ever done...and yet I would have thought that moving from the mainland to Kauai 3 years ago would have held that position, but it does not. This has been the most difficult few weeks I can ever recall, both physically and emotionally...

I don't mean to brag, but I am going to because I have kicked ass these past few weeks. I packed 22 boxes of personal belongings, 4 suitcases and various artwork to be shipped via barge along with my car, let it be noted that I packed every single item in my home on my own with no help. That would have been enough to say that I was exhausted and entirely over the process of moving. 

But that was only the first step. I flew in to Kahului roughly 72 hours ago. I got off the plane, and because I could not ship my things too early because Young Brothers, the inter-island transport company, does not hold items for more than 48 hours, I was unsure whether my vehicle or personal belongings would be here...but I called them when I landed, 4 suitcases and 2 boxes in tow, and my vehicle, Keanu, had arrived and was ready for pickup. My 22 boxes and other items were also here. I had arranged while still on Kauai via someone I found on Craigslist to meet me at the port when my things were ready, so they could help me transport and carry all my boxes up to my 3rd floor apartment at 'Melrose Place.' No elevators, I knew I would need help...so by that first afternoon, I had all of my possessions in my little apartment on the 3rd floor. Success. 

Next morning I woke up and realized that I could not unpack because I had no furniture whatsoever...I had a bed and that was it. I needed a nightstand and dresser, not to mention a sofa, dining table and tv...but first things first, I had made an appointment for cable to come out and be installed, so by 9am that first morning my network was up and running. Success.

No food, I had to go out to breakfast and make a plan...I decided to go to this store that I had seen advertise a few furniture pieces for sale on Craigslist that stated they would deliver for a nominal charge...that was a huge issue for me, getting the furniture to my place. So I went there, Maui Family Furniture, and I told Leisha the manager what I needed...I looked at furniture, we put together mixed pieces, and I had all of it in my house an hour later. Success.

I unpacked. I unpacked everything. I got my entire life out of the boxes I had placed and wrapped them in, nothing, not a single thing broken or damaged, everything in its place. 48 hours later. Success.

Today I went to Walmart, horrible but necessary trip to get the little things that didn't work, the little other things I needed. Done. My little apartment feels like a nice flat, it feels comfortable, it will be my home for a little bit. Success. 

I start my new job on Monday, but at least I know I can come home to comfortable personal space. I am so tired, but I feel entirely triumphant in my accomplishment the last few days. 
I kicked ass. 


I want to give credit to those people who did help me...in Kauai there was Judi, Jana, David, Bobby, Kelly, and here in Maui, Andy, Sheena and Adrian...Adrian is a 15 year old who lives here in my building and saw me when my feet were aching trying to take boxes down to recycling...he asked me if I needed help and I almost started crying...yes, yes I need help...I was pushed to my physical and emotional limits these past few weeks and a 15 year old boy, a stranger, helped me to the finish line...

I have time now to reflect, a few days with my family who arrives tomorrow for the week. I start a new job on Monday, I am here, today in Maui. A new chapter begins...

Security

Security...at one point in my younger life this is all that I wanted, to be secure and taken care of. I am today officially without job, actually in between jobs, but still, today I am not employed. My car, Keanu, has been dropped off at the port along with most all of my belongings...I hope to be picking them up in Maui next week, but until then I am without job, car, or any possessions...I am free today. I have nothing today, but I am free...

Correction. I have something. As my dear friend Anne Stone pointed out to me recently when I shared with her that I didn't have a penny, she reminded me, "but Malathy, you have the ability to make a penny..." And it is in this that I suppose I have security, the security and confidence in myself, the knowing that I know how to survive and get along and thereby have the security I need and want in my life. I suppose that is my security, I am my own security.
I have always wanted to be taken care of, but I have learned here in Kauai that I can take care of myself...and perhaps that is what I leave here with. I have had wonderful and happy times, but lonely and sad times also, and I have taken care of myself.



