Thoughts in Transit

Our month living on the Happiness Farm in Oahu, Hawaii

What we were listening to (lotssssss of Jack Johnson):

“No AC, no running water, just vibes.” This was one of those trips you know will be a core memory and full of stories you will be laughing about for years to come. From showering at the beach park, to smores with our Ukrainian work-for-stay neighbors, the memories we made during our time in Hawaii are my favorite and are truly what made this trip so special. 

Megan and I always dreamt of spending extended time in Hawaii, so when we had a free month before starting internships in June, we knew this would be the time to make it happen. We started recruiting friends to join us October of our Junior year, soon we had found a perfect farm house on the North Shore and made the deposit. We were heading to Hawaii for the month of May, along with 7 of our other friends. 

The girls that agreed to go with us, we knew from different parts of our life, so I was interested in how the dynamic of the group would work. Needless to say when you have 500 sq feet of space to share for a month, you get pretty close. At the start of our trip, Megan and I set a goal to be present as much as possible, as we knew this time would fly by fast and we would regret not doing so. We agreed to maximize our days, filling them each with new activities, and journaling about our time spent on the island, so we would have something to look back on. Throughout this blog post, you will find entries throughout our time there, as I feel like that was the most raw version of our experience. Although we have included a few of our recommendations, this blog post serves more as a scrapbook to commemorate our time spent in Hawaii with friends.

Link to Our Stay!

A few of our favorite activities/things to do:

• The Den for pilates
• Beach and coffee at Turtle Bay Ritz-Calton 
• Crouching Lion Hike 
• Koko Head (bring sleeping bags and camp at the top)
• Mermaid Caves for swimming 
• Lulumahu Falls, hike and skate
• Sunset skates, good place to watch people skate
• Waimano Falls, swimming and rope swing
• Boogie Boarding at Sunset Beach 
• China Walls for sunset and cliff jumping 
• Cliff jumping at Waimea Bay
• Watch surf at Rockpile or Gas Chambers 
• Vintage shopping on the weekends at Mele Mele 
• Snorkel at Makapuʻu Tide Pools
• Walk/run the North Shore Trail
• Sunset Beach for sunset 
• Coffee walk through the neighborhoods in Waialua
• Air mattress at Ke Iki’s beach
• Surfing at Puaʻena Point

Our favorite places for coffee/food:

• Surf and Salsa for taco tuesday
• Seven Brothers for the best burgers
• Mele Mele 
• The Birds Nest for the best coffee on Oahu
• Lucky’s 
• Surfers Coffee
• Poke at Foodland
• Banzai Bowls
• Elephant Shack for Pad Thai
• Celestial Natural Foods
• Down to Earth Organic & Natural 
• Farm to Barn
• Waialua Bakery and Juice Bar for sandwiches
• Makua Banana Bread

Journal Entry:

05/07/2025:

“Sofia and I landed in Oahu, Hawaii yesterday afternoon. It’s always such a strange feeling coming back to this place after spending so much time here. So familiar and exciting yet as I have been preparing to come back, this time for a month, I feel a sense of unfamiliarity. Having done a month-long program in Oahu 2 years ago, I knew I would somehow always find my way back to this island. While Hawaii is beautiful and I am captivated by the nature here, it also has become a place where I have grown personally in so many ways. It feels weird referring to it as a second home when I haven’t spent that much time here, but it honestly really feels like it. This island has grown and shaped me in so many ways, the people I’ve met here really make me feel like anything is possible, in many ways I feel like I have revealed pieces of myself and discovered more of myself here than anywhere else.

5/8/2025: 

Yesterday Chloe and Haley arrived, as expected their energy has begun to change the dynamic of our home. Chloe and Haley have a unique way of bringing light into every situation. We bought a couple of boards yesterday from a guy off of Facebook Marketplace and got this morning to enjoy this midseason swell in Haleiwa. It was nice being back in the water after being out for a while. I caught a few good waves and as I was on my way out of the water I stepped down near a reef and felt a shock of pain in my foot. I paddled out and got to shore when it became clear that I was stung by a sea urchin. The spikes were buried in my toe and caused a horrific amount of pain through my entire foot. I hobbled my way back to the car and ran into a man who appeared to be a local. I asked him about the severity of my foot, it turns out he too was stung by a sea urchin a few years back and the only solution is to: 

1. Soak it in vinegar 
2. Let the spikes dissolve in 5-7 days 
3. Let someone pee on it 

I will be happy to let you know I tried each solution. We ended up at Mele Mele, a bakery one of our friends, Evelyn works at. The coffee and bakery items were amazing and we sat outside on a picnic table reading our bibles and chatting with the little kids that played outside. We ended our afternoon tanning at Alligator’s beach and searching for sea turtles. We went back to the farm to change and enjoyed the time reading on the porch. Evelyn and Thea met us back at the farm, we grabbed a dos equis, some thai food from Elephant Shack and made it just in time to sunset beach to watch the surfers as the sun set. A perfect day in my opinion.

