"Hawaii is paradise. It sounds cheesy to say it, but there's music in the air there."

Bruno Mars

If anyone were to ask me if I like Hawaii I would tell them that I have visited five times in the past three years and stayed there for a total of four months.  I have visited three of the islands and my favorite is probably Kauai which is the island I will focus on in this post.  There is really nothing I don't like about Hawaii other than the price of food at the grocery store and gas for your car.  However, there are plenty of farmer's markets to buy fresh organic vegetables and fruit everywhere.  There is nothing like the fruit in Hawaii I tell you!

During my first trip we focused on the nature which  abundant and during my second trip the people I went with wanted to do a lot of touristy activities such as a helicopter ride around the island, a sunset boat cruise,  A Hawaiian luau, and a tour of the botanical gardens.  Both trips were quite different, but I enjoyed both and I feel like I got to do everything or almost everything I wanted to on Kauai between those two trips.

  On the Kalalau Trail

Waimea Canyon

Below is a photo of a natural geyser called "Sprouting Horn"

Wailua falls

 Queen's Bath

Meditating at Queen's Bath

Practicing Yoga on one of the many beautiful and free public beaches :)

At a beach in Hanalei using the tree roots as a cabana for swimming and snorkeling gear

  The next four photos are from the helicopter ride which was amazing!!!  We saw SO many waterfalls due to the large amount of rain the island had recently received.

The next four photos were taken at the Botanical gardens.  In the first photo, my friend Sylvia and I were holding grapefruits pretending we'd found dinosaur eggs in "Jurassic Park" since Kauai is where that movie was filmed.

The last four photos were taken as we were sailing along the Napali Coast at sunset.  As you can see we saw a beautiful rainbow after it rained briefly.

   I would love to visit Hawaii again.  I've loved all three islands I've visited including Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island.  I would love to return and am in the process of making plans to return to the the Big Island during 2014.

 Thank you so much for stopping by.  I love to read your comments or questions and and reading other people's blogs as well.  Your e-mail address will never be published.  Until next time, take care my friends!

  ~Michelle

"Live with intention.  Walk to the edge.  Listen hard.  Practice wellness.  Play with abandon.  Laugh.  Choose with no regret. Continue to learn.  Appreciate your friends.  Do what you love.  Live as if this is all there is." Mary Anne Radmacher

I do live on the water in Florida that is not on an island, BUT it seems like I always end up visiting them.  In no way am I complaining or saying that is a bad thing.  There is really only one drawback and that is the cost of my flight is generally a little more since there is usually an extra connection from the mainland.  For example, when I traveled to Phuket, I had to stop in Bangkok first.  We own some timeshares and the island destinations tend to be available very frequently and I'm guessing the flight cost is part of the reason why.  I'm not saying the price is always higher, but it seems to often be the case. When I travel I do a lot of walking and hiking, generally 5-10 miles a day.  It's nothing for me to spend 8 hours out just wandering around exploring. people watching, and taking photos.  Here is a list of some of the islands I've traveled to and some photos of them:  I will add more photos of these islands in my next post

Bermuda

Puerto Rico

Big Island

Maui

Kauai

Phuket

Bali

Malta/Gozo

Phi Phi Island (where Leonardo Dicaprio filmed "The Beach")

James Bond Island

Ha Long Bay (one of the natural wonders of the world)

The following two photos were taken on James Bond Island - a very small island in Thailand at the tip of Southeast Asia:

Next two photos are in Maui, Hawaii.  The first picture was taken in the southern part of the island and the second one was taken on the northern part of the island

The next two photos were taken in Bali, Indonesia

 The following two photos were taken on the Big Island of Hawaii.  The first one was taken at Black Sands Beach and the bottom one was taken at Green Sands Beach  (I was there for a yoga training)

The final two photos were taken in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.  It is one of the natural wonders of the world and the 3 day cruise I went on was one of the best travel experiences I've had!  The second photo is of me jumping off the third floor of our small cruise ship into 60 foot deep jellyfish infested water.  The water was warm at least :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by and please leave me a comment if you wish or have any questions.  E-mail addresses are not published.  Have a wonderful weekend my friends :-)