So I have always wanted security, and I suppose that through this journey that is my life, I have found that I can create the security that I need, while still having the freedom I need to live and experience my life...not bad, not bad at all...#iammyownsecurity #maui # yolo

Island Hopping

“I give you this to take with you:
Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can
begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting.”
― Judith Minty, Letters to My Daughters

I sit in my home today taping together boxes and beginning the process of packing my life up once again. I don't have much, I have created a fairly streamlined existence, I have clothing and shoes, some kitchen items, artwork and a few things I have collected here on the island...I have been here on Kauai for 3 years now, and it is time for me to leave. I am not making a huge change, I shall be moving to Maui in a few short weeks, but as I reflect on my time here I have very mixed feelings about my move, it is a move that is absolutely necessary at this time, but a move that is also very bittersweet. I built a life for myself here, a fulfilling new career, I have made friends, I have had love, I have made memories that shall stay with me as I move on to my next chapter...

Many friends and family have come to visit me here and catch a glimpse of what my reality is like in Kauai. Some have been accepting and curious, some have judged, but nonetheless, I have learned so much about myself here, have had the opportunity to allow people into my life that wouldn't have otherwise been a part of my life if I was not here on the island, and for that I am grateful. 


But it is time for reentry, no need to be so isolated anymore, I am far too outgoing and social of a person to not be around people and have the level of stimulation that I am missing. I lived a simple life here, because that is the life to be led here...but I am ready for a bit more complexity and engagement. I have found my new Bikram yoga studio in Maui, I have found a new place to live (I shall call it Melrose Place), and I am looking forward to my next chapter. 
Here I go again...#yolo #maui #newchapter

Reflections

I am unsure how it is more than half way through the calendar year...where is my reflection? I had a strict writing schedule when I first started this endeavor of writing and blogging the events of my life and more importantly the reflection of events in my life as they were happening. I was writing an entry once a week, reflecting on the huge changes in my life and lifestyle and was highly cognizant of these changes as they were occurring.

And then something changed, something happened along the way...I became a player in my own life and I started living in it...it became more interesting to simply live and be alive than to reflect on the changes and observations that were to be made. Sometimes living is just funner. 

But it is my nature to reflect, and as I look to this blog, I think to myself, isn't this what #yolo is all about? Living in the moment, being caught up in the everyday and taking it all in? The emotions are real...the happiness, the sadness, the successes, the challenges...life is happy sometimes, sad sometimes, challenging, frustrating and fulfilling. My daughter graduated from college this year, my son is having his own successes in his young career...and I am here on my island, living a life I created for myself, a life that I have carved out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

It is a different life than I have had in the past, but it is my life...I created the fork in my own road, and I am happily on a different path now. I am living, I am trying to not take my moments for granted, I am trying to not fall into a pattern of complacency that so easily can overcome us and make our life's opus monotone...I want a symphony, I want to hear the melody and harmonies and overtones. I want to feel the nuances. #reflections #livinginthemoment #yolo

Who Says This Princess Can't Rough It?!

A tale of trying to embrace the moments that define your life...

One of the many benefits of my job is the opportunity to take advantage of doing the various activities and excursions available here in Kauai. I happened to have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off work because of how the holidays fell this year and I had no plans for Christmas Eve. I thought I would go out whale watching on the south shore...but when I called they said they only had availability on the raft snorkel and whale watching excursion out on the Napali Coast. Mind you, on a catamaran and in the summer, this is one of my favorite excursions, but in a raft in the winter and with a big swell coming in I was not sure if this is how I wanted to spend my Christmas Eve...but YOLO kicked in and I scheduled my excursion in spite of my fears...

I am not a confident ocean swimmer, I enjoy the luxuries and comfort of a large catamaran, I enjoy a restroom on my boat, and the idea of being in a raft on the Napali with a big swell was terrifying. And up at 5:00am and driving across the island I was consumed by all of these thoughts...

Good news, cute and charming crew...bad news, this is really a small raft, only 9 passengers and we all have to sit on the rubber side of raft and hold onto a rope so as to not fall off the boat into the ocean. Did I mention there is a swell that came in today? And off we went, out of the small boat harbor in Port Allen out into the ocean on a rubber raft. Almost immediately we saw spinner dolphins. There would be wind later in the day, so the captain, Manu, made the decision for us to snorkel early in the trip, so we stopped to snorkel on the way up. Last time I snorkeled on Napali I couldn't stay in the water very long as there was too much motion in the ocean...but I was willing to try again and I jumped into the water and snorkeled all around, saw lots of beautiful fish, the water was nice and clear, and I had such a wonderful time being in the water.