5/11/25: 

This morning we woke up to the power and water being off. All of our food had spoiled and we had no way of washing our face or brushing our teeth. Megan and I decided to surf, we drove to puenea and were surprised to see we were the only two out. I paddled out in an attempt to catch something, but the waves were not promising. I rode one white wash wave into shore and we headed home. I unfortunately had to sit outside for an hour waiting for the water to come back on. We got ready, picked up a coffee from the Bird’s Nest and made our way to Sunset Church. The service was one of the best I have been to, the worship was spirit led and everyone there was so kind. After church ended we piled up in the car and made our way down to Honolulu to visit the Botanical Gardens. We attempted to go to the dock close to the gardens but we were turned away from a worker, he actually told us that we would have to pay $500 to get access to the dock. We headed back to the house defeated and ended our night reading on our farmhouse porch. It truly was a great day.

5/12/2025: 

I have started to feel home here. It feels different from the last time I came, but in a really good way. It is such a testament of the Lord and the way His Will is always done to see the unity of this group during our time here. Sunset church has helped us find so much community. This morning Thea, Megan, Sofia, and I ran to The Bird’s Nest. Megan unfortunately got a bloody nose, but we all ended up at the coffee shop soon enough. The others drove to meet us. We were the only ones in the shop, we chatted and enjoyed the slow rainy morning in the shop. We bumped into a girl who works at Sunset Church and she reminded us of the woman’s night that was being hosted that evening. We gave her our word that we would be there and left the Bird’s Nest to head towards shark diving. I had done this two summers ago and it was one of the most life changing experiences I had, so I knew I had to do it again. We were able to score $100 off the whole boat just by booking it all out.

When we arrived on the boat we were met by three girls and one man who was our captain for the day, and two of the cutest kittens. We quickly started to  mingle with the workers. Soon enough we were gearing up and jumping into the water. Instantly, we were met with 5-7 sharks swimming around us. It felt like I was in a virtual reality stimulation. After about an hour of swimming with the sharks we hopped back on the boat and headed towards the bay. On our way in we saw a pod of dolphins showing off in the water. After shark diving, we hit up Banzai Bowls for a quick lunch break and ended up at our regular spot, Alligator’s beach. After three hours in the grueling sun, we headed back home ready to shower and rest. 

Much to our surprise when we arrived back at the farm our water had been shut off and was not expected to come back on until 5pm. It was 3pm. Our alternative route resulted in us driving to a nearby beach (Puaena point) where we knew had a public shower (if you can even call it that). We grabbed our bath towels, body wash, shampoo, and conditioner and headed for the shower. When we arrived no one was there, we quickly hopped in and started to wash my hair. As soon as I had put conditioner in my hair a line began to form from surfers and snorkelers who were seeking to wash off the sand from their feet but were instead met by 4 girls taking a full on shower. We stepped to the side in courtesy to let them rinse their feet off, but the line had only continued to grow. The wind was growing and we were in a vulnerable position so we just made ourselves right at home again and finished with our shower. We headed back home to get dressed and ready for womens night at Sunset Beach.

6/1/2025

“Why is it that we must always be so busy? We must keep ourselves so distracted with our endless to-do list, that we never sit in the stillness of life. Yet, in this stillness you’ll find that there are some people who have figured out how to romanticize the task of nothing. I want a life of still and slow moments. I want to think deeply about the world, but most importantly I want to have time to explore. I want the freedom to roam and be held back by nothing. No one counting on me to perform or provide. I want to live selfishly, at least for a little while. To have no commitments or constraints. To look into the future and have nothing planned. Nothing holding me down. I want to see a blank page as the possibility to do anything. I don’t have anything figured out. Marriage scares me, I desire to quit a job before I even start, I want to live out of a van and escape stability. Most times I feel I am being forced to grow up too fast. It seems like everyone around me has it figured out. Everyone has someone to love and be loved by. I fear that one day I’ll compromise my dreams and desires because I was scared of being alone. I’ll stay at a job I hate and work long hours, just surviving for the weekend. My days will be repetitive and begin to mesh together. And my life will flash before my eyes.”

Our time here was a time we will never forget and the memories made, we will always cherish. Haley, Bradie, Sofia, Morgan, and Chloe made this time unforgettable. If you ever have the chance to travel with your friends, definitely take it. There is nothing more beautiful than traveling with people you love.

“Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence.” Proverbs 27:9