shaka tacoz — Hannah Elise Schultz

Adventures in
Serendipity

— Hannah Schultz (biographical name): a Kentuckian, traveler, PhD student, hiker, environmentalist, and Great Pyrenees enthusiast

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things

Travel With Me: Big Island, Hawai'i (Days One & Two)

The last time Ryan and I went to Hawai’i, it was for our honeymoon in 2021, and we visited the Big Island and Kauai (read about that trip here). This spring, when we found out we were expecting our baby girl, the first big plans that we wanted to make were for our babymoon, and we figured what better place to go to celebrate our growing family than where we celebrated our marriage. Flights were cheapest to the Big Island (by several hundred dollars) and since it was our favorite island, we opted to return there for a few of the days on our trip. The other part of our time, we wanted to explore a new island, and we decided on Maui.

TravelHannah SchultzSeptember 16, 2023hawaii, travel with me, big island, bed and breakfast, pine tree cafe, manta restaurant, Kuaiwi Farm, farm tour, shaka tacoz, snorkel, teshima's, teshimasComment

Travel With Me: Big Island, Hawai'i (Day One)

Our first day on the Big Island was dedicated solely to snorkeling (with a dash of cultural history thrown in), and our first stop was Nopo’opo’o Beach Park. This spot is located at the southern end of Kealakekua Bay, where Captain James Cook initiated European contact with the Big Island when he landed here in 1779. Across the bay is the Captain Cook monument, which marks where Cook was killed a month later after he and his crew exploited the Hawaiians’ reverence of the Europeans (possibly even believing that Cook was the Hawaiian god Lono) and eventually murdered over 30 Hawaiians. Still remaining here are the ruins of Hiki'au Heiau (an ancient Hawaiian temple site), a temple dedicated to Lono, the god of agriculture and fertility of the land.

TravelHannah SchultzAugust 3, 2021hawaii, big island, day one, travel with me, honeymoon, pahoa, Nopo’opo’o Beach Park, captain cook, shaka tacoz, Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, two steps, snorkel, kaleo's bar and grill Comment

Dec 31, 2023

Photography and Video, Life

A Year in Pictures: 2023

It was a year of travel to new and old places, the year I started my dissertation, the year I hiked eight miles and up volcanic sands while pregnant, the year we bought a wagon to take Argos on adventures again, and most importantly, the year that I become a mom.

Oct 21, 2023

Travel With Me: Maui & Big Island, Hawai'i (Days Eight, Nine, & Ten)

Our final day on Maui was much more relaxed (at least for me) than the previous. While Ryan went on a scuba diving excursion to the Lahaina Cathedrals (which was one of his favorite parts of the whole trip), I got a prenatal massage at the spa at the neighboring hotel to ours and read a book on the balcony. We then spent the rest of the day lounging in the pool and enjoying some farmer’s market soursop (a fruit I’ve only ever had in Hawai’i and am obsessed with).

Maui, Hawai'i (Day Seven): Road to Hana & Wai’anapanapa State Park

Oct 14, 2023

Nature, Travel

Maui, Hawai'i (Day Seven): Road to Hana & Wai’anapanapa State Park

By far one of the most famous activities to do on Maui is to drive the Road to Hana, a 64-mile stretch of highway along the coast, connecting Kahului to Hana. While the drive technically only takes three hours, what’s special about it is the number of roadside stops to see waterfalls, buy fresh banana bread, and take dips in the ocean. so plan on spending much more than a few hours on this excursion. While ideally you would stay the night in Hana to maximize your time for pit stops, it is possible to hit some of the highlights in a single day.

Adventures inSerendipity

— Hannah Schultz (biographical name): a Kentuckian, traveler, PhD student, hiker, environmentalist, and Great Pyrenees enthusiast

Adventures in
Serendipity