The Backpack Project

Why the Hell Can't I Find Anything?!?

2013-06-25T18:13:00.001-07:00

My biggest problem anytime I go somewhere new is trying to figure out what that countries equivalents are to stores we have in America. I started a list a while back but I'm not sure where it got to. I figure it's smarter to just keep it on here that way I can't lose it again.

General:

Drug Stores: They are called Chemist's in most other counties. They will have most of the stuff your average Walgreen's/CVS/Duane Reade/etc has.

Australia:

Grocery Stores: Woolworth's (which they call Woolies), Coles/Bi-Lo (This is not our Bi-Lo, and as far as I can tell whatever it used to be it is owned by Coles now because all the store brand products are Coles brand), I'm sure there are more, but those are the only one's I've seen so far.

Hardware Store: Bunning's is your basic Home Depot/Lowe's/Ace type store.

Liqueur Store: They can't sell alcohol in any of the random stores you might find it in in the US. Basically, if you want booze you gotta go to a "bottle shop." From what I can tell these come in all shapes and sizes. They have what we would traditionally call a liqueur store. Then they have little open air drive through style places. Some bars double as bottle shops.

"I'd like a pint of Heineken and a 6 pack to-go please."

And lastly if a restaurant serves alcohol, sometimes you can by a bottle for "take away," like you're in a chinese place or something.

"I'll have....the Egg foo young....a number 8 with plum sauce and....throw a bottle of vodka in there while you're at it."

Obviously, the last two are exaggerations, but you get the idea.

Can I get a McPotRoast and a Supersized Peach Cobbler?

2013-06-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

My Italian room mates wanted to have a BBQ last week. So we all got together last Saturday and grilled veggies, and chicken, and sausage (we were full/to drunk to operate a grill before the hamburgers even made it out of the fridge.)

Somehow we got on the topic of how good traditional food from our home countries is. There were 6 different nationalities there so it was a pretty interesting conversation. Because I love to cook, I said I'd make an American family dinner some night for everyone. The German, Italian, and Portugese girls (almost in unison) said,

G:"You mean you'll bring home some McDonald's?"
I:"McDonald's right?"
P:"Oh, McDonald's?

While this is quiet funny, and I took no personal offense, I was channeling Barney Stinson in my head. "Challenge Accepted!"

I made pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, and peach cobbler for dessert. I didn't even have time to take a picture of anything because it was all gone in like 20 minutes. They all conceded that American's also have good food.

Right in the middle of my triumph, Fernando asks, "If I go to America can I get a McPotRoast?"

*shakes head*

Random Happening of the Day (IV)

2013-06-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Scene: American family dinner. 7 people around the table. 1 German, 1 Brazilian, 2 Italians, 1 Australian, 1 girl from Portugal and me (an American, just in case that wasn't obvious.)

I was gonna make peach cobbler, but I didn't have the right pan so I asked my Australian neighbor, Ash, if he had one I could borrow. When he came over to deliver the pan everyone introduced themselves. After hearing all the different accents Ash asked where they were all from. His response after hearing all the answers was, "Geez, it's like a UN meeting in here."

I LOVE IT!!!

Random Happening of the Day (III)

2013-06-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before I live in an old Queenslander house. For those who don't know, that means one of the designe features of the house is that it has tons of windows and no A/C. You just open the windows strategically to get the breeze to move through the house the way you want to cool certain rooms.

Well, none of these windows have screens so any time we pulled food out to cook all the flies started hanging around the kitchen and dinning room. It took about 2 days before I decided this was unacceptable. I did some research and it turns out flies don't like the smell of basil.

So I went to the Bunnings(Australian equivalent of Home Depo/Lowes) to get some basil plants to ward off the flies, and extra benefit, fresh basil in the kitchen! I went up to two guys standing out in the gardening section of the store and asked, "Do you guys stock any basil(bay-zul)?"

The first guy looks at me kinda funny and replies, "I'm not sure, I've never heard of it. Let me go check with my supervisor," and starts to run off.

I watched him walk away and turned to the second one thinking there is now way these guys have never heard of basil so I asked the second one, "Sorry, do you have any basil(baz-el)?"

"Dude! She's looking for baz-el!"

"Oh, baz-el! Yeah, we've got that right over here."

