Maui

    Towards the end of my stay on the Depot, I decided to move to Hawaii. My brother and his wife went to Maui on their honeymoon. They agreed Maui would be the best Hawaiian Island to live on. My sister-in-law recommended getting a job as a waiter at Bubba Gumps. I bought a roundtrip ticket, glanced at a map, and packed a backpack with a tent attached. Leaving when I did was pretty easy, September was half over and fall was on its way. Nothing was holding me back.

    The plane landed at the Kahului airport around 5:00pm on Saturday. According to the map, the ocean was about 1 mile north of the airport. I got outside and began walking in circles, going from one end of the parking lot to the other, trying to figure out which way was north. It was embarrassing how long it took. I eventually figured it out and twenty minutes later the beach was in sight. I walked along the beach and found a spot between some trees and set up the tent as the sun was setting. The next day I just chilled and tried to process the situation. All I had was my backpack, tent, and maybe $400. Everywhere I went, the backpack came with because there was absolutely nowhere to leave it. I made my way into town and wandered around Kahului for a while. My shoulders and feet were getting pretty sore from walking so many miles. It was time to explore Maui. I studied a map and found Kehei to have some nice beaches. Tuesday I thought about hitch hiking there, but ended up going to Wal-Mart to buy a mountain bike. While in the bike section, I met a local named Rick. He must have assumed I was fresh from the "mainland."  I told him my plan was to bike to Kehei and find a job. It's hard to believe the conversation we were about to have.

"If you're looking for a job, the restaurant I work at is hiring." Rick Explained.

"Really, what position?" I inquired.

"Food Server." Rick went on to talk about how good the money is as a waiter and offered to take me to the town of Lahaina where the restaurant  is.

"What's the name of the restaurant you work at?" I had a weird feeling what his answer would be.

"Bubba Gumps"

    We left Wal-Mart pushing our brand new bikes. Even though I was getting a ride to Lahaina with Rick, a bike would provide better transportation than my feet once we arrived. We walked to his car which had a 15" round hole in the windshield. I figured he drove it around like that and began to wonder about the person I had just met. It had happened while he was shopping, on the floor lied an enormous boulder. I immediately assumed it was a meteorite, but it was actually vandalism. The rest of that afternoon was spent in Kahului while the windshield was fixed. Then we left Kahului and the drive to Lahaina amazed me. Everything in Maui, except Wal-Mart, was foreign to me. He showed me around town and a couple places to camp. We went our separate ways after exchanging phone numbers. I made my way to the one of the beaches he showed me. Standing by the entrance for the beach were three rough looking guys. I chit chatted with them, and was warned against sleeping on the beach. One guy showed me a spot nearby that was on the edge of a cemetery. I pushed my mountain bike up a small hill and set up my tent in the woods 100yds from the beach.  That night was horrible. While I was trying to sleep, a group of locals decided to have a party in the same woods. They commented on the tent being "in their spot."  Not sure what to do, I got out and introduced myself and said I was just passing through, even offering to move. They said it didn't matter, so I crashed out there. The next morning I pushed my new bike down the hill in the woods to a gravel path, only to find both tires were flat. I felt so helpless. I walked the bike maybe two blocks and met a guy on the path. We talked for a minute and he gave me directions to a bike shop three blocks away. After the tubes were replaced, I called Rick. We met up and he showed me around town again. I told him about the guys in the woods, so he showed me another beach. It was 5 miles north of Lahaina just outside Ka'anapoli. That night I slept on the beach Rick had shown me that day. I walked the woods along the beach and found a well hidden spot and cleared it out. It ended up being my permanent spot, though I would set up and take down my tent every day. The location was great.  There is a mile-long wooded beach located between two hotels. On the back side of the tree line is the field pictured. Everyday I would bike to the field, walk across it, and sleep on the beach in the same spot every time.

The Image below is what I saw when I looked out my tent:

    I began working at Bubba Gumps September 28 and was employed there the entire time I lived in Maui. It is located along front street, which is a long strip of shops and restaurants. The atmosphere there was always exciting to me. Twenty other food servers worked the floor on the dinner shift. They were all great and made going to work fun. The customers were mainly tourists, typically having to wait in line. Because they were on vacation thousands of miles from home, they were always a pleasure to wait on. I asked every table where they were from. It was an awesome experience to meet different people from all over the world. Other than Americans, I would often wait on people from Japan, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. The restaurant extends over the ocean and part of it has an open ceiling. The view was like a dream, being able to see the islands of Lanai and Molokai. Sunsets were always spectacular as it set between the two islands. Giant Humpback Whales could also be seen from the restaurant. I can't imagine having a better job while living in Maui.

    Rick rented a house in Lahaina. In the main hallway was a closet he rented to me for $200/month. I was able to shower, cook (yeah right), hang out; do everything but sleep there. A few roommates came and went while I was there but it was a pretty cool pad. I tried not to spend too much time there. I always just did my own thing.

    I lived relatively simple while in Maui. Having very few material possessions was a very positive experience for me. It was nice to be able to survive without needing a car. It was probably the only time in my life I could pull it off. With my simple life came boredom though. After seeing almost everything Maui has to offer and spending countless days at the beach, I needed a change. I got a 2nd job at Goodyear in Nov. Three days a week I would work with all locals in the shop and deal with locals needing their car repaired. It was a complete 180 from the job at Bubba's. It helped the bank and took up enough time to make me enjoy my free time more. I worked there for 4 months. I got burned out after working 38 days without a day off. I put in my two-weeks notice at Goodyear when I got really sick.

    Moving to Maui and living there the way I did was an awesome experience. Though it was challenging, I feel like the cards were played right. I wouldn't change a thing if I were to do it again. If I never would have met Rick at Wal-Mart, things wouldn't have gone so smooth for me. Rick's a good friend and I will never forget everything he did for me. Living in Maui feels like a dream to me, or if it happened decades ago. It just doesn't seem real. It was a quick eight months and I missed home like crazy, but now I miss Maui.

Short Stories:

    One night I was asleep in my tent and it started to rain. I got out, installed the rain cover, and went back to bed. Moments later, I felt something drop onto my leg. Using a flashlight, I scanned the inside of my tent only to find a twig. I lied back down and was half asleep before awaking again. Something had crawled up my shorts on the inside of my leg. I jumped up, shook it out, and grabbed the flashlight again. On the floor of my tent was a six inch centipede. (Maybe it was looking for a companion). The centipedes in Hawaii are evil-looking and crawl extremely fast. They have 20 pairs of legs, relatively large pinchers, and often send their victims to the hospital.

    Bubba Gumps is the largest restaurant in Maui. While working there I saw a few celebrities, such as Dennis Rodman, Jason Alexander, the 1st season Amazing Race crew, and nascar driver Rick Mears. I waited on a couple from Plymouth, Mn and mentioned to them I had graduated from Maple Grove, Mn. I really enjoyed waiting on tables from Minnesota and always went out of my way to make sure they were well taken care of. When I brought the check, only the husband was sitting at the table. He asked me if I ever watched the Kare11 news. Come to find I had been waiting on Diana Pierce and didn't know it. She had gone into the gift shop so I stopped to chit-chat with her. She was cool and asked for my parents phone number. When she got back into Minneapolis she called my parents to let them know I was doing ok in Maui.