I’m still in disbelief that I made this trip happen. Going to Hawaii has always been a dream of mine. Always! But it always felt soooo far out of reach. But then a bunch of stars aligned, and not only were my life circumstances different enough that it even seemed like a possibility to go at any point in my life, but my friend moved to Maui in the fall.

Rachel + Ryan said they’d be happy to host anytime, and I didn’t hesitate to take them up on that offer. I shared in my Disney blog post last year that traveling with my children is a huge priority to me. I want to give them so many experiences! However, traveling solo is just as much of a priority to me too! Since I’m co-parenting, I have pre-planned pockets of extended time where the kids will be with their dad each year, so I’m going to start using those to my advantage.

This year, the kids were with Steven for February break, so I hopped on a plane (well, three actually) and made my way to Maui! I thought about waiting until I could bring the kids with me, but with the length of travel, and the cost of tickets, it made more sense to keep this one a solo trip. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was staying with friends, didn’t need a rental car, and my points covered 80% of my ticket, this wouldn’t have been feasible for me in this season of life.

I was there for four days, with a travel day on either end, and it was such a special trip. Over the course of those few days, we really crammed in a lot of adventuring!

• We did a short hike and saw some amazing waterfalls and flora on the way! I also saw a cool VW van that reminded me SO much of the show LOST – which I was obsessed with in high school. Ryan did a back flip off of the twin falls and it was wild, haha.
• Had lunch on the beach in Paia with a bunch of sea turtles after we watched the surfers for a little while.
• Did an amazing whale watch in Lahaina! I’ve never done one before and I was pretty nervous, especially since it felt like we were on an inflatable raft out in the ocean with a bunch of humpback whales, haha. But it was an awesome experience! I’m so glad we did it. We saw a bunch of whales, and at one point they put a microphone in the water and we got to hear the whales singing to each other! After the whale watch we had some super yummy burgers.
• Rachel and I drove up to Haleakala Crater and hiked a little ways into it. It felt like we were on Mars! It was so freaking cool to see it all.
• I did a solo adventure to the lava fields one day, and that was pretty neat. I couldn’t get over the contrast between the water, the dark lava rocks, and the white coral everywhere. The water everywhere in Maui is SO blue!!
• We did a little evening stroll somewhere I don’t actually know, but it felt like we were in Ireland with the rolling hills and windy road. I loved it! And the views of the island at sunset were pretty magical.
• On my final morning there I walked along the beach for a ways and found a ton of sea glass, which made me SO happy! And I saw a couple of rainbows over the water!

The jet lag was pretty bad for me (I was exhausted by 3p each day, haha), I splurged on local jewelry and some fun clothing, and overall it was just the best trip ever! Here are some of my favorite photos from my visit to Maui!!

Linda is a Portland-based photographer specializing in weddings and creating family legacies from Portland to Boston and across New England. You can see more of her work online at lindabarryphotography.com, on Instagram, or on Facebook. If you want to reach out directly: linda@lindabarryphotography.com.

If you liked this post, you might like these also!

• That Time We Went to the Outer Banks
• That Time I Went to Nashville
• Exploring the Wild West!