A spontaneous adventure to relax and unwind

Moloka’i, September 2019

Looking out the window of the tiny eight seat plane was a surreal experience, its’ scratched windows reflecting the afternoon sun and its’ single engine humming a lonesome song. Within minutes of takeoff Moloka’i had disappeared behind us and our view was overcome with endless clouds and open ocean. Our seatbelts tugged and the old vinyl seats squeaked beneath us as we passed through light turbulence. We all sat quietly, filled with disparate emotions; sad to leave and head back to reality, yet full of joy from the memories we’d created over the past few days. It felt like something out of a movie, an experience that many people never get to share with their friends, a quick getaway to a small underpopulated island and an old family house with a private beach. But I digress, this adventure starts on a bigger and much more populated island.

The week prior, me and my friends Mason, Jason and Julia had been talking about going to Moloka’i sometime in the fall (If you don’t know, Moloka’i is a small more ‘local’ island just northwest of Maui, and is the fifth largest of the Hawaiin Islands). Masons’ family has a house there right on the beach that they’ve owned for generations. Having never been to any of the other islands besides Oahu and Maui, I was intrigued by the idea. Naturally, working together and taking off work at the same time wasn’t the easiest of endeavors, but luckily the restaurant was slow and our manager acquiesced our request (just two days before).

The flights between Oahu and Moloka’i are cheap, but the spots are limited. It was early in the week and we hadn’t yet gotten approval to take off. So, not wanting to miss the opportunity and like the millennials we are, we booked our tickets anyways. Luckily we didn’t have to play hooky from work.

It was the night before our flight and everything was coming together. We had all packed (or overpacked, but I won’t point fingers) and we’d spent a good hour or more in the grocery store deciding what to cook for the next few days. Filled with a mixture of excitement and anxiety I didn’t sleep much that night, I don’t think any of us did. The 4am wakeup call wasn’t the most pleasant experience for any of us (except maybe Julia who slept until 5) but we managed to get everything together and into the Uber to make our flight. A word of advice for anyone flying on a puddle-jumper, weigh your bags the night before so you’re not scrambling to move stuff around to meet the weight limit.

We got to the airfield just before sunrise, it was a quiet morning. A storm cloud was trapped high in the mountains silhouetted by the sun behind it and the air was still and cool. Our brains were on autopilot, our sleepy eyes fought to stay open, yet the excitement was palpable. Moloka’i was close.

All I remember of that first flight was the sound of my camera shutter and the photos I sifted through later. There’s a different feeling of flying in a small plane. The rattling vibrations, the sound of the engine, even the fuel smells different. The view, however, the view is something else. From a the standpoint of a photographer I’m not sure it gets any better than shooting from a small plane with big windows and the wing just above your head.

Stepping off the plane felt like stepping into an older, more untouched Hawaii. The smell of salt water and farmland permeated the air as the morning sun beat down upon us. We loaded up our car and embarked on the 45 minute drive through country, woods and rolling hills to the house that we’d heard so much about.

Arriving at the house was surreal to say the least. It’s a single story one bedroom home, built in the early 1900’s and painted aqua blue. The property has palm trees, avocado trees, bread fruit trees, lemon and lime trees, and many more that I can’t recall. It’s not lavish, there’s no internet, no tv, spotty cell service, but that was the best part, and it was home for a few days. We unloaded our bags, set up our beds, and… well, I’m sure you know the rest.

It was a week filled with kayaking, swimming, attempts at fishing, beach fires, good food, lots of laughing and lots of sun. Oh, and one salty GoPro, two dead DSLR batteries, three rolls of 35mm film, four packs of Polaroids, and copious amounts of ‘keepers’. This isn’t a story about what we did on Moloka’i or the photos I took, because we didn’t do anything terribly special, it’s a story about getting out there to experience something new.

The memories we made at that house and on that beach will last forever. There are moments in life when, at that time, you don’t know how special they really are. Moments when you’re so engrossed in the ‘now’ that you lose track of time. You look back and will forever try to chase that feeling; the feeling of love, of friendship, of pure bliss. But, that same moment will never be recreated because we are always growing and evolving as individuals. It’s the memories and experiences you take with you that will last forever and shape you into a better you. With smartphones we’ve become more connected than ever, however, it’s pushed us to disconnect from the world right in-front of us; So be present and embrace every moment, so that one day, you can share your stories with someone and inspire them to find and create their own memories.

If you’d like to see more photos, many of them are located in the “Film” and “Lifestyle” albums under the Work tab. More personal photos are located on my Instagram page @nateda__