We’re wrapping up “All Things Hawaiian”! Check out our reflection on our travels in O’ahu, some interesting facts about Hawai’i, what “The Aloha Spirit” really means, why Kona coffee is so popular, what makes the Plumeria flower so special and the history behind legendary Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” – St. Augustine (354-430)

St. Augustine might have reconsidered these words if he could have read some of the world’s most beautiful, informative and humorous travel writings that exist today, by authors ranging from Patrick Leigh Fermor, Bruce Chatwin, Alain De Botton, Bill Bryson and Bruce Feiler to M.F.K. Fisher, Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes, Elizabeth Gilbert and many others.

While nothing can quite replace the sensory experience of travel, “good”, substantive travel writing can easily transport one into another realm, allowing one to experience and become familiar with another land – as was the case for many Americans who read Mark Twain’s “Letters from Hawaii”, written during his travels for the Sacramento Union newspaper in 1866. Read more