In April 2018 I took a trip to the Big Island, Hawaii. The purposes were personal and business but it turned out eventually that everything in life is interconnected. My travels along the beauties of nature brought me business encounters while my so-called more formal meetings were heart touching and caused my consciousness to expand.

Here I will detail some of my thoughts and muses about my trip. All photos (but the map, see at the end) were taken by me and are not allowed to be copied. If you wish to know about a specific location you are welcome to ask.

Enjoy!

Travel light

There are no direct flights from Israel to Hawaii and i used connections. The fact that I carried with me to the planes only a light backpack made my travels easy and comfortable.

The same goes when we walk our spiritual path. If we leave behind us the disturbing thoughts, the depressing memories, the heart-clenching emotions and make a bold choice to begin fresh and light, everything changes and becomes easier.

Be your own guide

I could have hired a private guide or join one of the many organized group-trips. But my nature is to plan by myself and execute on my own pace. And once I made that decision, the energy aligned itself to serve me, and I found a great application that served as a private tour guide who accompanied me throughout the excursions.

Many people will tell you how to live your life (including yours truly), but the best and only source you should follow is your own heart and soul.

Come unprepared

The only confirmed plan I had was some work-related activities and a meeting place. I knew that everything else would be sorted out, including the people and the events I needed to experience. In fact, the helicopter ride that I initially had desired to do and prepared my-self towards, eventually did not take place due to weather conditions.

I remind myself this lesson often when I am facing a new challenge in life. The wider brush I paint with, the more I trust my self, the more amazing the results are. Try it.

Set one goal

The Big Island is about its nature. You will rarely find here sandy white beaches or sparkling, shining celebrities - The Hawaii 5-0 TV series is filmed in Honolulu, on the neighboring island, O'ahu. So nature it is and I tried my best to capture most of it. I drove in three days a total sum of 1260 km, hiked 25 km, and still didn't see everything. When I reached the volcanos national park I knew I would have to focus on one route. And so I did.

In the scriptures it is said - make your eye single and the meaning is to stay focused. There are so many temptations around us and it's almost impossible to choose. Once you stay focused on your enlightenment, everything else falls into its right place and at the right time.

Allow time for relaxation

I am an expressive person. When I do not create something - be it a quality conversation with someone, a project at work, or doing something with my hands - I feel a lack. On the one hand, it means that I have an active soul who doesn't give me much rest. On the other hand, it's tiring. The Hawaiian atmosphere forced me to change the mood. Everything there happens slowly, at its own pace. The max speed limit, for instance, is 55 mph (88 kph). In all my driving there I never heard even once a car horn!

We must learn to sit back, relax, and enjoy our achievements. In such reflecting restful moments, important integrations happen and plans for the future are being woven.

Allow time to yourself

To Hawaii, I traveled alone, just me. I knew that I would spend the first several days with associates, doing intensive personal and professional tasks, and for the rest of the stay, I trusted that I would pair-up with the appropriate people. It turned out that except for short brief encounters, I was by myself for the whole period, travel and leisure time alike. And it was good, excellent. Gaia, the goddess of earth, showed me its wonders and in return received my unconditional love.

So many people are afraid of being alone. They fear the devastating emotion of loneliness. They fear their own thoughts. But in traveling and life in general, it's much better to be alone with just yourself than with the wrong person. And besides, no one is really never alone, and I will explain more about this in another post.

Keep it simple and Stupid

Although Hawaii is a state in the USA, the Hawaiian way of life is different from the "Amerian dream" over-achievement, sophisticated patterns. The fact that the islands of Hawaii are so far away from any mainland, thousands of KMs from the USA, Japan or Australia, makes Hawaii the most isolated populated area on Earth and allows the island to have its own energies. And you feel it right away on the Big Island. I mentioned the pace, this is one thing. The other is the simplicity, kindness and open-heart approaches that the commons have towards tourist and foreigners. Everywhere I went - at the supermarket, gas station, national park, the hotel, the gardener, the landlords, the lady that helped me find smoked salmon, to name just a few - 9 out of 10 people were kind. In fact, in Hawaii, they have a special hand-gesture for drivers and pedestrians to thank each another. It's called the Shaka.

Keep life simple and in particular your journey towards your enlightenment. Being intelligent, having a sharp mind with great memory will not get you through because enlightenment cannot come from your mind. Trust me on this, I have tried using my mind (and I write about the road and its consequences in my "from a slave to a master" weekly posts).

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Credit: travelguidetohawaii

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