8 Things I Didn’t Expect From Hawaii

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For my first trip to the islands of Hawaii, I had expected a lot of things, either from reading stories from other travelers or just from pictures I had seen online. I expected lots of sun with sporadic showers, slower speed limits, and fruity alcoholic beverages.

These were all true.

There were a few things, however, that NO ONE mentioned I would encounter. I guess some of these, maybe I should have just planned ahead or had common sense to know, but that’s never been my strong suit. So without further ado, here are 8 facts of Hawaiian life that I absolutely had no preparation for:

1.Lots of Chickens

This was probably the most random thing I had ever experienced in my entire life. There are…a lot of wild chickens on Oahu. Then again, I was staying in Kailua, so that could be part of it, but even when I traveled to the North Shore or over to Ko Olina, there were still chickens. Chickens cruising near store fronts, chickens in the trees, and yes, chickens crossing the street.

BUT WHY??

The chickens have their own way of life that baffled me for my entire trip. While some chickens were happy dumpster diving for french fry scraps and leftover acai bowls, others took the natural foraging high road, only looking up from their relaxing beach cabana when a native arthropod wandered nearby.

I was woken up every morning by the gentle BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM of a rooster, which wasn’t too bad once you got over the fact that the chickens were here to stay and it was just the way it was. I tried asking a small family of chickens perched outside of the Kailua target, and I said, “Little chicken family, why are there so many wild chickens? How did you get here?”

And the momma chicken looked at me, rolled her eyes, and said, “UM, excuse YOU, how did you get here? Step off human.” Her little chicks flipped me off as they waddled away behind her.

I just really didn’t expect there to be chickens. I mean, I wouldn’t really expect chickens anywhere except like, idk if I were visiting a farm??

And apparently, there’s even MORE chickens on Kauai???

There’s a story about a hurricane or something, but all you need to know is that there are chickens. So expect it.

2. Hours in the Day 

This should have been common sense, but being the dense person I am, I assumed that I would have the same amount of daylight as I would back in Oregon.

Hawaii is a lot closer to the equator.

It did not have the same amount of daylight.

So, I had a lot of activities in mind that I thought I would be able to get through, but ended up cutting my day shorter than expected because the sun would set at 6pm instead of 9pm. Depending on where you are traveling from, keep that in mind.

3. Cash Only 

Honestly, I should have expected this one too. Especially since I just took a trip to Japan. And after living in Europe.  But again, I’m dense and I never learn.

While most places did take card, a good amount didn’t. Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck, for example, is cash only. And like, who carries around $13 in cash? If you’re smart, you will.

4. Coin Meters

On the same note, I only saw coin parking meters, so bring a bunch of quarters and dimes as well if you plan on driving.

5. Cold Water

Ocean water, I mean. You are probably asking yourself, “Is this girl really this dumb?” And the answer is yes. SUE ME, I thought the water would be warm. Mexico had me spoiled. Of course, I should have known better, it’s still the Pacific Ocean after all. If you’ve been following for a while, you would know that I have the lowest cold tolerance of any human ever born. If you’re new to my blog, then, HELLO! Glad you could stop by and I hope you stick around, oh btw, I hate the cold.

So yes, the water in Hawaii is freezing. Granted, usually the sun is out and the air is warm, but sometimes not even that was enough to convince me to dive under the waves. I’m just a wimp though. I was fine watching from the warm sand.

6. Expensive Food

Since I was crashing on my friend’s couch (thanks MP!) and borrowing her car for half the trip (thanks MP!) and had super cheap airplane tickets (thanks Alaska Airlines!), I figured my trip would be pretty cheap once I got there. After all, aren’t those the three most expensive parts of any trip? Airfare, housing, and transportation?

Ha.

Aha.

The average (not-fast food) lunch meal was between $8 and $15, which isn’t that much on it’s own, but it adds up when I also need an pre- and post-lunch fruit salad, desserts, and bubble tea. Dinner (at a restaurant) was hovering over $18-25. I probably could have saved money by cooking some of my own food but, again if you’ve been following me, I hate cooking and I’m terrible at it. If you’re new here, HELLO! I’m also lazy.

Cost of living, in general, is higher in Hawaii. It’s the cost of living in paradise. And apparently, food isn’t even the top driving factor of the sky high cost of living (psst: it’s housing prices and electricity). I don’t know why I thought food would be less expensive (probably because Mexico spoiled me again), but it’s something I’ll have to factor in for my next trip back to the islands!

7. Gravy

There’s gravy on everything.

If you happen to love gravy, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If you happen to hate gravy, like me, then, well you can probably expect for it to show up in the most random places. The most notable dish will be *dun dun dunnnn* the Loco Moco. Or really any variation of that. It’s going to be COVERED in gravy.

A lot of “Top Oahu Foods!” blog posts mentioned to get plates and ask for them /fully loaded/ but never explain what that meant, only that I should “trust them, it’ll be worth it.” Since I am such a free-thinker, I did exactly what the blogs said without looking into it, and guess what. Fully Loaded meant gravy galore.

Live and learn.

(Pictured above: Loco Moco from Cinnamon’s, no gravy)

8. Aloha Life

Probably the most unexpected part of Hawaii was the “Aloha lifestyle.”

Before visiting, I mostly just associated the Shaka hand sign as a vague correlation to the guys in my high school with shaggy blond hair, a surf board tucked under their armpit, and the long drawn out ‘braaaaaaahhhhhh’ when addressing each other.

[Did anyone else watch Rocket Power, or was that just me??]

But when I landed in Hawaii, I experienced the essence of Aloha. To me, it felt like a relaxed welcome. Everyone just wanted to live well. Everyone wanted everyone else to live well. No one ran up to the gate to give me a lei or anything, which frankly would have frightened me anyway, but if I ever needed help, someone was there to give their best advice. People were friendly, but not overbearing. It seemed the island wasn’t taken for granted by anyone. The locals were all so grateful to live in such a wonderful place with a great diverse range of visitors and foods and cultures.

I went on a hike to the Lanikai Pillboxes. FIRST OF ALL, the hike was a lot harder than alltrails.com made me to believe, but I digress. When I got to the top, the sun was already setting and a few guys were set up on top of the pillbox watching the sky change from blue to purple to navy to black.

With my weak little noodle arms, I tried pulling myself to the top to watch the sunset with them, but no luck. One of the guys noticed my struggling and was quick to leave his post and offer me a hand. In fact, he did all the work of pulling me up, and he was Facetiming his homie at the same time. Effortless. So, like a graceful swan, I flailed and tripped when he pulled me up, sending my water bottle, phone, and Nutri-grain bar wrappers flying across the cement.

Someone else scrambled up to stop my water bottle from rolling off the cliff and another stomped on my trash before it could litter the beautiful island. Then they sat me down, and we watched the sunset together in silence.

Every nice stranger I met felt like they could be my friends and family, and I’d never vibed that well in any of the places I’ve ever visited. It was my favorite unexpected.

Have any of you been to Hawaii? What was your least expected encounter on the Islands? Let me know, I’m super curious, haha.

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