I can only imagine more of these delightful verbal misunderstanding will follow in the year to come.

Meet the gang:

I Can Hear the Thunder....

2013-06-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

...but hopefully the women don't glow.

I made it a little over a year back in the US before I got that feeling like I needed walk on ground I've never touched before.

So.......I moved to Australia! I'm gonna be here for a year on a work/holiday visa.

I'm working in a hotel in Townsville for the first 6 months then off to who knows where. (Melbourne is the front runner at the moment)

I moved into a beautiful old queenslander house with a Brazilian, a German, and 2 Italians. I love it!

I'll try to be better about updating this blog then I was when I was in Europe, haha.

Bad Rosie! (say it like you would to a dog who just chewed up a Christmas present with the accusatory finger and everything)

2011-09-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

So I lied......about keeping this blog updated in a timely manner, but it just seemed like every time I got back from a trip I had tons of homework and papers to do (And if procrastination was a sport in the Olympics I would medal =)). However! Now that I have graduated, (hallelujah!!! *doing the Snoopy happy dance*) I have the time to do all the back logged posts I wanted to do, and hopefully keep up with the blog in the future! So that means that the next few post will be dated b4 this post even thought I wrote them after, but they'll be in the right month for when they happened, so it is a little confusing but once I catch up to this post date in real life I'll delete this one and it will be confusing no longer. s'allright?

I've been out of school for 6 months now and I'm still back logged, "extra bad Rosie!"

I'm going to keep a list of the back logged posts I need to write. This is more for my benefit than yours. You can try to make since of the mess of simi-titles below, but don't say I didn't warn you:

My past: the strange circumstances under which i was born, the Moz incident, broadreach,
japan, thialand, spring breakaway maui"we're hung like bull"

also if there is anything you want to know about me just ask and I'll try to post about it =)

Banksy: Wall and Piece

2011-09-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

I had heard of this guy before, and seen some of his stuff, but after reading this book I really, really like him. Some of his ideas are crap, but mostly he's witty, and creative, and hilarious. I want to own this book so bad. I never really thought of myself as a coffee table book kind of person, but I'd put this book out on my coffee table = ) . Also, I desperately want to see 'Exit through the Giftshop' now.

Can anyone say Christmas present?

http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Piece-Banksy/dp/1844137872/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316952771&sr=8-1

Random Happening of the Day (II)

2011-09-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

I was on the Megabus from Liverpool to London today and while we were stuck in traffic I glanced out the window to see something so funny.

There was a cow who had spots, like a traditional black and white only he was light brown and white, and he was trying as hard as he could to scratch behind his ear with his rear hoof. Just picture it, it's hilarious.

.....well I thought it was hilarious.

National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh

2011-09-10T04:34:00.000-07:00

If you like the Smithsonian's in DC or the American Museum of Natural History in NY then you'll like this place. It was amazing!

First you come in to see the Millennium Clock. Super cool! Then you could go back in time, technologically speaking, or see mummies, or the first ever cloned animal, or dinosaurs, or a truly spectacular two-level animal kingdom exhibit. If you're into geology or artifacts from other cultures they have that too! The best thing about this place though, is that unlike its contemporaries listed above, it isn't overwhelmingly big. It is the perfect size for one day of exploration, and has interactive activities everywhere! It is so much fun, for kids and adult alike!

http://www.nms.ac.uk/

I didn't take any pictures in this place because I was to busy having fun so get on the website above if you wanna check it out a bit more

Clarinda's Tearoom (Edinburgh)

2011-09-09T03:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Lisa and I were walking around the Royal Mile and decided that it was time for a snack so we stopped in this little tearoom. Very good call on our part. Not only is it super cute inside, but the food (savory and sweet) is amazing!! And the prices were really cheap. If you ever go to Edinburgh I 100% recommend this place.

It's on 69 Canongate right in the middle of all the touristy stuff so it is easy to get to as well.

Hiking in Holyrood Park (the trek to Arthur's Seat)

2011-09-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

enjoying the wind on top of Arthur's Seat

I say trek but it probably only took us 30 minutes, 45 tops. This hike is on my must do list for Edinburgh though. It is all up hill, but the grade is very gradual and you can take it at your own pace. It is definitely worth doing because once you reach the top you have a phenomenal 360 degree view. It is quite windy so bring a wind breaker and be sure to do it on a sunny day otherwise the wind makes it very cold. We just hiked to the summit(Arthur's Seat) but if you were really ambitious you could hike all over the park. I think this is one of my favorite hikes I have ever been on.

