I'm absolutely still swooning from our 2-week long Hawaiian excursion and coming home to the bare branches certainly has me missing the swaying palm trees. I thought I'd keep the warm vibes fresh and take you through a mini-tour of the highlight experiences. I'll do a completely separate post dedicated to the delicious things we ate too, promise!

1. Volcanoes National Park

The Big Island of Hawaii? or mars? It legit feels like another planet on parts of this oasis. It goes from straight-up jungle to vast, barren, cindery lava rock in an instant and then back to jungle - over and over.

I really enjoyed learning about the power of Pele the Hawaiian Volcano Diety while taking in the massive impact of her elemental forces - this absolutely wild landscape. Her energy is everywhere.

The park is endless and you could easily spend days here exploring. We saw Kilauea, Mauna Loa and snow-coverd Mauna Kea, visited the steam vents, walked through a lava tube and strolled along the sulfur banks (yes, super stinky, but unlike anything I've ever seen). It's was an amazing experience.

We were limited on time so we booked Isaiah to help us hit the good stuff. He met us early and guided us to volcanoes and through a lava tube - sending us on our way in the afternoon with plenty more to explore in the park and on the island.

Zay was incredibly knowledgable and personable - it's easy to see he has a genuine connection with the land and love for his work.

I rate my tour guide on how good their snacks are - clearly he slayed! We got the lowdown on coconuts and sipped both, fresh and fermented coconut water - then he split open the fermenting coconut, sharing that they have the best meat for eating - it made for a tasty post hike snack.

We can't wait to hit him up the next time we roll through. If you're headed to the Big Island - hit him up at sendit.squarespace.com

Explore via youtube shorts with me:

Volcanoes National Park

steam vents

walking through a lava tube

sulfur banks