Here it is, friends!

The #HansTakesHawaii travel series is coming to an end and it’s safe to say I’m a little sentimental about it!  As many of you know, back in March I hopped on a plane with my friend, Meredith to embark on an adventure in paradise aka the North Shore of Oahu.

Meredith drove up to Reston to stay at my place the night before so we could catch a early flight the next morning. I don’t think either of us slept a wink that night..but how could we? we were tooo excited for sleep. It was 3:30 am when we arrived to the airport and i’ll never forget what the lady remarked as she collected my luggage, “I get it now! THAT MUST BE WHY you have the most beautiful smile at 3 am!..you’re going to paradise” 100% a confidence boost for a non-morning, no make-up sleep walking kind of girl.  Safe to say it had me grinning ear-to-ear for the next twelve hours spent on the plane. By the time me and Mer made it to the island, we were so happy we could have cried tears of joy (and most likely did).

I remember pinching my self several times, like, “How on earth is this real?”, it was one of the absolute best trips of my life and I just want to go back and take all my loved ones with me <3 So instead of me jotting down every little bit of this trip I wanted to keep it short and sweet with lots of photos that speak more words about this adventure then I could possibly articulate.

This place had basically won my heart over and I’m just really starting to comprehend why it’s referred to as paradise.

 

The ever so lovely, Sunny Golden!

   

OUR FIRST TURTLE SPOTTING <3 one for the books

how we feel about daily visits to the acai truck

There are so many things that I miss “the most” but fresh fruit stands on every corner was at the top of list

YES THIS IS AN AVOCADO, YES IT IS THE SIZE OF YOUR HEAD

and then our favorite local took us to the most enchanting spot that I was CONVINCED was straight out of Tarzan

 while planning our trip Meredith found an awesome swing on GOOGLE maps that we were determined to find! you can imagine our excitement as we flew by this beauty – safe to say we were skipping across the street in excitement!

SHE CUTE AIN’T SHE

LIVING THE CORVETTE DREAM FOR THE WEEK. STILL PINCHING MYSELF. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN TO US?!

I SPY: two little locals swimming (that look like white specks in a sea of turquoise)

THIS COLOR… I mean, c’mon!!!!

And we can’t forget about the phone snaps!

The cutie little coffee shop in town

YOU BET I WAS PLOTTING HOW TO TAKE THIS LITTLE GUY HOME W ME

THESE WILL FIT IN MY CARRY-ON, RIGHT?

I’d like to give a warm shoutout to surfer Joel for fulfilling all our vintage VW dreams and more. And by more, I really mean: providing a tour of his “under the sea” themed van interior. One for the books, you could say!

this beach took the cake for the clearest water in all of Oahu. Couldn’t tell you how the waves were quite honestly, I was staring down at my feet the whole timeee <3

HAD to pinch myself every morning like *this* is real life this is real life, stay cool

 

you can take the girl out of Hawaii but you can’t take Hawaii out of the girl

Fulfilling all my Acai dreams one bowl at a time ft. honey dripping down my hand

 

and last but not least a few snaps by my sweet friend Meredith <3

    

A little morning explorin’ to where Lost, 50 first dates and Jurassic park were filmed (to name a few) wouldn’t complain if this was my morning commute

successfully blending in with the mountains of Kualoa Ranch – check

             

Planning your trip to paradise? here are some of the must-see’s / do’s!

North Shore

-Waimea Bay (lots of big waves in the winter)

-Haleiwa Bowls (spoiled by our morning bowl rituals. best bowls of my lifee)

-Laniakea Beach (turtles are often there)

-Turtle Bay (fun place to grab lunch or a drink)

-Seven Brothers At the Mill (great burgers, fries and waiters 😉 *cough* Meredith *cough*)

-All the food trucks along the North Shore

-Coffee Gallery (cute coffeeshop and shopping area)

East side

-Kualoa Ranch (horse back riding, ATV tours, movie tours, etc.)

-Beach Swing (on Kamehameha Highway, right on the beach)

-Byodo-In Temple (beautiful sight)

-Lanikai Beach (my personal fav!)

-Lanikai Pillboxes

-Makapu’u Lookout

South side

-Pearl Harbor

-Waikiki (there are fireworks every Friday night and there’s really cheap parking down by Hilton Hawaiian Village if you don’t mind walking)

-Duke’s Wakiki (a staple while you’re visiting but go during the day — it gets crazy busy at night)

-Arvo (cutest coffee + plant shop in all of Honolulu)

-Island Brew Coffeehouse (it’s right on the water!)

-Hanauma Bay (great for snorkeling but you have to pay — if you want to snorkel for free you could probably go to Makapu’u which is super close)

-Halona Blowhole Lookout

West side

-Ko’Olina (where Disney’s Aulani resort is — there’s free parking at the Nai’a Lagoon and I usually walk to the third one, which is Honu Lagoon, I believe)

If you made it THIS far, you’re a champ! Want to be included on my latest adventure? make sure to join the every day Instagram journey HERE 🙂

 

Xoxo,

Hannah

 

You may also love:

“The Camera Bag that never leaves my back”

“Lauren + Josh | Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii”

“Meredith | Waimea Bay, Hawaii”

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