This is half way up. First, I look down on what we just hiked up. Then up at what we have left to hike.

Partial view from the top

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

2011-09-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

How did the number of mental patients in my life rise from zero to 4 in two days time!?!?!

I have a gardener boss who aimlessly wanders around all day saying "ya' know?" after every sentence. NO! I don't know Bactee, explain yourself for once in an effing blue moon!! Then there is the 40-something year old guy who is stalking my 19 year old French roommate, and somehow hasn't gotten the hints that she wants nothing to do with him. Then there is the 40 or 50-something woman who still gets an allowance from her rich jeweler uncle (presumably to keep her as far away from him as humanly possible) and calls herself a child of the earth, and has a private tutor to help her become a white witch. I know she must have something actually wrong with her and I'm a horrible person for complaining and I would normally be able to deal with this small amount of crazy if there wasn't a super-king-sized crazy sleeping in the room across the hall that is taking up all my self-control.

The girl across the hall is, we think, schizophrenic. She was fine a few days ago and then she just started randomly bursting into tears every hour or so. After that she started not wanting to go places by herself like to get a broom or a dust pan in the next room, and if you left a room for any reason or amount of time and she was alone she'd just follow you. Then she took to just staring at you while you did anything, from write an e-mail to brushing your teeth. Then she came into the conservatory holding onto a 7in long full on Hitchcockian Psycho style knife like it was a security blanket. She didn't threaten anybody or anything, but it took 10 mins to convince her to leave it in the kitchen rather than take it back home with us. Things got really strange after that. She stopped leaving the house altogether and anytime you asked or said anything to her she'd just reply "I'm fine." Then she stopped eating and sleeping. Then when we tried to convince her to go to the hospital to make sure she was OK (that sounds harsh, but we did it subtly) she refused to leave the up stairs. Then the Scottish police came (both very fit, but under the circumstances there were more pressing matters to focus on). They talked with her and told her she'd have to abide by the rules of the people we were staying with, but because she made no out right verbal threat there was nothing they could do to forcibly remove her. So she stayed another night and while we (my two roommates and I) were at dinner she moved her stuff into our room. When we got back and saw this we all agreed there was no way we were sleeping in the same room with the Lizzie Borden wanna be and promptly locked ourselves into the bedroom at 8pm and spent the rest of the night whispering, trying to convince ourselves that we weren't overreacting. Because really she hadn't done anything, but be super effing creepy (but it's better to overreact in a situation like this than under-react right???) anyway now it's the next morning and it took 30 mins of convincing, but me and one of the other girls got Lizzie to go for a walk. We're like 90% sure she's not actually thinking about hurting anybody, but wow, talk about a bonding experience.

I'm really trying to be a good person about all this and not one of the many jerks I'm sure she has encountered in her life, but she is really sketching me out. God help me.

addition to above post: I was feeling so sick over this who situation then one of my friends had a stroke of genius! She told me to contact the Finnish Embassy (Lizzie is from Finland) because they would probably want to take care of their citizen while she was in a foreign country. To make a very long story short, the police came out to forcibly remove her and she refused to go to the hospital but we got her to agree to go to a homeless shelter that deals with mentally ill people until the Embassy could send someone. I think once they get her back on her meds that she will be fine like before. I know I was justified in my reaction but now that the scary part is over I'm back to feeling like a jerk. =( bleh!

Random Happening of the Day (I)

2011-08-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today I was talking to a Hare Krishna woman and she told me they wake up at 4:30 every morning to chant and dance in their temple.

Upon hearing this I promptly responded with a wide eyed "Jesus Christ!"

This exclamation was followed by a lot of laughter by all present because of the irony.

The MEGABUS!!!!

2011-08-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

I can't say enough good things about The Megabus. First off it is super expensive to travel by train or plane, but everyone knows this already. Short of hitchhiking I don't think you'll find a cheaper form of transport than The Megabus. It only cost me £20 to go from London to Glasgow.

