I recently returned from a vacation in Maui with my family. Unlike most vacations, this one was an impulse purchase, the result of a Saturday morning conversation that my husband had with a friend who was headed to Maui shortly. What started off innocently as a "How much does airfare cost?" and "When can you see the whales?" soon became a focused search on Orbitz to find the best package deal. A few hours later, we had our tickets and an itinerary that fit our sons’ school schedule, the timing of humpback whale migration, and our desire to swap the cold and snow for warm waves and the beach.
Four days in paradise is just too short. The reality of cost and time make it a sure thing that we won’t be visiting again this year. And when I think about what made the trip so enjoyable, I realize much of it can be traced back to simple things. So if I can’t go back to Maui anytime soon, here’s how I can bring it into daily life:
The Gift of Smell. The air in Hawaii is distinctively sweet with subtle fragrances of tropical flowers. My best souvenirs were cubes of soap with the smells of native flowers–tuberose, vanilla orchid, and plumeria. I keep a cube on my night stand and one in my office.
Identify the smells that evoke your own pleasant memories of being on vacation and find the closest substitute. With the Internet, purchasing what you want is just a few clicks away.
The Gift of Sound. Every morning, we were awakened to the sounds of birds chirping, many of which we had never heard before. Punchy wake-up calls that piqued our interest. I had forgotten how nice it is to hear birds. The winter in Colorado, devoid of feathered friends except for the common raven, makes for hibernating indoor ears, muffled by closed windows and heavy drapes. - Give your ears a treat. Find a CD or an online download of nature’s best, something that gives just the right amount of newness and familiarity to make waking up more joyful.
The Gift of Taste. My husband still yearns for an Ono burger, like the one he had on our last night in Maui, in a small windsurfing town of Paia. Ono is a meaty, white fish that is moist and flaky. It’s the tropical equivalent of perfectly made mashed potatoes–comforting, tasty, with a texture that goes down smoothly. You can’t eat just one bite. Each day, we looked forward to fresh fish, ordering varieties we didn’t know existed, to delight our taste buds.
Visit an upscale grocery store or an off beat bakery. Pick up a new blue cheese, an unusual sounding soup or a delicate torte. Try out a recipe with exotic spices.
The Gift of Feeling. The humid air and warm temperatures meant shorts every day. Running on the beach, I could feel my shoes dent the sand, and spring up again. And after my run, taking my shoes and socks off to wade in the surf, the water made my feet fresh again.
While your winter days (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) may not lend themselves to being outside, take a moment to feel the softness of a sweater, or the squishiness of a child’s toy, or the slickness of a new bar of soap. Savor the tactile sense that moves through our fingers with every second.
The Gift of Spirit. My husband remarked that it’s hard to have the blues in Hawaii. Locales seem to be genuinely happy. We surmised that you just can’t get angry on the beach. And beaches are everywhere you look, more prevalent than Starbuck’s in a big city and alot cheaper (as in free.)
On a wayward trip to find a hiking trail in the West Maui Mts., we encountered spectacular views of the coast as well as a one lane road that dropped off precipitously. At one point, we realized we were lost and looked for a place to turn around. A few minutes later, we came upon a lookout with several parking spots. And there, we found the spirit of Maui. A local in his forties, with worn hands and huge spirit, listening to IZ’s Wonderful World CD serenading from his open truck. He was sitting on a boulder, with a guitar next to him, ready at hand. He told us that when he was in high school, he would play hooky and come to this very spot, where no one would find him, high above the ocean. I could tell that being alive, in this spot, was one of his greatest joys.
Find a place that brings you alive, that nourishes your spirit, and spend time there. It might be a quiet corner in your home or a favorite spot on the way to work. Re-charge your batteries and re-kindle joy.
The downside to having a mid-winter vacation is that once it’s over, I won’t be going back there any time soon. The upside is that a piece of that vacation can be with me everyday. Aloha!