I’ve never been one to go on trips, especially to actual vacation spots. Growing up in the midwest the extent of my breaks was 12 hour road trips to wisconsin or texas. Gripping stuff. I’ve seen a lot of corn fields and played a lot of ISpy. Since it was senior year I figured there was no better time to go all out.
Six friends of mine and I all went to Hawaii, specifically Oahu, getting the entire trip sorted out pretty quickly and finding round trip flights for less than $250! Taking a trip with only your friends and having to sort between fun and finances really ended up feeling vastly more adult than most of the more understood checkpoints on the way to being a real person that you hit in college.
The trip itself was ridiculously fun with the views being absolutely unspeakable. I wish I had any talent with words, but instead I’ll have to just provide y’all with some of the pictures I took. Alternating between sitting on the beach reading and going on hikes everyday really felt like the ideal lifestyle. It also took off a lot of the stress that had been building up throughout the semester and helped put into a larger context and perspective how much time was left in school. You can pack so many memories into one week as long as you try. It just shows how valuable it is to cherish the time you have with your friends.
The accounting for the trip afterwards was a bit more tragic than the trip itself as it’s never fun to check your credit card statement after a trip like that. However, part of growing up is understanding what is worth it to spend on and what is not. Either way being in Los Angeles is always showing new ways it makes college life better just due to how close it is to a number of desirable locations.