Now, this journey did take from 8am to 5:15pm, however there is a ton of leg room, the drive up is pretty scenic and the bus has free Wi-Fi! If you have a buddy with you or if you just enjoy talking to strangers than this is not a bad way to spend a day. I 100% recommend this mode of travel. The greatest thing about it is they go all over the UK, the US northeast, and Canada(along the NY boarder.) I'm for sure gonna use them in the future.

http://www.megabus.com/

Air Canada is Amazing!

2011-08-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

I flew through Toranto to get to London, and my connecting flight was Air Canada. This airline has their sh*t together.

There was tons of leg room, real silverware, huge blankets, individual entertainment consoles, and the food was good.

Also, I've been thinking that Franch-Canada would be a good place for me to move if I ever get serious about learning French.

You're Awesome Canada!

Remembering the Alamo!

2011-06-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

My little brother Scott and I

On the drive through Texas we stopped in San Antonio and thought while we’re here we may as well go see the Alamo. It’s right in the middle of the city. It’s kinda funny to see this classic old church right in the middle of a bunch of high rises. It is really pretty though, and it’s free admission so that’s pretty cool.

Scott and our friend Jeff (AKA El Flufferino) on the riverwalk

We wandered around the riverwalk area along San Antonio River after we’d seen the Alamo. I wouldn’t have thought that I’d like any city in Texas (I know, I shouldn’t judge a place before I’ve been there) but the little of San Antonio I saw was really pretty and it looked like it would be a really fun place to stay for a while. I wouldn't mind going back some day and exploring it more thoroughly. And I’d totally recommend it as a nice city to visit if you just wanted a chill place to spend a week.

It Wouldn't Be A Real Road Trip If We Didn't Get At Least One Flat Tire

2011-06-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

Scene: we have just pulled back out onto the I-10 from a filling station on the Texas/Louisiana boarder.

Scott : "We've been making really good time. I think we'll get to New Orleans early."

cue thudding sound

El Flufferino : "You just had to say something didn't you?"

wa waaaaaaaaa

end scene

Men at Work

It's times like these that it's nice to have a race car driver and his one man pit crew on a road trip with you. the spare was underneath a packed full trunk, and half the back seat was full of luggage we had to take out as well so that the car was light enough for the jack to lift, and even with all this extra work, I'd still say those boys had the flat changed out in under 15 mins. My heroes = )

Also a special shout out to Brooke's dad who informed me that my spare was low on air, and told me where to go to get it filled before we left L.A. We would have been SOL if he hadn't noticed that.

Voila! pitiful looking little doughnut that we drove all the way into New Orleans on

ROAD TRIP!!! (sorta)

2011-05-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

The down side of shipping your car from Hawai`i to the West coast when it needs to end up on the East coast is that you have to drive all the way there. My mom didn't trust me to drive my car back all on my own so she sent my little brother, Scott, out to help me drive it back.

I wanted to use this as an excuse to do a real road trip where you stop and see the sights along the way, but Scott is more interested in just getting home. I did talk him into taking the low route thought, so we’re gonna stop in New Orleans!!

The Good Samaritan

2011-05-20T04:17:00.000-07:00

I was hiking the Hanakapi'ai Trail on Kaua'i and on the way out of the valley(which is super steep, and takes about 2 hours to get out of) there was a man that looked to be about 40 and he was really struggling with his huge backpack(it looked like it had been packed for a week of camping.) Well, along comes this 20-something guy, also with a huge pack. The 20 year old offered to carry the older mans pack. The 20 year old was with a group of about 8 friends, they all left him behind, but this guy still carried both his pack and the strangers pack all the way out of the valley and back down the side of the volcano to the beach in the 90F/32C degree heat. This is one of the kindest most amazing things I've ever seen anyone do. I wish I'd gone over and shaken this guys hand, but I was kinda dying of my own heat exhaustion at the time.

I hope this inspires you to do something kind for a stranger in the future.

Can you believe I’ve lived in Hawai’i for 5 years and I’m just now learning to make a lei?

2011-04-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today was a really good day. I made a new friend, Jenna, saw the ‘Grand Canyon’ of Kaua`i, and learned how to make a Maile lei.

Jenni, Carlos, and I

I came to Kaua`i with two friends; Jenni, who was born and raised here, and Carlos, who moved to the big island of Hawai`i when he was 9. Last night we were in a grocery store and Carlos ran into a girl he works with on the Hawai`i, Jenna. While we were talking story we found out that she was here alone and invited her to hang out with us.

