Kauai - A Review

Its been a solid 10 days that I've gotten to spend on the "Garden Island" of the Hawaiian island chain, and I'd consider that a good enough amount of time in order for me to offer some insights on my time spent in beautiful Kauai. I've been many unique and incredible places in my life. Greece's historical cities, Kenya's untamed Serengeti, London's bustling backwards-driving streets, Paris' elite restaurants, France's stunning countrysides, Germany's perfectionistic urban sprawls, New York City's every-man-for-yourself metropolis, Idaho's peaceful mountain-hidden lakes, Maui's gorgeous tourist traps, Hume's God-blessed atmosphere, Park City's untouchable ski resorts, Las Vegas' money and lust driven empire of selfishness, Los Angeles' traffic-ridden highways, and I happen to live in America's finest city; San Diego. Point is, I've been blessed to have traveled to an unfair portion of this stunning planet's locales. And of all those places, none have ever felt like Kauai. This island has a certain aura to it, something indescribable that takes hold of you from the moment it becomes visible out your aircraft's window and doesn't leave the back corner of your mind for what feels like it may very well be eternity. A connection is made with the lifestyle here; where the only freeway to carve its way across the varied landscape actually has two physical ends that you can reach within an hour and a half drive; where the speed limit never reaches anything over 50 miles an hour; where it rains every day for minutes at a time without warning while the sun is out. The people here are friendly; readily offering advice, conversation, and enjoyable times, regardless of what they may be out and about to do. They recognize what I feel almost the entire world has forgotten and thrown by the wayside: human to human interaction is what matters most. Not that people here are lazy, not in the least. But it seems like they have found the perfect mixture of life, work, and relaxation. And I admire them for it. This place does things to a person. I find myself ashamed that I am so incredibly internet oriented, so dependent on processors and endless sequences of code. God created an extensive world for us, and we've replaced it with a world of our own; intangible, but all-encompassing. It sucks us in, never letting go. And for our times away from our computers: smartphones. And for those that don't have them: Twitter and Facebook SMS feeds. I've never been more than a couple feet from my phone for years. Yet I found myself not wanting it here. I left it behind; forgotten on the dresser by my bed. The rugged beauty of the mountains astounds your intuition; the deep turquoise and blue of the ocean soothes your soul. The peerless majesty of the underwater world feet off the coast makes you gasp for breath; the mystery of the Na Pali coast makes you wish you had the physical ability to be the first to chart its unknown interior. And I didn't even have a chance to explore even a tenth of the Garden Isle's natural wonders. I've always been drawn to the sea; the power of the waves and surf as they angrily meet land has always been an intense match for the beating of my own heart; the infinite horizons a metaphor for my longing to pioneer the unknown and unseen. And for a place like Kauai to exist alone in the middle of the Pacific, ancient, lasting, and beautiful beyond words; it beckons to me. All the technology in the world, all the luxuries offered by man; they could never attempt to touch upon the peace and joy felt whilst taking in the sheer splendor of the jagged peaks of the long-extinct volcanic events of long ago as they become swarmed by clouds and spawn raging white waterfalls visible from miles offshore. This place.. it is unique. I can't do it justice with words and therefore will not try to. Just know that if you ever have the chance to visit this incredible isle of ancient mystery; you'll never be able to forget it. Like the famed island of Lost, it will always call to you; wishing you apon its shores once more for as long as you live.