the aloha state - hawaii photo diary

hawaii was beautiful and wild and raw and perfect in a wonderful messy way.

long days and nights filled with:

connections with the most beautiful, kind and generous strangers i've ever met. people that would go out of their way to help you. people that were just real and honest and interesting and inspiring. its funny because i thought this trip was going to be all about solitude for me, when in reality a lot of it was about meeting people and making those authentic and meaningful connections. despite thinking that solitude and self reflection were what i needed, these connections that set my soul on fire were actually what i was really craving. 

running around in bikinis with muddy feet. i felt so in my element being barefoot and wearing minimal clothing while adventuring in nature. getting back to that wild woman and childlike nature. getting in touch with mama earth. feeling the sun and rain on my bare skin. the elements of the earth. 

being so overwhelmed by the beauty of nature that i'd be left speechless or grinning or with tears in my eyes. often all three. moments would be so beautiful i didn't know how to contain it within myself. running through the pouring rain and howling at the sky. moments so pure and powerful and visceral. feeling so infinite and full on so many different occasions.

sleepy hours spent laying in the sun and sand. the best papayas and pineapples and fresh coconuts. the greenest mountains and the bluest ocean. rainbows and waterfalls and lush jungle.

surrendering and completely going with the flow. saying yes to everything. well, almost everything. learning to trust my intuition enough to say no. being scared shitless but doing things anyway. feeling utterly out of my comfort zone but knowing that's where the magic happens. being brave and incredibly proud of myself.

recieving endless luck and blessings from the universe. it sounds silly but i really felt carried by the mountains and the land. i understand why people say hawaii is such a special spiritual place. there's a real magic energy to those islands. someone told me that all the different islands are related to a different chakra. kauai, the island i spent the most time on, being the third eye. the third eye chakra is related to oneness and our ability to find clear intuition and inspiration. uh, relatable. 



i was naive to think i would magically 'find myself', as i intended or at least hoped to on this trip. but in addition to experiencing a whole new level of adventure and beauty, i do think i found parts of myself. since being home i feel like the lessons i learnt there and personal growth have really started setting in. i feel as though i'm really stepping into my power. i'm excited to keep growing into myself. 

i realised very quickly into the trip that i couldn't really capture the full beauty of any of the moments i experienced on a camera, so lots of the time i didn't even try. below are some of the photos of pretty things and moments i did capture. 

those islands stole part of my heart. maybe our hearts and souls are scattered all over the world, in places and people and memories we feel at home in.

i saw a group of travellers yesterday in a supermarket carpark and felt a physical yearning in my chest to be experiencing that lifestyle again. my heart aches to be on different lands and surrounded by others living out of backpacks. i really did feel in my element in shitty hostels and strangers' arms and everchanging views with no real plans. my next adventure is to bali in 33 days and i couldn't be more stoked to step onto an airplane again and both leave and find parts of myself in another country.

A xx