Crossing off the Bucket List

Do you have a bucket list?

You know, a list of those places you want to visit, and all the things you want to do before your life runs its natural course.

Having one, and reviewing it regularly is good tonic for spicing up the normal pattern of your days. Try reading over your list just before bed on a night before you have one of your Other Days, and what happens the next morning might surprise you” our wondrous brains have a way of taking over at night as we just lay there and blissfully let it happen.

Leisurely travel, close to home

One of the entries on my bucket list covers a lot of ground here in Hawai‘i, and I’d bet it would do the same for you no matter where you live. It reads, “Get out and go where the tourists go.”

Why should they have all the fun?

I don’t want to be one of those people who lives somewhere without seeing, being physically within, and all-senses-firing feeling all the amazing places that are readily accessible to me, if only I’d make the time to do so.

Here are some photos from my last Other Day’s adventure: I did the loop hike at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park. Established in 1978 it’s a newer one, and less popular as national parks go, which means it takes some determination and tenacity to see it: Pathways are directionally marked, but barely enough, and you need to be open to those “I wonder if I’m lost?” moments, especially if you start on your own before the visitor facilities open for the day” the island sun has trained me to head out at first light, or earlier. Better photography happens then too.

Sometimes I do more homework, but this particular adventure was one limited to being sure I had sunscreen, a chapstick, a cap and good shoes, a bottle of water and the stock brochure — kind of a test of your own powers of observation: Will I find, and see, everything there is to see?

My full Flickr/Instagram photo set is here with accurate descriptions to identify them, and there’s a wealth of info at the park’s website. A quick summary from their brochure:

The Ala Hele Ike Hawaii trail leads from the main parking area [of the Visitor Center] to the beach. It connects with the Ala Hele Kahakai, or Coastal Trail, which runs north-south beside the ocean and takes you along the sand beach and fishponds and through areas of dense vegetation. Two historic trails, the Mamalahoa, dating from the 1830s, and the Ala Hele Hu’e Hu’e (and old ranch road), cross the lava fields.

There’s a small petroglyph field surrounded by a protective wooden boardwalk too.