Spent most of 2021 out there - work forced me out of Asia towards the end of 2020. So I rode out the 2020 election and 2021 US pandemic waves on the Island.
Discussion
Just missed each other!
Hawaii was kinda tough for me tho - arrived with no friend group and it was difficult to make one. Folks already established there seemed pretty insular already and the pandemic certainly didnāt help. Also Hawaii as a state seemed to pride itself in being as backwards as possible on bitcoin regulation. Most services donāt work out thereā¦
Did a lot of aimless walking / biking around Honolulu, SUPing at Ala Moana and Lanikai, and sunning / boozing at the rooftop of the Alohilani. Lonely? A bit. But in many ways it was also a good place to be alone when I reflect back on it now.
I heard the pandemic really hurt the place. Discouraged lots of people from interacting out of fear. They even closed the beaches at one point I hear. Itās much more lively now, when I first showed up the mask mandates were still on and activity functions off. but now there are a lot more activities and concerts and things happening again. Maybe youāll get a chance to come back and feel the aloha.
Yeah when I arrived hotels were at less than 1% capacity it was only people stuck there for 2 week quarantine. They give you a single entry key and hotel door would lock behind you tried to leaveā¦
I remember when they tried to close the beaches. Thatās didnāt last long tho because the locals wouldnāt have it. There was lots of finger pointing at tourists and vacationers but the then the locals wouldnāt give up their 50-100 person beach cookouts every Thu, Fri, Sat, and Sun. I donāt blame them for that I just didnāt like the divisiveness and hypocrisy.
I left when they started asking for vaccine proof to go inside buildings even though I had been on the island for months. It was too muchā¦