After living consistently as a full-time resident of Hawaii for 28 years and traveling to and from the islands an additional 12 years, I have come to know and love the islands well. My knowledge of this special place comes not only from observations but also from working as entertainer, writer, teacher, counselor and financial planner over most of my full-time years. The story you can find from those of us who have lived here many years, or those local folks you’ll come to love if you watch and learn from them, will highlight the differences you might find and remove assumptions you might get from simple photographs.
If you know what to do, say, wear, see and feel when you arrive, your trip will be as memorable as you might ever want.
Let’s start this trip with this first advice: The loudest and the brashest guy will likely be ignored.
Next a bit of geography so you won’t slip and slide in conversations when you first arrive. Hawaii is part of the United States, ushered into the union in 1959. It is really a series of islands, miles apart from one another. So when bad weather is described on mainland news, it can be many miles away from where predictions say that it might be. A hurricane on the Big Island, where population density is far less than Oahu, home of Honolulu, the big city of Hawaii, might mean little more than a bit of rain and increased wind on another area of the island. When you read a weather prediction, that might mean the news is not so bad to make that trip you planned, so look closely at all the islands you might visit while you are there, for the regional, area differences in island weather reports. Mainland news might not know the details that you need.
Cultural knowledge is a must, if even for a bit, that’s tied to geography and almost everything you do. Since Hawaii is part of the United States, as you some of you might intellectually know but may forget when you are there, the people of the islands are not natives, but citizens, residents, or local people as differentiated from tourist folk. When you arrive, you would not say you are from the United States when speaking to a local guy or anybody else. You might not from looking who those local people are. You are in the United States, and furthermore you aren’t returning there, as you are there the moment you arrive.
Other incidental details, but culturally significant, might just be those good manners, a sensitivity to people around you who may not look like you. There are many interracial couples, of every age and hue. And if you stare, the folks will wonder and other people simply close their eyes, turn their heads or turn away from you. Don’t put the orchid in your glass behind your ear and smile. The picture that your companion takes is not the one you want in front of people watching, laughing behind their hands, yet in ways you may not see at once. Don’t honk in traffic, for if you do, you’re sure to get a frown. It is impolite to honk like that when a wave of the hand will do. Patience is the calling card for almost anywhere, polite and self-controlled good ways is also island style.
Now what to wear. It is likely that the tourist books won’t give you inside tips. The fact is clothes, the kind you need, are cheaper in Hawaii than you would find in your hometown. Try the shopping malls in the Western edge of the island, from Waipio to Kapolei, you’ll find those bargain clothes. And right away, in those early days before you get bogged down, take a bus, a car, or anyway to get you to the Aloha Stadium swap meet where great looking tee shirts can be had, seven for $20, and a sun dress that sparkles when you swing and sway at night will likely cost you little more than $20 too. Check out the swap meet as it is the shopping mall it seems that everyone just loves. You’ll mingle with the local folk and have some fun as well. Hats, jewelry, perfume and souvenirs galore; nothing beats the swap meet for the shopping and good times. Jeans are fashion everywhere and shorts are fine to wear, except the latter in the evening in some clubs and restaurants where the dress code might not include shorts, or bare chests, rubber slippers that you might wear on the beach.
Then the musts of course, the musts to see, to do, to view and all. You’ll find that in the major tourist guides that are in every nook and cranny of bookstores, convenience stores and always at Longs Drugs. The latter is more than a pharmacy of medicines and all. You’ll find the discounts that the locals have and find the advertisements in the local newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser, the print edition that local folks embrace. On Oahu the National Cemetery of the Pacific and a tour of Tantalus is not on every tourist guide, but both will give you a vision of Honolulu that is tops.
Get out of Waikiki just as quickly as you can. You stay right there for your whole trip, don’t brag you know Hawaii when it is time for you to leave. Like other cultures, other climes, in places near and far, what it means to live, to work, to play will take much more time than a week or two, or a month or so, might give. But these advice bits from someone who has given them to many, might mean you will start out upfront to know your way around. Finding highlights, those top tourist spots, will not be hard to find. But finding your way, when you disembark, with cultural, economic and geographical information will give you a good start.
And feel free to say aloha, as I am saying now. Aloha and good luck for your trip, your wish come true and soon. If you don’t come, well don’t blame me, since I have welcomed you. Be sure to wear your hat as well; we want you not to burn.
