Traveling isn't cheap but paradise might still be in reach if you use something like CouchSurfing.com. This can radically change your ability to travel to more places. This was my first time traveling to Hawaii and the plan was to try to camp and utilize CouchSurfing.com to mitigate the cost. I had no reputation on CouchSurfing.com and wasn't even verified so I started to get worried that my plan wouldn't work out.
(Note: All pictures in this post are original.)
So the trip started by flying Hawaiian airlines from Phoenix to Oahu, Hawaii. Usually if you go after labor day you can find some cheap tickets. This is after everyone is back in school. We were able to get round trip tickets for $325. That was a killer deal. For the first two days we stayed in a hotel. It was only $60 / night and you could walk to Waikiki Beach. It was unbelievable and the rain would come in and there would be rainbows cutting through the city.
After the first couple of day we were supposed to meet our first Couch Surfing host Damal. I had messaged like 50 people and I really only got about 5 responses. Some of which said there weren't able to host but offered good advice of different places to go hiking or things to see. That was really cool. I think part of the reason I didn't get a lot of responses is because my account was so new and I wasn't verified and I hadn't hosted anyone myself.
Damal shows up and took us to Hanauma Bay to snorkel. That was so cool because we were already wanting to go there anyways. It was an amazing time. The water was so perfect!
After that we went out to eat. Me and Rachel treated Damal to a good dinner before we went back to his place.
A lot of times when you Couch Surf you are probably going to be in a spare bedroom. The great thing about the site is usually the host will upload pictures of where you might sleep and what their setup is. I had to take the opportunity to get a picture of "surfing" since it was my first Couch Surfing experience.
We had heard about a hike called Three Peaks so we got on the bus and rode to where it is. If you go to Oahu the bus system is really good and you can pretty much get all over the island using the bus system instead of renting a car.
Here is Rachel climbing up. She was my girlfriend at the time. We are still good friends.
Here is a picture of me on the same hike.
The hike extremely scary at times and I actually felt like I might die twice. Don't do that hike if it is real windy. You will feel like you might get blown off of the spine of those mountains and fall 800 feet. I'm sure people have died there. Below is one of my favorite pictures I took in Hawaii. It is paradise for sure but it can kill you as well. You can see the spine of the 3rd peak ahead.
Three Peaks will consume your whole day. It was back to Damal's place after that. His girlfriend Amber came over and we watched movies before Rachel and I went to bed. The next day we hit up Lanakai Beach. It is such an amazing beach! You can rent Kayaks to take out to those islands behind me. It is amazing. You can do a lot of snorkeling here as well. I saw my first sea turtles there.
We ended up hitting up some of the night life later that night. I can't remember the exact places we ate but I wasn't complaining.
After a few days at Damal's place we were onto Shestin's place. He was going to be our second host and he lived on the North Shore right on the Beach. It was so amazing to say the least. Here is a picture of the beach right where we were staying.
When the sun went down we took the opportunity to do a kiss picture. LOL
Shestin's place was cool. He had a lot of unique artwork on the wall.
That night we had a camp fire right on the North Shore. Another couple from Denmark was also there so we had a small party. It was super cool. It was already solidified in my mind that Couch Surfing was actually better than traveling and just staying in hotels. Because the experience is way cooler and you get to meet unique people.
When we were on the North Shore we went on an amazing hike back to a waterfall. For some reason I don't have a picture of the waterfall. It wasn't really that great. The views we saw on the hike were better than the actual waterfall.
Here is a picture of us when we were back at the waterfall. It had been raining pretty heavy so the water was gushing.
We ended up going to Waimea Bay which was both amazing and scary at the same time. The waves got so big there that I thought I was going to drown at one point. Here is a picture of Rachel in the waves when they were fun. Then a picture of me getting swallowed. I'm right in the middle about to get FLUSHED! A big set of 3 came and me and a lot of other people had a hard time getting out of there. After that everyone crawled out of the water and were scared to go back in.
The waves there crash pretty much right on the beach and that can cause a dangerous situation. People do drown there and get injured so be safe. There is also a cliff jump there but I didn't get to jump off of it because they closed it down with the waves being so high.
Shestin had to go over to another island and do some work but he let us camp outside the house right on the North Shore. We communicated with Damal again and him and Amber just let us stay in her apartment by ourselves. I was just blown away with how trusting they were. It was really amazing. We ended up going to the Polynesian Cultural Center with them one of the last days we were in Hawaii. Here is a picture of a replica of what they suspect the Polynesians would use when they were looking for other islands. Can you imagine riding one of these from New Zealand to Hawaii?
Here is a picture of Damal and Amber while we were there.
Later that night was the fire show which was cool!
After 10 days on Oahu we took off to come back to Arizona. The island you are seeing is actually the Big Island poking through the clouds.
Final Thoughts
Hawaii is paradise and if you get the chance to go you should jump on it. You could easily spend 20 or 30 days on Oahu and not see everything. The total trip cost us $750 each for 10 days in paradise. Food is expensive so try to bring as much as you can from home.
As far as CouchSurfing.com is concerned I was totally blown away by our hosts generosity. Letting us stay with them for free was one thing but it was like they were going out of their way to make our stay more amazing. It definitely was a superior way to travel because you make friends and also get extra insight on where to go.
Luckily I have been able to pass it on and host some Couch Surfers here as well. My suggestion is to get on and get verified and build up your reputation. If you can host some people and get some feedback that is a good way to do it. Success will build on itself on there and before long people might be begging you to stay with them.
I have witnessed that myself with other travelers. There have been several times where I have tried to host people because their story looked like it would be so epic. Other hosts snagged them up before me.
You can travel to places you would have never thought possible!
Thank you for looking at my post and please consider following me
