What's Important.

What is important? 

The answer to that is different to each of us, but there are some themes that recur, particularly as we have faced a global pandemic. Apart. Together. Family, connection, and security are foundational. After that, there are more questions than answers. Is it important to work in an office? To attend a large concert? To gather for a funeral?

Is it important to travel? 

I’m not fully sure yet about this one yet, but I’m going to ask myself this question all week. What are the impacts, positive and negative, of travel?  Is it equitable? Destructive? Enlightening? Does it bring communities and ideas together? Spread disease? Create traffic jams? Displace local populations? Enhance cultural understanding? Does it do some combination of all of these things?

I think another thing the pandemic has forced me to face is the question of need. What do I need - really need - to be fulfilled and comfortable, or to be uncomfortable enough so that I will continue to grow, to evolve?

Heady stuff as we head into a week of swimming in paradise. I’ll admit to some conflicted feelings about leaving the pandemic behind for a time, even as we know so many continue to suffer. And I hope that the string of long days I have spent at home - as cook, cleaner, teacher to my kids and more, with the thorned gift of a smaller, slower life - will shift my perspective on this amazing thing I get to do, this week of special I am so fortunate to share. I hope it will reshape my consideration of what is important, and what I truly need. These things don’t always appear where we think they might, and a good tossing in the salty waves often opens me up to consider angles I haven’t before.

Vague, I know. But things are different now. For everyone. I’m intrigued to see what new things I will find in the ocean, in our guests who bring their experiences to the water’s edge, in myself.

One of the joys of living in Maine is the Portland International Jetport (PWM). How bout’ that name, Jetport. Throwback chic. It's just the right size. Rarely crowded, cheap parking, and if you know to park on level 3 of the garage nearest the terminal, you can almost step right onto your flight. Don’t be intimidated by the International in its name. There used to be a flight to Montreal in the 80’s, and the term just stuck. We guides often fly to our SwimVacation destinations from Boston, but for this trip to Hawaii it sort of worked out. PWM-IAD-SFO-KOA.  

Our layover in Dulles was wicked short, and the terminal was packed like in The Before Times. Heather and I had to run almost a mile along 40 gates, about the entire length of terminals C and D. I let a guy with no cell service use my phone as I caught my breath. Handing it back to me on the plane, he said “Thank you, my brother” which is just such a nice phrase. We are all in this together after all, are we not? I used some points to upgrade to better seats for the cross country flight on the brand new Boeing 767. Dang what a difference that makes. I will admit that contemplation is easier from a comfortable seat and nowhere to go. The only complaint we had was that it was very cold. Perhaps they are letting more fresh air into the cabin due to the pandemic. SFO was deserted on arrival. We had 5 hours to walk 4 gates, with a restaurant stop. More good fortune as the host asked me if I had the Priority Pass, which is a perk you get with the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. I said yes and she said you get $56 off your meal, so we ordered one of everything and I am back to mid-pandemic weight.

The page on the Hawaii Safe Travels site where travelers upload Covid test results. On review of this at the San Francisco airport, we were given wrist bracelets. One glance at the Kona airport and we were in.

Travelling for 23 hours with a mask on almost the entire time is a bit of a drag, but we found some really light, breathable ones with very soft ear loops, which I call Masks for Vaccinated People (MVP). The last leg to KOA (Kona, Hawaii) was typically rough, but feeling the heat on our skin and hearing the birds and frogs as we stepped off the plan made us forget that pretty quickly. Hawaii still has some pretty strict entry requirements, with not much leeway for the vaccinated. Covid tests 72 hours prior to flight, QR codes, lots of paperwork and wrist bands are all part of it, but all the staff involved in the program were very patient and considerate. We had done our homework and breezed right through on arrival.

This is our only land-based trip. When Heather came here to scout, she quickly realized that this wasn’t so much a place to sail around, but rather a place to root into and immerse in the culture. Hawaiians love the ocean and everything in and around it. It touches every part of their lives, and their bonds to it are deep. We try to tap into this to make our trip really special for our clients. We could all use a dose of special right about now, and we are among the fortunate to be able to grab some this week. We will make the most of it and be open to what the ocean has to say.

One of the most special things about our Hawaii experience is the love and great food our chefs Dan and Clare Bobo bring to our stay. They nourish us with local ingredients prepared to perfection, and they have helped us arrange a very special cultural experience for Monday night. We met them for dinner last night to go over our last minute details. They are our family here on this island. O’hana.

Heather and I have been for a couple of swims on the famous Ironman course since our arrival, and we are delighted with the health of the coral and the show put on by a pod of spinner dolphins in the distance. Yesterday’s swim was calm and clear, this morning’s swim was a bit rough and rugged under a shifting sky. 

We are small among these waves. 

Some may find that unnerving. Others actually find comfort in it. Either way, it’s an exercise in faith, and we swim what we are given.

This pandemic has exposed the fact that we are just one more animal - an earthly organism that, while complex, has all the vulnerabilities of any other creature on the planet. And even with all of our technology and organizational skills, in the end, we are still critters, with the physical and emotional needs of many other critters we share the planet with. The last year has been humbling for us all. This week we ask the Pacific for kindness, perhaps a good tossing or two, and grace.

We catch our guests tomorrow. We are so excited to welcome them to a week of health and healing that only Hawaii can offer. Aloha.

Hopper and Heather