Travel Day 844 – Vancouver to Honolulu, Oahu, HAWAII
It was about time to move on and for an Active Travel Day again, especially because Vancouver did not have anything in store that could justify the amount of money I was spending to stay there…
Sunset at the Beach in Waikiki, Hawaii
So this morning I was the first to have breakfast in the hostel and then I was gone, on my way to the airport. The check-in was easy and the 6 hour flight was smooth, but then leaving the airport became a bit of a challenge. My idea was not to spend money on a taxi or a shuttle service and to rather just take the local city bus to Waikiki. I found the station and I waited for the bus, but when I boarded the driver told me that I could not bring my backpack with me on the vehicle…
At first I thought he was joking, but then he pointed out a street sign that sated that no luggage was allowed inside the airport bus. Obviously I had a lengthy discussion with the driver, but it didn’t get me anywhere and it only upset the driver and the other passengers who wanted to move on. But this whole thing seemed more than ridiculous to me and I had never heard of an airport bus that wouldn’t transport any suitcase or backpack. That made no sense at all…
Waikiki Beach at Night on Oahu, Hawaii
Anyway, when I tried to take the airport shuttle service, I found out that it needed to be reserved in advance by phone. So the only chance I had was to call them from a courtesy phone at the airport and make the reservation on the spot. Eventually they picked me up at the luggage belt and drove me to my hostel in Waikiki. This way I managed unfortunately to waste the better part of the afternoon, just figuring out this little transportation issue…
But when I finally arrived and made it down to the beach, just in time for the sunset, everything was already forgotten. I couldn’t believe that I had just wasted 3 ½ days in 5 degree rainy weather when there were 29 degrees, sunshine and beach right here. It was simply amazing to see what kind of impact shorts, sandals, sand and ocean had on my well-being, especially after week-long exposure to miserably cold weather. It was overall the perfect timing for a little Travel Daycation… : )
Find all Oahu, Waikiki photos here.
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