Panorama of the canyon

Look close at the ocean and you'll see a little sliver that
looks like a cloud shadow, that's Ni`ihau

We all set out to see the Waimea Canyon on our own, but Jenni’s dad wanted to show us around so we picked him up and started up the mountain. We stopped at every single lookout cuz Jen’s dad wanted us to see the canyon for all the different angles. I normally wouldn’t stop at so many lookout points but it turned out that every lookout was different and beautiful in its own way. Also you can see Ni`ihau from Kaua`i so now I've officially seen all 8 of the main islands!

My favorite part of the canyon

After awhile Jen’s dad asked if we wanted to go pick Maile and learn how to make leis out of it. Maile is a vine that is native to the Hawaiian Islands and rather than looking like a necklace, it is left open and just draped over the recipient shoulders to hang down. Maile isn’t rear, but it’s not all over the place either, and it is considered to be one of the nicer leis a person can receive. It is the traditional lei a man is giving for prom (as opposed to a boutonniere) or on his wedding day.

Me picking Maile

First we went out into the forest in Kokee to find Maile vines. It took me about 20 minutes to get the hang of identifying them. After I learned what they looked like Jen’s dad taught me how to pick it. There is a special technique you used to put the top, leafy part of the vine off of the stem so that you leave the rigid green stem behind and are left with this really fragile leaf string. This is way harder than it sounds. I messed up a lot, but I finally got the hang of it and started pulling some decently long strings.

one of my pitifully short pieces

that's better, but Jen's dad still schooled the lot of us

Once you’ve got a big bag full of these strings you pull them apart and start to tie the strings together so that all the leaves face the same direction. Then you take to equal length strings and tie them together with the leaves going the opposite direction. This is the part of the lei that hits behind the neck so that all the leaves on both sides hang downwards when you wear it. Once you have at least 4 strings (normally you’d want 6 to 8) you hold all the strings together at one end and twirl them. I know this sounds ridiculous, but the vines just find a way to get next to each other through the leaves and you do that till the strings are all together to make one big strand.

tying the pieces together

twirling the strands together

What it's supposed to look like

The leis we made aren't very full because we couldn’t find enough Maile, but normally they are really long and full, and smell really nice.

It's So Pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-02-05T00:16:00.001-08:00

I just got my new pack in the mail, and I am already in love. It is so much nicer in real life then anything I could see online, and it even has a few extra little things that weren't in the description that make it way more awesome then I thought it would be. It has fully surpassed my expectations, and I can't wait till I get to use it for the first time!!!!

It's the most fabulous thing I've ever owned!

And the Winner is.....

2011-01-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

.....The Lowe Alpine TFX Cerro Torre!!!!!! I just ordered it from Backcountry.com and I feel really good about my decision. It should arrive in a little under a week!!

This is the first step toward what will be my new life in 5 or 6 months time.

I'm ssssooooo excited!!

Happy Turkey Day from Moloka'i, Maui, & Lana'i! (AKA nice one Courtney Love)

2010-11-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

Waiting to board our flight to Moloka'i

I only meet Jordyn 3 months ago, but I couldn’t have picked a better person to go on my Thanksgiving adventure with. Neither of us had ever been to Moloka`i or Lana`i and we decided that taking a long thanksgiving break to do this would be a good idea, we were right. We originally planned on just staying on the before mentioned islands, but because you have to stop in Maui to get to either of these islands from the other we decided to stay on Maui in between.

The trip started with the most fun little airplane I have ever seen, much less been on, in my life! It only carried 9 people plus the pilot. I can’t really explain why, but it was so much more fun riding in this plane than on the big jets I’m used to. I thought I’d lost any thrill riding in planes could give me years ago, but I was actually excited about flying in this little plane! It felt like being a kid again. J

After we landed and got our rental car, (which you have to have to do anything on Moloka`i) the sun was setting on our drive to the hotel. The amber light made the island that was laid out ahead of us even more beautiful than it normally is.

