Today on the very first day of 2017 I felt rock fever for the very first time.

It took almost three years. But for me, a thirty something male who’s called Kauai home for the last three years, I’m experiencing it in reverse. I’m missing my Hawaiian home only 72 hours after I left.

My holiday gift(s) to my Mom came in the form of a jaunt to see some Football on the ‘mainland’. It started with a red-eye to SFO then connecting to Atlanta where we saw my Alma-mater Washington play the Alabama juggernaut that looked more like an NFL team than a college team, but that’s another story all together.

kauai vacation rental people go to atlanta for football

After landing in Atlanta it took only minutes in the chilly January evening air to yearn for the sand between my toes and the warm trade winds. I guess sometimes it’s good for those of us who are extremely lucky to live in Hawaii to experience the struggles of what a real winter feels like.

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If you are reading this you may have been to Hawaii in the winter for the holiday season, you can attest to the fact that even on the worst days it’s still wonderful and comfortable beyond anything the frigid mainland can offer. If you haven’t been to Hawaii for the winter months, do yourself a favor and give it a shot. It’s the best weather on the planet and will surely recharge your vitamin D batteries enough to avoid any seasonal depression that you may be experiencing during the cold, dark and short winter days.

It’s funny, even though the trip was action packed full of traveling and Uber rides plus high adrenaline sports I’ve constantly wondered about what I’ve missed on the garden island in just the few days I’ve been away. What are the waves like? Any of our vacation rental guests interested in going out for a canoe ride? What are the Albatross up to? Meanwhile my wife is sending my picture upon picture of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets just to rub it in a little too ;). Go figure. Here I am on a vacation but yearning to get back to Kauai to live my normal life.

After 24 hours in Atlanta I started missing the ocean. The sounds of the birds and waves are replaced with sirens, screeching tires and sadly the occasional yelp from someone calling into the night in distress. It made my heart melt to hear all these sounds that I haven’t experienced in nearly a year. I’d been fortunate enough to travel a few times in the last 12 months but we always got away from one peaceful spot to another (Moab, Grand Canyon, etc). I try to plan a trip away every few months to avoid getting the normal rock fever but this time I got shocked with the dreaded 180. The island was calling me back and it felt super good to hear and feel her call.

After Atlanta, aka Hotlanta (not hot at all this trip) we headed back to San Francisco to catch another football game, this time it was the NFL and our Seahawks were going up against the local 49ers.

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So far we were 0-1 because Alabama’s Crimson Tide “rolled” on the UW Huskies so we were eager to see a victory. Mom is a massive Seahawks fan. Not sure how that came about because I don’t remember her being excited about football when I was a kid but maybe that was because our team didn’t have much excitement surrounding it. For about the last ten years the hawks have been a solid team so I think Mom jumped on the bandwagon. Mom and I don’t have too many other things in common, and seeing as football is one thing we both enjoy I go with it and try to watch games with her and take her to a couple each year. Our most memorable game was super bowl 49 between the Patriots and the Hawks. We lost on the final play but it was a memory I’ll never forget. Ya see, I get stoked when riding swells on my one-man outrigger and Mom’s fire never rages hotter that in the heat of a last-minute scoring drive in the 4th quarter. Enough about football! Hawks won and during the walk out of Levi’s stadium as we were herded through the tunnels and over the bridges to break free of the masses I felt like I caged animal. The howls of drunken fans and smell of cigarettes needed to be replaced again with the crashing of the waves and the smell of sweet plumeria.

Thankfully today, I get to travel back to the garden island, see my beautiful wife, continue working on my business, surfing and canoeing skills and live the splendid island life.

It didn’t start this way but this has turned into a bit of a love letter to Hawaii. A letter thanking the islands for embracing me and letting me in to see and feel their beauty, to meet the people and get to know them just a little bit. No question these have been the best three years of my life. In just over a thousand days Hawaii has completely changed my outlook on life and I’m thankful for the reverse rock fever. If you have questions about rock fever or anything Kauai feel free to email or call. My cell and email is below.

Mahalo Hawaii!

Billy O’

808-755-5866

billyo@billyo.com