I have always been a dreamer and a big believer in fate, destiny, and "signs from above". So when Trav and I fought on our honeymoon, I was devastated.
We spent 10 glorious days in Hawaii for our honeymoon last August. We had the most amazing time, except for one of those 10 days: the day we decided to tempt the Road to Hana.
This ridiculous, pot-hole ridden, one-lane road (leading unbeknownst travelers to a lackluster Hawaiian hideaway) has 620 curves. Need I say more? I will. These aren't typical "traverse your way through the country-side, while soaking in the local beauty" curves. These are "white-knuckle while you try to remember to breathe" curves. The roads are soaking wet, surrounded by sheer drop off cliffs and are full of honking local maniacs. On this particular soggy day in August, most of the road, the mountainside, and any directional signs had been washed away. Doing a K-turn in a Ford Focus was not an option so we wound up missing a good majority of the sights that our CD guide "Shaka Dave" promised us, "brahs", was a must-see!
The torturous turns that were beginning to turn my stomach would prove to be the easy part of our 12-hour journey. Turns out, there's also 46 ONE-lane bridges. These were especially fun because the overgrowth made us fully blind to what was on the other side. It was eternal eye shutting, teeth clenching, & praying for the best.
I powered through as long as I could and finally told Travis he had to pull over. I had enough and I was going to be sick. He happened to pull over where people were picnicking and I lost my urge. Yet, I was still sick and now I couldn't do anything to feel better - enter the moment the entire day culminated into a temper-tantrum. How had the day gone so terribly wrong?? Wasn't the honeymoon supposed to be the most magical 10 days of one's life? I was in major "victim" mode (duck face and all) as we drove back to the hotel in the dark, and in silence.
When we arrived to the hotel, as we were gathering our stuff out of the car, I had a " I lost my phone" panic stricken moment and literally lost my mind before realizing the "safe" compartment I had stored it in at the last place we had stopped. It was all too much. We got to the room, I got in the shower, and I cried. And then I threw up
The next morning, I was feeling like such a brat in my hotel bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, for ever having a "woe-is-me" moment on such an amazing trip. As I looked at the pictures from the previous day, it looked like we had spent the day on a road trip of a lifetime. We swam in caves with fresh water waterfalls, huddled under a towel on top of a geyser during an unexpected rain storm, ate lunch on a blanket with our feet in the black sand, and swam in the seven sacred pools. A few hundred curves, some come-to-jesus moments, and a good shower cry will never take those moments away. The dramatic interruptions of life, that seem gigantic in the moment, eventually fade. I've also learned that some of the best things are worth a little bit of fight. We now have a Road to Hana postcard on our fridge that makes us laugh.
I have to admit that my life journey has definitely resembled one long drive to Hana. For 34 years, my life has been a series of hairpin turns with unexpected destinations. I've continuously closed my eyes and hoped for the best on one too many one-lane bridges. And through the entire journey, there has been so many amazing "once-in-a-lifetime" moments that in the end, makes the entire experience worth the drive.
It's only fitting that our journey to the Bahamas would mimic the same arduous journey. The twists and turns have been tumultuous. I've been overcome with excitement for what's up ahead and I've been sick to my stomach on many occasions. Our new "normal" has become blind faith, signs from above, and of course, a little crying in the shower.
Read next: #2- Will Work for Shells, Feb 28
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