I slip off my flip flops and dig my toes into the warm, white sand. The wind picks up speed as I approach the ocean, but the air is warm and the sun beats down on my face. A sense of calm comes over me as I look across the horizon to the bright blue sky and turquoise water. This is me in my happy place on the beach on Maui. For years, Maui has been a place of rest and rejuvenation for our family and I am here again, this time with my Expedia Viewfinder colleagues sharing the best of this magical island of Maui as part of a partnership with the Maui Visitor’s Bureau.
Maui holds special memories for us as a family. We honeymooned on Maui. We have spent many wonderful days over the years relaxing on the shores of Maui with friends and family. We have spent countless hours splashing in the waves from the time the girls were little babies, watching them crawl and wriggle their toes in the sand on beaches like the one I was surfing that day. They are growing so fast.
I’m back at my desk now and going through my photos from the trip. And I ran across this collage of the photos I posted on Facebook. I pause for a moment and catch my breath after seeing this compilation of images from our trip…
You see this parenting thing. It’s a wild and crazy ride and it is these moments, like ours on Maui, where time stands still and you feel like you have the space to inhale all of the beauty and joy of this delicate dance to pursue work you love, experience life to its fullest, and spend precious moments with family. It is not easy. Far from it. And if you are not careful, you will miss these moments if you don’t take time to stop and enjoy them.
On our trip, we were out one night with the family at Monkeypod for dinner. I stopped for a moment and looked around the outdoor patio – tables full of families on vacation. I felt this surge of excitement and joy come over me, “I wonder what their story is?” I thought to myself. I imagined where these families lived, what the conversation was that spurred them to plan and book this vacation together. How they felt when they stepped off the plane at OGG and took their first inhale of the sweet warm air filled with plumeria. How they felt now, as they sat together, sharing a meal, thousands of miles away from the soccer schedules, carpools, and everyday stresses of family life. What would they take away from this journey to this very special place called Maui?
A shot of the girls on the beach in Maui in 2012 when Expedia Viewfinder launched.
My husband recreating the moment 3 years later. Taken on our Expedia Viewfinder #PictureMaui trip.
I exhale and marvel at the gift of this trip, this time, and sunsets like these.
Ready to get started on planning your own family trip to Maui? The Expedia team has set up this helpful page to help you start your planning and Picture Maui. I’ll be sharing more on our trip and where to stay, eat and play with the family on Maui soon.
A big thank you to team Expedia, the Maui Visitor’s Bureau, and The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui for an extraordinary visit to our happy place on Maui.
Disclosure: This post is part of an ongoing partnership with Expedia as part of the Expedia Viewfinder blogger program. As always, all opinions here are my own.