Now off to Napali, dodging waves and riding them, thrilling and exciting and glorious. It was sunny and warm, and I felt exhilarated, and at that moment I realized I had a topic about which to write again...#yolo.

Napali Coast, but coming in and out of swell and waves...Manu was carefully gaging the waves and swell to see if he could get us into any caves and we finally managed to get into two sea caves...a catamaran can't do that! The cathedrals of the Napali are even more spectacular and awesome from the raft. Heading back we found whales and sat and had sandwiches on the raft watching whales dance.


What a fantastic way to spend a day! What an amazing and blessed way to spend a Christmas Eve day...#napalicoast #sunshine #whalewatching #princessdidgood #yolo
 

Sydney

#YOLO? Hashtag YOLO? That is the question I was asked by a fellow Bridge Climb Sydney group climber from Florida when I shared how I happened to be living in Kauai, how I sold my home and my car and all my possessions and bought a one-way ticket with no job or home to the island.
And how I happened to be on holiday in Sydney by myself climbing the Harbour Bridge, even though I cannot bring myself to climb a ladder at home. Yes, #YOLO.
And though I normally do not use hashtags, nor do I really understand what their purpose or use really is, thus came about the name of my new blog, on vacation, that will chronicle how I have the intention, whether always apparent or not, to live my life in this #yolo mindset.

At peak of Sydney Harbour Bridge!

In May, after his MBA graduation, my son told me how he hated people his age that said "YOLO."
And I shared with him then that I was in fact, entering a mindset that would hopefully allow me to do that...after all, I told him, "son, you just graduated with your MBA, your sister is graduating college next year, my work here is done. YOLO." Not only do I not use or quite understand hashtags, I only recently had heard of the term YOLO...the addition of the hashtag makes it perfect.

Sydney, Australia. Alone. I have never really had an interest to go to the land down under...but I figured that I ought to use the fact that I am sitting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and work for a hospitality company to my advantage. I knew relatively little about Australia, except that it houses the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef and is the land of aborigines and walkabouts, and a country that is also a continent. All relatively interesting, but not intriguing enough to be on any sort of travel "list" for me. Until my neighbor and landlord earlier this year


had suggested to me when I told her I wanted to travel to Thailand, that I go to Sydney instead and stay at the Westin. She had stayed there and said it was the nicest hotel she had ever stayed at, and that she knew I would love Sydney.
Its culture, its people, its restaurants and shopping, its sights and its sounds, all would contribute to what would become a memorable and extraordinary experience and vacation.

Milly and Motla from Botswana

Hunter Valley Wine Country Tour with Richard Everett

I met a woman, Milly, the President of the Botswana Red Cross, newly appointed to the International Board of Red Cross, I met a young man who had spent the last four years of his life traveling the world, I met wonderful young people from Florida visiting Sydney for a college friend's wedding, Bikram yogis from down under, I met gentlemen and cads, I met people from England, Chile, Colombia, Germany, The Netherlands, and New Zealand, and of course, Aussies themselves.

University of Florida Gator Bridge Climb Crew

I thought of sharing and documenting every event and experience I had on my journey, but instead I wanted to capture and share the feelings and emotions that those events and experiences created for me. For that is what travel does for a person's soul, it enlightens them, it enriches them and it gives them a connection to the world, and ultimately a connection to themselves.

Peter my Bridge Climb Guide

Travel is an immersion into another culture or subculture, and also a mirror into our own being and soul. There is a thrill in seeing and being inside the Sydney Opera House, an architectural landmark, but it is the feeling and emotion that being there arouses in you that you take with you...and that is what was magnificent about this trip. I had so many of these type of experiences that churned instantly into emotions and feelings of elation and joy and passion and appreciation and gratitude for my life. An excursion to the Hunter Valley, a daunting climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a visit inside the Opera House, walks through a clean and beautiful city to Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, a stroll through Hyde Park to Surry Hills and Darlinghurst, amazing international dining, a ferry ride to Manly Beach, a visit to Bondi Beach and a picturesque coastal walk, bars and pubs and yoga and shopping...all of which I take with me.

And this is how travel is life-changing, for I will forever carry the emotions and feelings of these experiences with me as I move forward in my life journey...and I aspire to create more of such experiences to propel me forward. #sydney #downunder #yolo