“I am born and raised from Hawaii” and I know I am lucky to be able to say that. But for many of the years that I lived in Hawaii, I don’t think I fully grasped how blessed I was or appreciated home the way I should have. I remember watching “Wheel of Fortune” episodes and contestants would cry or go crazy when they won a trip to Hawaii. What’s the big deal I thought. It’s an island. I’ve seen it all.
I haven’t seen it all.
The truth is I never left Hawaii to appreciate it more. I left because I felt that I wanted to experience other things in the world, to cry or go crazy for other places the way the Wheel of Fortune winners did. That’s why I left and that’s why I love traveling today. But when you return to the place where you grew up, it’s suppose to feel like home and at first it didn’t. I felt like an outsider. A visitor. A tourist (it stings to even write that). Things seemed familiar to me, but yet, very foreign.
As the days went by, I started to remember what it meant to be from Hawaii. It started with the food. The diverse, rich blend of cultures and flavors unique to this place. The land of sweet and savory.
Then it was the beautiful landscapes that I’ve driven past hundreds of times, but never truly appreciated the backdrop they provided.
But most of all, what brought me back full circle, was spending time with my family. Doing the things we love doing together like fishing, surfing, playing games, eating, and hanging out. All of the things that I had missed these past couple of years.
If you want to appreciate home more….leave it.
But don’t forget to go back and rediscover everything all over again, and new things.
Simply Intentional 
Good times! Please share where these beautiful photos were taken, so I can add them to my to do: list.
Hi Sara. Any particular photo grabbed you? Contact me using our “connect with us” page and I’ll send you info about the location to some of these places. It would be too long to list here. Thanks.
Lovely, Jedd.
Thanks Adrienne. Thought of you guys today while biking through Woodstock. Hoping we can see you guys soon and catch up on each other’s adventures. All the best!
Sounds like good advice to me. We have never really left home for long periods, but we do take vacations and long weekends away. It’s nice to get away, but it always feels good to be back at home, especially after the longer vacations.
Another way to appreciate it more is to open your home to out of state guests. We had some cousins stay with us for a few days, and we took in some of the local activities together. It’s fun to share your hometown with guests.
Really good point. Sharing your home with people unfamiliar to it is a great way to appreciate it and to discover new things for yourself. I love playing tour guide/host. Appreciate your comment. 🙂
This is very true. I spent 27 years in my home state before moving away for grad school and at the time I was thrilled to finally move away and thought that I wouldn’t really miss it. Flash forward two years and I find myself appreciating my home state in ways I didn’t think I would and even missing it more than I thought I would.
Thanks for your comment Erin. It’s nice to know there are others that feel similarly about home.
I completely agree with you. Once you leave home and the excitement of change fades away, you realise that what you had back there is the real thing, family, friends, places you like and some you still haven’t discovered and the food! When you leave, you become more aware of how much you belong there, no place like home!
Thanks for your comment and sharing this post with others. 🙂
Reblogged this on learntodiscover and commented:
Home appreciation day!