Moloka`i is a very small island and the next day was Thanksgiving. We knew everything would be closed so after we got settled we went into town (the only town on Moloka`i) to get food for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up getting some different fruits, and a meat (turkey obviously)/cheese/cracker snack box. We ended up spending the day driving from beach to beach just hanging out. I saw one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen in my life on the west side (Papohaku), and the most idyllic cove on the east side (Halawa Bay). The cove was so spectacular; it is the one thing I think anyone who visits that island must see b4 they leave! The drive down there is just magnificent as well; we saw a herd of deer! Who knew there were deer in Hawai’i? Not Jordyn and me that’s for sure. We flipped out when we saw them; stopped in the middle of the road, backed up and everything to look for them.

We ate our Thanksgiving dinner by the pool at the hotel and watched a Roast of Pam Anderson, this isn’t relevant other than to say that Courtney Love was one of the Roasters, and despite her constant protests to the contrary, she was acting totally wasted. Later that night I was having some (unalcohol related) equilibrium issues and ran into a wall on my way to bed, to which Jordyn replied “nice one Courtney Love!” From this point forward Courtney Love became to most entertaining part of our conversations for the rest of the trip.

Lookout over the leper colony

On our second and last day on Molokai we woke up early to go hiking at the viewing point for Father Damien’s leper colony. On our way back down we stopped at a mac nut farm where we got to see every stage of the mac nut maturation process because, as we learned, the mac nut tree is constantly producing nuts all year long. We then got to pick some freshly fallen nuts off the ground from around the tree and use this really fun holding tool designed by the farm owner, and a hammer to crack open our own nuts. Jordyn was way better at it than me. No matter how hard I tried I kept breaking the nuts, while Jordyn’s kept coming out perfect and whole.

Finally we went back to the room to get our stuff ready to take the ferry to Maui. If you are the kind of person who gets sea sick, this ferry ride would have put you off boats forever. It was the roughest boat experience I have ever had. It felt like we were going to tip over at any moment because the waves were so big, but what made it so funny is that it was still a beautiful Hawai’i day despite feeling like we were in the perfect storm. Jordyn and I just thought that the ferry ride was entertaining but there was more than one person onboard who was very excited to have reached Lahina.

Once we departed the ferry we walked to our hotel which was right next to the main street in Lahina. We got changed from our epic ferry ride which left us very salty from all the sea spray, and went out in search of sustenance. We ended up at a burger place and because we were so hungry just sat at the bar rather than wait for a table. This turned out to be a good idea because we made friends with the bartender who “forgot” to charge us for two of our drinks. The next day was Jordyn’s 21^st birthday! We went out and I bought her a drink. Later that night we meet this funny old local guy at a tee-shirt shop. Jordyn just loved that he called her “honey girl,” and ended up with a job offer if he ever expanded his business to Hilo.

On the plane ride back to Hilo, but it's the only picture I
have of my hat

I have never owned a cap, and from the day I moved to Hawai’i I’ve wanted one because they are the most useful thing ever here, but I digress. We just cruised around the shops in Lahina the next day and stumbled into a bikini shop where we meet the loveliest shopkeeper. She and her son started this business, Pakaloha, which she said doesn’t directly translate to, but is meant to mean, ‘teardrops of love.’ You might be wondering why I have told you this seemingly meaningless story. It is because this is the store from which I bought the world’s most amazingly awesome cap! This was made all the better by the fact that I had been searching for it for 4 ½ years.

On the ferry to Lana'i

Next we boarded a fairy bound for Lana’i. This ferry ride was much shorter, and totally turbulence free. There is only one hotel on Lana’i, the Four Seasons. Let me just say now, if you ever have the opportunity to stay at a Four Seasons, DO IT! This was one of the most fantastic places I’ve ever been. I count Disney World as the only place more insanely amazing.

First off the hotel itself is a giant estate. Second the insides are decorated to a degree of extravagance that could rival Versailles Palace. The rooms are like a mini wonderland with every toiletry under the sun imported from France, memory foam mattress tops, giant flat screen TV, a telephone in the bathroom, and a beautiful lanai (no pun intended) with a view of the pool and ocean.

