Before I went to Vietnam, some friends talked me into going to the big island of Hawaii first. And from there flying to Vietnam. It had a good ring to it. Hitchhike around the big island for a couple of weeks before heading to my first foreign country.
I had forgotten though, how rusty my hitchhiking thumb was. That’s not because I’m predisposed to arthritis either. In my late twenties my hitchhiking adventures tapered off greatly then stopped.
I landed at the Kona airport at night, walked south towards Kona, and found a place to camp that wasn’t jagged lava rock. My first morning on the island I was woke by the bite of a centipede on my elbow. It felt like a hot fire flash through my arm with a pain a bit more intense than a bee sting. I don’t think I’ve ever woken up and gotten out of my sleeping bag faster than I did that day.
I remember my first day I met some hostile young locals. An extremely hostile homeless man who I thought was going to start fighting me. I got within 50 feet of “his spot” at a public park and said “Excuse me sir, you know what is down this way?”. But I finally found an OK couple of home-bums down along the beach that let me camp next to them.
One thing my hitchhiking adventures taught me was that if a trip started out rough, it was going to be a lot smoother in the long run. It all seems to run in cycles, and if the rough part gets over with in the beginning, it can be smooth sailing for a while. My own made up road religion.
My first week was spent in Kona and hitchhiking around the island. I met up with a guy on couchsurfing and we hitched down to “South Point” to jump off the cliff. Terrifying but equally awesome.
We saw Green Sand Beach. This is when I found out that your hands can sunburn. Everything can sunburn. I was warned about that, but living outside a lot in the continental US I thought I knew better and was “hardened” to living outside.
My favorite time in Hawaii was camping by myself 10 miles from the road in Volcano National Park. A guy picked me up and said that there was a back-country campsite in the park that was his favorite place on the island. It was the park's anniversary that day and there was no entry fee. I said I’d love to go, but i need to get some more food first. He handed me a few cans of food and an avocado the likes of which I’d never seen in my life.
With that, I got a few maps, signed in at the back-country spot, and caught a ride to the trail head. The hike down the side of the volcano was a bit rough. A lot of pounding the knees. I did my usual routine before leaving for a physically demanding hitchhiking adventure….playing tons of video games at my parent’s house. My legs were really angry at me.
I stayed there 2 nights and 1 full day. It was magical to say the least. I had the place all to myself almost the entire time. I even figured out how to open coconuts with a $1 Walmart pocket knife and a rock. That stretched out my food a little longer. I consequently learned that eating 4 coconuts in one day is more than my body wants.
On the 3rd day at Volcano National Park I made my way to Hilo, decided it is wayyyyyyyyy to wet there for me to be sleeping outside, hitched back to Kona, then coincidentally met another person on the couchsurfing website.
