We pulled into a gravel driveway that led to a small house. I turned to Brad and said, "This is how we are going to die. We are going to walk into this lady's house to get coconut syrup, and that will be the end of us."
This part of the trip wasn't what we were expecting. And it certainly wasn't what we had planned. But the whole point of this vacation was to unplug and explore the world around us.
My husband, Brad, has a very different definition of vacation than mine. I wanted to bask in the Hawaiian sun while relaxing by the pool. Brad wanted to go hiking every day and explore everything around the island. That wasn't on my BINGO card, but some of the best memories come from unexpected detours that you didn't plan.
I'm not an outdoors person, but one of the best days on our trip was the day we spent hiking Haleakalā. The drive itself was an adventure. We went from perfectly paved roads to old dirt roads to one-lane paths, having to pull off to the cliffside to let other cars pass. We continued driving, unsure of where we would end up. But I said, "It's got to lead somewhere." At one point, we pulled off the road to get a picture overlooking the water. We got out of the car and quickly noted all of the bones on the ground around us. We hoped they were animal bones. Brad perceptively said, "Let's get this picture and get out of here." While the picture is beautiful, we later found out that we had driven through a terrible area that we should not have been in. Still, I think that's how you make some of the best memories; just go and see what happens. If everything is planned, you might miss out on something you would have never found.
This is how we found ourselves on that gravel driveway in front of a small house, joking that this would lead to our demise. But what happened next is the entire reason to explore the unexpected. We had just finished breakfast at a place called The Gazebo, where we had the BEST coconut syrup we had ever tasted. I asked where we could buy the syrup, and our waitress said that it was made locally by a woman who won't sell to retailers. Immediately, Brad and I looked up the woman, found her address, and set out to find her. When we arrived at her house, we weren't sure we were at the right place. We called her from that gravel driveway, explaining that we would love to buy her coconut syrup. She invited us in and spent the next hour talking with us about her syrups and jellies, her family, and her story of how she started manufacturing products out of her garage in the backyard.
The thing I will remember most, and treasure most, about that trip was spending time exploring when there was no cell phone service, no map, and no itinerary. Brad and I have been together for over twenty years, and that was really the only time I've seen him truly relaxed and enjoying being 100% in the moment. It's such a disservice to schedule a vacation day from start to finish because you never know what will come your way. Some of the sweetest memories come from unexpected adventures.