Hawaii: The Island of Hawai'i (Final Day)

Our last day on the Big Island was mostly spent doing a few final things in the Hilo area, mostly so we wouldn't be too far away when the time came to return to the airport and begin our strip back. Our plane left at 10:45pm, I believe, for an overnight flight back to the mainland.

So, we killed time around town. There was plenty to do.

Hawaii: The Island of Hawai'i (Second Day)

Having spent the first day on the Big Island traveling all around the thing, the following couple of days were spent focusing on a few key destinations: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the Hilo Farmer's Market, and the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. We basically spent our entire second day just exploring the national park.

Hawaii: The Island of Hawai'i (First Day)

Hawaii consists of eight islands, seven of which are inhabited, and only six of which are publicly accessible. Of those six islands, Laura and I only visited two on our trip: Oahu, the densely-populated home of the state capital, and the island of Hawai'i, often simply called "the Big Island" in order to prevent getting the island and the state confused.

The Big Island is, of course, the biggest island, and it's far less densely populated than most of the other islands. Personally, I liked it a lot more than the crowded streets and manufactured paradise of Oahu. There was a lot more that I could personally connect with there.

Hawaii: The Island of Oahu

Laura and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. I had never been there before, but I've wanted to visit since I was little. At some point, though, the prospect of someday visiting Hawaii started seeming like a more and more distant dream, until eventually I just stopped thinking about it completely.

But here I am: an adult who can now (barely) afford to visit one of the coolest states in the nation. I'm pretty sure that at some point as a kid I specifically said that I wanted to go to Hawaii on my honeymoon, and it's kinda weird to think that actually happened.

Our trip to Hawaii can be pretty cleanly broken up into two halves: the time we spent on Oahu, and the time we spent on the Big Island. Today I'm going to recount our experience on Oahu:

Flagstaff Con Day 8: Riding Through the Desert in a Car with No Name

The final day.

Flagstaff Con Day 7: The Best Preserved Meteor Crater

Some people look down on the idea of doing "touristy" things, and it's probably true that many attractions out there are a waste of your time and money. However, I've had a pretty good track record with tourist attractions, with the House on the Rock being one of the most spectacular examples. Have I written about that experience before? I should do that sometime, even though I haven't been there in a year.

Anyway, Meteor Crater is a tourist spot, through and through. That said, it was an ideal place to bring a group of EarthBound fans.

Flagstaff Con Day 6: Ruins and Reids

By the sixth day, as the convention organizer I was pretty much out of ideas. Luckily, Laura came to the rescue with the plan to go check out some ancient Indian ruins nearby.

Flagstaff Con Day 5: Cajun Food

After four straight days of travel and activities, it was high time for a day off. My intentions for that day were to stay at the house all day, coerce people into testing out my game, and maybe just hang out with people.

In essence, I wanted a day of vacation. However, even a slow day at a Starmen.Net convention will contain fun and surprises.

Flagstaff Con Day 4: Sedona

Some places are simply magical. There's something about it; a feeling in the air, a view, the faint odor of something greater than yourself that inhabits a place lets you know that this place is one of the magical places in the world, and words simply can't capture it.

So, naturally you label these places "vortexes" (or "vortices," if you're a smart ass) and set up shop as a mystic nearby so you can profit off of nature's wonders.

Welcome to Sedona!

Flagstaff Con Day 3: The Grand Canyon

Naturally, we had to visit the Grand Canyon while we were in Flagstaff. When one of the most fantastic sights in the world is just two hours away, it would really be a shame not to see it.

The fact that this was my second time there did nothing to diminish its grandeur.

Flagstaff Con Day 2: The City of Flagstaff

For the first real day of the con, I figured it would be a good idea to actually explore the town itself. At an elevation of over 7,000 ft, it's actually cool enough there to spend time outside.

Flagstaff Con Day 1: Travel

This year's Starmen.Net convention was planned by me, which pretty much just means that I found a place that can fit a couple dozen people, figured out how much it would cost to stay there for a week, then convinced people to send me money to cover that amount.

This year it was in Flagstaff, Arizona, a part of the state that looks very different than the rest of it: green, grassy hills, lots of trees, and temperatures below 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. After months of planning this convention for literally minutes each month, it was finally time to go check out this house we were staying at.

Vacationing as an Introvert

I love MAGfest. It's rapidly become my favorite convention, just because it's still sitting at that perfect balance of being big enough to be profitable and small enough to be relatively low-stress.

So when I say I'm ready to go home, understand that it's got nothing to do with this wonderful event I'm attending.

I feel like I need a vacation from this vacation. Ever since I left Tucson back on December 23rd at 1:49PM I've been on the road, spending time with family, hanging out with friends, sick, taking care of errands to get ready for MAGfest, or actually working the booth at MAGfest. With the exception of being sick, all of those things are things I enjoy doing... for a while. I, however, am an introvert.

Introverts recharge by being alone and relaxing. They're capable of everything else, but they need that recharge time. As long as I'm on vacation, though, I'm not getting much rest. The only time I'm alone is when I'm on the road, which is exhausting in a completely different way.

I'm not at dangerous levels right now. My fuel reserves are pretty deep, and I'm catching up when I can. (Right now, for instance: in the hotel room, alone, typing up a blog post. Ahh, relaxation!) However, I can feel my tank hovering between half full and a quarter full.

I think I'll spend the rest of tonight in here. I'll enjoy MAGfest more tomorrow.