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Published: February 17th 2014
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After 30 hours of frantic packing up everything I knew, virtually no sleep and a few panic attacks I arrived at Banana Bungalow in Wailuku, Maui where all of my anxieties of not knowing what the future held virtually disappeared. As I entered the hostel, sounds of Bob Marley and the sweet scent of Hawaii filled the air I knew this was the beginning of many good times to come but had no idea the effect the next week would really have on me. My first night at Banana Bungalow started with a bang, there was a huge party in the common area where hot tubbing, dirty jenga and other drinking games ensued. I've never met so many people in one area from all around the world with the same thing in common - travel. Back home conversations with random people bored me, all people seemed to care about was what you did for a living and not who you really were; here conversations were exciting and consisted of travel experiences from around the world and actual life experiences. The majority of people were doing the exact same thing as me, not on vacation but doing long-term traveling of 6 months
Haleakela
12-mile volcano hike or more, I suddenly felt not so alone.
Before I go on about my adventures in Maui, I must say that none of these experiences would have compared if done without Banana Bungalow. This was by far the best hostel I've ever stayed in, all of the staff were super friendly and were travelers like myself who decided to extend their stay. It offers free tours everyday, free banana pancakes and coffee every morning, and free keg parties on Fridays - score! The first tour we did was grueling 12-mile, 5-hour volcano hike at Haleakela, it was pretty cool but I definitely wasn't used to such strenuous activity after being confined to my prison-cell of a desk that I had been used to in my previous life. At the end of the hike, the vans were waiting for us cheering and playing music, although I felt as though my knees were about to buckle beneath me it was all worthwhile.
The next highlight was a day trip to Big Beach and Little beach. We started off at big beach playing beach volleyball and socializing then headed over the cliff/hill where a whole different world at Little Beach awaited
us. I instantly felt high on life - the beach was packed with nudies, hippies, drum circles and a crazy indescribable energy. I told myself before I left on my travels that I would live life to the fullest and experience as much as possible, so what better way to get the full Little Beach experience than go nude/topless! After the initial awkwardness it was very freeing and we had a blast in the waves. Just when we didn't think things could get any better we ran into Steven Tyler from Aerosmith getting his face painted on the beach!! Later on, just after sunset I ran into a guy that said I had a great aura and then a lady who I had a long conversation with, I'm not sure if she was psychic or what, but she said that I was seeking balance and would find a great love in my travels "oh it's going to be good" she repeated (I didn't even tell her I was single), should be interesting to see if she is right. Afterwards fire dancers filled the darkness and made a great day turn into a magical night. Words cannot describe how great the
day was, so much fun!
The next day, Kelsey a friend that I had met traveling the year before in Costa Rica, did the Iao Valley Rainforest hike on our own. We decided to go off the beaten path past the sign that said "do not enter" and found ourself in more of an adventure than we anticipated - hanging on to tree branches for dear life so we wouldn't fall down to our death, in ankel-deep mud searching for the original route we had taken, and following the river back with our backpacks over our heads to the regular safe tourist path. I'll admit, at times I was a wee bit scared of not making it back but for some reason Kelsey found it quite amusing and was laughing her head off, luckily we made it back alive with another story to tell. Needless to say, we worked up quite the appetite when we got back to the hostel and decided that we absolutely must have sushi with a couple other dudes from our hostel - a craving that turned into a 5-hour journey to and from our hostel, leaving us feeling very satisfied and giddy afterwards.
There were so many wonderful experiences in Maui, it would take forever to describe them all... The beautiful Road to Hana, black sand beaches, swimming through pitch-black caves, waterfall bamboo jungle hikes, snorkeling with sea turtles.. The list is endless, but nothing beats all of the amazing people I met at Banana Bungalow. I couldn't have had a better last night in Maui, everyone from the hostel got together for a bonfire on the beach, riding home in a convertible, getting pulled over by a nice cop and a midnight rendezvous. I had a serious case of the blues on my last day, was so hard to say goodbye to everyone, I will definitely go back.
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Vicki
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Love your blog Crystal
I love you your blog Crystal and looking forward to more stories. Love your expressive writing style too. Have fun! xxxooo