A pandemic ruined my trip, but I wouldn't change a thing.

by Mark Baldwin (Canada)

I didn't expect to find USA

At twenty you feel invincible. Who cares about a potential pandemic? I had studied Chinese for a year, learned the culture and customs, purchased my tourist visa and flights. I yearned to escape Western Culture. But my planned trip to China was abruptly halted 17 years ago, as the SARS outbreak caused a global panic, not unlike COVID-19 is doing today. Forced to make a change to our plans a mere seven days before our scheduled arrival in Beijing, the options for two university students were limited. Our flights to China were expensive, but we had a place to stay and living costs were dollars per day back then. We needed somewhere that required little planning, no languages to learn, and no visas to acquire. My girlfriend, more of the relaxing beach-vacation type, suggested Hawaii. I looked at her unable to hide my disgust, summoning up mental images of kitschy plastic leis, department store Tiki torches, and beaches flooded with sunburned speedo-clad pensioners. So much for escaping the clutches of western globalization. However, the Hawaii suggestion came from a woman who loved me enough to have spent the better part of her lifetime savings to join me on a three-week walkabout in rural China. How could I deny her alternative suggestion after my plans crumbled? “Sure, could be fun?” I didn’t expect to find anything of redeeming value in the most clichéd vacation spot in the world. NEVER would I have predicted that 17 years later I would be writing a nostalgic story about my first trip to Hawaii, the first of EIGHT. I had a week to see what I was getting into, so I voraciously read up on the history of Hawaii. What I read was incredible. This remote archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean was discovered and populated by Polynesians who journeyed thousands of miles by outrigger canoe in 40-foot seas, guided only by stars and powered only by muscle. It remains one of the most astounding feats in human history. The political history of the island since settlement is dramatic and complex. As I read, I realized that there was way more to these islands beyond the phony fluff of Waikiki. On that first trip, we visited historic sites and museums, snorkeled face to face with sea turtles, and hiked through rainforests and lava fields. But the crescendo of the experience came on our last day, when an impulse decision to rent some surfboards forever changed my life. The rush of catching my first wave lingers with me to this day. I had never felt so alive. Watching the reef move beneath my feet in the glassy water below, at the same spot surfed by Hawaiian royalty hundreds of years before... I was hooked forever. Since then, 90% of our travel has been to a surf destination. Surfing is now part of my identity. Hawaii is one of the travel destinations that almost always leads to return visits. In my mind, the reason is simple: It has something for everyone no matter what type of traveller you are, and it is so small geographically, that you think you can see everything you need to see in one more visit. But inevitably, for every one thing you check off your list, you discover two more things to add. The more you go, the more you need to return to explore the spot you didn’t make it to last time. Much has changed since 2003. My girlfriend is now my wife, and we now have two enthusiastic little travellers aged 7 and 4. They’ve been to Hawaii multiple times. None of us have been to China, because frankly, the surfing there isn’t great. SARS threw our plans for a loop, but out of that, I discovered a lifelong passion for surfing, and we discovered a place that against all odds, became our unofficial default escape destination. I write this not knowing if COVID-19 will shut down our surf trip to Indonesia next month. But sometimes it is the unplanned parts of travel that can change our lives, for the better. So whatever happens, I can take comfort in thinking “Hey, maybe we’ll find our new Hawaii”.