Heading to Hawaii In my mind

So there I was, sitting in my cubicle at work when I got the call of a life time, "Want to eco-blog from Hawaii?" Of course I did what any normal person would do: I hemmed and haawed for all of  .5 seconds before saying, "Hellz Yeah!" The call came from Christine Lu, a self created new media maven who was working with the Hawaii Tourism Authority on an experiment that utilized new media and blogging as a way to spread their message about Hawaii. While I was excited to go to Hawaii, I also wanted to make sure that I was being true to my peeps at Current Green. So I explained to Christine, if I go, I'm going to need to be able to cover the interests of our community: an inquisitive, take-no-prisoners-don't-waste-my-time-with-green-washing, well informed group. She said, (much to my amazement) "No problem, come as you are, write what you would normally be drawn to write."

So I put a call out two call outs the Current community that asked: what issues are you interested in or want to know more about?

Mike_Johnson requested info on the carbon cap, the emission standards, and the smart grid; PJacobs51 asked (can't tell if there was a tone of (well deserved) snark) How do you travel Green?; MBK20 asked about organic coffee farms, while RCS commented, " there is a lot of work being done now to try preserve Hawaii's endemic plant and animal species, so if you have any extra time whilst there, you might want to investigate the progress, or lack thereof, that is being made on that front."

estee_arie put in a request about recycling plants and the pollution they are causing, JanforGore put in a request about info on the GMO's and and an update about Tarrot debate, and mako2424 asked about my carbon footprint and aquaculture (among a few other things).

I took all of that into account, and added a few more ingredients into the  mix: 3 cups of love for the oceans, 5 tablespoons of interest in ocean conservation, 2 pinches of eco-travel, 1/2 cup of cultural history, mixed it all together (with a lot of help from MJ) and ended up with 1 very very busy action packed trip. I thought I would be able to get it all in: 5 islands, 9 days and write something thoughtful and meaningful that would be worth the time you might take to read it. But at the end of the day, there was too  much to say! I'm not the type that can sit down at 11pm and bust out a cohesive sentence, plus I was a tad busy planning that little interview with Gavin Newsom. And frankly, the experience was too incredible and rich experience to shove it into a few rushed sentences. I wanted to take the time to explore what happened to me when I traveled on through Hawaii, how it was different, how the culture affected and informed me, and what it meant to explore and develop a new sense of place and connection to that part of the earth. I also had the good fortune of meeting many amazing bloggers who were both local and a part of the Hawaii trip and you can check out what their experiences and perspectives. It was an added treat to get to see Hawaii through their eyes as well.

So, over the course of the next week, I will have Makana on repeat in my headphones, and you will find a lot of posts on Hawaii. And now you know why.

Mahalo