Kauai - The Bucket List Trip

Kauai: A Bucket Trip Written in Generations

Some trips are vacations. Others feel like a homecoming you didn’t know you were waiting for.

In September 2026, we finally took our bucket trip to Kauai. It was a journey we saved and planned for over a long stretch of life, not just months or years, but generations. Kauai is stitched into my family’s story. My dad was born there and lived on the island until he was nine. His dad, my grandad, moved there when he was just two. And my great grandad, an educator by calling and an engineer by trade, helped shape the island in a tangible way. Fun fact that still makes me smile in disbelief: he created the first map of Kauai that was used by the Hawaiian Tourism Board.

I turned 50 that September, and in many ways, it felt like I had been waiting my entire life for this trip. To walk the places my dad and grandad had spoken about. To see the land that lived so vividly in their stories.

We stayed on the North Shore in Princeville, where beauty doesn’t whisper, it roars. Lush, wild, almost unreal. Every turn felt like stepping into Jurassic Park, which made perfect sense once you remember how much of it was filmed right there. Jungle greens, dramatic cliffs, and air that felt alive.

We soaked it all in. A catamaran trip with Captain Andy’s, whose crew somehow matched the magic of the ocean itself. Kayaking up the Wailua River, the same river where Indiana Jones famously swung from a rope into the water, and having that surreal moment of thinking, this can’t be real life. Jumping off the pier at Hanalei Bay as the sun slipped into the Pacific. Snorkeling the calm, clear waters of Anini Beach. Walking the suspended bridge. Visiting a coffee plantation. Standing quietly while sea turtles rested on the sand nearby.

And then there was the moment that took my breath for a moment. Finding the house where my great grandparents once lived. A full-circle breath I didn’t know I needed.

Each morning, I sat with my coffee overlooking the Pacific Ocean, watching the sunrise spill light across the water. Awe came easily there. Gratitude even more so. God’s goodness felt tangible, steady, and overwhelming.

Six weeks after we returned home, my dad passed away.

But before he did, we shared everything. Photos. Stories. Details. And in return, he shared even more memories, filling in gaps, bringing places to life in new ways. I thank God every single day that we went when we did. That we didn’t wait. That we got to give him those moments, and that gift, while he was still here to receive it.

When we say “don’t wait for perfect,” we mean it with our whole hearts. Just go. The timing will never be flawless. The trip will never be either. But the memories you bring back, even the imperfect ones, become golden treasures you carry for the rest of your life. 🌺🌊