Last week was the end of my vacation time. But how does one work when surrounded by all this amazing-ness? To my pleasant surprise, it hasn’t been that difficult to work AND play. It helps that I love my work and my kick @ss clients too :). The 2 hour time difference between Hawaii and the west coast where most of my clients are also works in my favor. I work 6am to 2pm local time which gives me some play time after the hottest part of the day. Win/Win!
At this writing, I remain sunburn free and hope to keep it that way. My tan lines however are stubborn and only seem to get worse. I know you are probably feeling really, really bad for me right now…
Another bonus – cell service is decent in most places so I can check in on social media for my clients on my phone from tree top or beach – both of which I have done already.
The end of vacation also means most meals at home. Did I mention it’s expensive here? I’m kind of insulated from the sticker shock though having come from $an Franci$co. I feel bad for those from the mid-west who are used to a burger for $4. Here it’s $11 for a burger and fries. Milk is $6 a gallon, a grilled fish burrito bowl is $10 and a gallon of unleaded gas will set you back $3.22 to 3.50.
I’ve had to get creative with food because my “kitchen” consists of an electric kettle, small fridge, sink and microwave. It’s not exactly Iron Chef but I’ve made some tasty food so far. The farmer’s market supplies the best (and cheapest) fruits & veggies and shopping the sales at local markets makes things reasonable. Any kind of protein is expensive though and now I can see why Spam is so popular here. Yes, I got some turkey Spam – it’s not bad when slathered with Sriracha. But yeah, I think I’m done with the Spam experience.
I’m a big fan of Poke (poh-kay) which is marinated raw fish. The Ahi tuna poke from the local grocery store is ridiculously good and just $11 a lb. I had to cut myself off after googling just how much raw tuna one should eat in a month (mercury poisoning don’t yah know…). Now I find myself checking the calendar to see when I can eat tuna again.
So, I’m getting into a new rhythm here and feeling so much gratitude for this whole adventure. Even in the middle of the night when there’s a loud thump on the roof of my bungalow and I awake with a start. I realize that it’s just a falling coconut and I laugh. How awesome is that? Coconuts.
Here are more photos from the last week and some. Roll over for captions, or click any to open a slide show.
Mahalo!
julienne givot 