The amazing beach

However the most amazing part of this resort is by far the beach and pool areas. The property is right on top of the most amazing beach! Which they rake every morning to make sure there are no twigs, rocks, or leaves for you to have to walk on or pick out of your sand castle. Then when you get down there the attendants, who are there at basically sunrise to sun set, ask you how many people in your party and proceed to set up that many beach chairs and a table complete with your own giant beach umbrella to shield you from the sun should you so desire. After they have set all this up for you they offer you lemonade or ice water. What makes this beach amazing in a natural way in addition to the man made ways above is that it is in a perfect cove that allows the waves to be big enough to be really fun to play in but never so big that you ever feel worried that you’ll get hurt, and the incline into the water is nice and slow so you don’t just drop off into the ocean where you can’t touch anymore. After hanging out for a while J and I took a little hike to Sweetheart Rock which is a rock formation (gasps of shock!) to the east of the beach. (the legend behind it is pretty cool if you wanna check it out http://www.gohawaii.com/lanai/regions-neighborhoods/south-lanai/puu-pehe)

This picture really doesn't do the pool justice

The pool is also an epic experience. When you get there one of the many cabana boys asks you how many pool side chairs he should prepare. He then covers your chair with a towel designed to fit the entire cushion covered pool chair. After that he asks if you’d like the hood (which looks something like the hood of an old style carriage) pulled up to shield you from the sun. The pool is temperature controlled 24 hrs a day so it is always perfect to swim in and when you get out of the pool another cabana boy asks if you’d like cucumbers for your eyes and some lilikoi juice to refresh you. The only thing they don’t do is bring you snacks. If you even look like you’re making a move to adjust the hood of your chair, an attendant is immediately there to do it for you.

Jordyn and I were obviously reluctant to leave this paradise but alas the real world awaited. Our Thanksgiving vacation was exactly what I needed to help me distress. It was super fun and really relaxing. It was so fun in fact that Jordyn and I agreed to go back to Lana’i in 2015 for a reunion. Anyone who wants is welcome to join us. I promise its worth the money.

You know you want to come to Lana'i with us in 2015 ; )

Where in the World Is Rosie Hunerwadel (Nov 2010 - Sept 2012)

2010-10-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

(Yes, you should have sung the title of this post like in the show)

I'm gonna start using this blog as a rough planning ground for my travels to help me make sure I'm not double booking things and also if anyone has friends in the places I'm gonna be feel free to let me know. I like meeting new people and its always nice to have someone who lives in a place to give you the local view on a place.

Nov 2010: I'll be going to Moloka`i, and Lana`i for 6 days over Thanksgiving break with my friend Jordyn

Dec 2010: I go back to Tennessee for a week over Christmas

March 2011: I will be going to O`ahu for Spring Break

April 2011: If we can raise the money I'll be going to NYC for the Model UN collegiate conference

May 2011: I am going to Kaua`i to visit my friend Jenni

May 2011-June 2011: I'm gonna ship my car from Hawai`i back to the mainland so Scott(my brother), and I can road trip across the US back to Tennessee. We'll definitely stay in LA for a while, then go to Vegas. Then maybe to Fort Collins, Colorado to see one of my best friends from high school, Morgan. After that off to Texas to visit my friend Beau, if he's not deployed. Then down to New Orleans to visit Scott and I's honorary cousin Marcia. After that we might go to Panama City, up through Atlanta, and then back to Chattanooga, TN.

June 2011-July 2011: I recently applied to volunteer at the 2012 Olympic games in London so if I get selected to interview then I'm gonna go to London for the interview then do a little backpacking in Europe, visit some friends there. The countries I really wanna hit while I'm there are Spain (and maybe go down to Morocco), France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (maybe hit Amsterdam on my way back to London.) If I get the volunteering gig then I'm gonna try to get a work visa and live in England for the year up to the Olympics.

Sept 2012: (optimistically assuming that I get the Olympics gig) I want to go into Americorps, or I want to WWOOF. If I don't get the volunteer position then one of these things will just be moved up.

So if all this goes down according to plan then my new backpack should rack up quite a few miles.

The Dark Horse

2010-10-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

The Wild Card: I don't think this pack is as pretty as the Crestone but I think I like the Lowe Alpine more on an operational level. It has everything the Crestone has but also has nifty little zipper pouches on the waist strap which is great for me. And I like that it has a removable wall in the middle, so I can have two smaller sections or open up the whole backpack space if I needed to.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/311,2161X_Lowe-Alpine-TFX-Cerro-Torre-ND-Backpack-55-plus-15-Internal-Frame-For-Women.html

The L.L.Bean is totally out of the race now. It is definitely down to these two.