Hawaiian Islands Travel Expands the Soul

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii, Haleakala, Waimea, Pololu, Napali … don’t the place names evoke beauty and serenity? Traveling to the Hawaiian Islands for the first time in 2013 was the achievement of a lifetime of wanting to be there. My father was stationed at Schofield Barracks during the Korean War. As children, our parents made the simplest of things into special events. One of our favorite treats was slideshow time.

I’m not sure when our father purchased his 35mm slide camera, but it was probably during this army stint. As a farm boy from Western Pennsylvania, arriving in Hawaii after his ship passed Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge astonished him. He brought that amazement home with him, first to his new wife, then to his kids.

The screen would stretch out of the aluminum tube and dominate a wall in the family room. The whirring projector would warm up and the clicking would start. There we were, captivated for the twentieth time as if it were our first viewing.

The Hawaiian Islands are Exotic

The allure of Hawaiian travel for those little kids lasted for decades. Wait, no using past tense—it still exists. Our brother went first, then me, but the other two sisters have yet to indulge. Our father loved technology—from digital cameras to cell phones. When slide scanners became available, one made a great Christmas present for him. He set to work scanning his 35 mm shots—now us kids have copies of his former slideshow.

When Google Earth launched, I set it up for Dad and the first place we headed? The Hawaiian Islands. Here are the barracks, here’s the airfield, here’s the beach where we learned Judo. It was like being one of those little kids again, a darkened room, a large screen, and exciting stories.