When people find out I live in Hawaii, the first thing they always ask is “What’s the weather like?”, followed almost immediately by “I’m so jealous.”

I get what they’re talking about.

I grew up on an island, moved away, and moved back ten years later.  When I lived on the mainland, my then-boyfriend/now-husband and I would come home to visit and spend the entire week or so frolicking in the surf, eating, and lounging.  Everything you think of when you imagine “vacation”.  When we left, we returned to our normal lives, normal jobs, normal friends.  Everything would go back to normal, and we would be left with a gorgeous image of island perfection that we yearned to go back to.  It made me incredibly homesick. Continue reading →