An early Travel Bucket List Item
There are three things that fueled my desire to go to Hawaii very early in my life. The first is when my elementary school friend, Jill, went on a trip to Hawaii for Spring Break. The picture she showed me of her family being greeted with leis made an immediate impression on me. I guess I’ve always been into pretty flowers because I wanted a lei of my own.
The Brady Bunch connection
Then there was the Brady Bunch trip to Hawaii. The hula lessons, the surfing, the luau, I was all in! This also fueled my desire to add Hawaii to my Bucket List.
The final piece – Grease 2
Then there was the Hawaiian Luau from Grease 2. That pretty much put it over the top for me. Remember this dance scene?
Checking off the Bucket List
Last year, I had a chance to check Hawaii off my Bucket List when I went to Hawaii for my birthday and my husband arranged for us to have dinner at a luau on my actual birthday.
It was quite an amazing experience for all of the senses, as I show in this video. This video shows small excerpts but the full videos are shown below.
The full videos
Here are the full videos from the luau. I hope you enjoy them!
The three things I learned
It’s actually way more than three things but I’ll focus on three. First, is how when the white missionaries came to Hawaii, their diseases decimated the indigenous population. Second is how America literally invaded Hawaii and took it over by force. Finally, I learned how Indigenous Hawaiians have been treated, stripped of their land and marginalized like so many other people of color. I cover the sad truth in this TikTok video.
Did you know any of this Hawaiian history? What do you think about it? Drop me a comment.
