Masthead

At the start of winter break in my fourth grade year, my parents took me camping for the first time on the North Shore of O’ahu. On the first day, we went swimming in the choppy winter ocean, and I stepped in and twisted my ankle in a crab hole as I was getting out. I held out until about 3 in the morning when the pain was so terrible that my mom decided we should leave then. I spent the rest of the night on an air mattress, because my own was handily living on my loft bed. The next morning, the ER doctors informed my parents that I’d fractured my metatarsal (teeny long bone in the foot); my holiday was made. I spent the rest of the break watching Wizards of Waverly Place with my foot elevated and every need I had filled! Didn’t hurt that I got out of P.E. once school started back up, either.

Camping at Hookena beach, snorkeling, stand-up paddle boarding, swimming with the dolphins, reading a book in its entirety, falling asleep under a beach umbrella, and cooking on a camp stove —- this is the ultimate break.

I had one amazing summer where I participated in Shakespeare in the Park for the first time ever. I was thirteen, awkward, and had never actually read any of his works before, but we performed a really fun play called I Hate Shakespeare. It was basically a collection of skits abridging the most famous plays, and I had an amazing time.

My senior year of high school Spring Break I went on a cruise to Central and South America. It was the first time I had been outside of the US, and I absolutely loved it.

I spent several weeks of this past summer with my girlfriend in Reno sacrificing our money to restauraunts, stores, and coffee shops like it would be earn us a good seat in whatever afterlife you subscribe to.

I went to Mexico during the summer between high school and college. My mom’s friend had family there, who happened to be in the US at that time, so we got an entire house to ourselves. We toured a bunch of cenotes (underground swimming holes). I think my favorite part of that trip was drinking fresh horchata from the street vendors, I still haven’t had any as good!

Just before the summer of 2019 I went to Arizona on a Wild West themed class trip. When summer arrived, my dad surprised me with a birthday trip to San Francisco where we got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, ride in a cable car, and go to the Fisherman’s Wharf. Shortly after, my mom and I went to New York and visited all of the hotspots. We had been planning that trip since I was little so it was really magical to have it all be just as I had dreamed. Then, we went to visit my grandma in Maine and I got to ride on a jet ski, cruise in an ATV, and pick blueberries.