b'Matters heart of thematterThingsthat Matter Since 1990 Saying Yes to HawaiiFeaturing Local People, Places and This time I didnt overthink my decisionPUBLISHER BY ELLEN DONKER& EDITOR IN CHIEFEllen DonkerASSOCIATEEDITORAnne MandellSOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERRachael EntineADVERTISING CONSULTANTSRene ConlonH. Leslie GilmanRyan NishAmy Power COPY EDITORS Ieven when I know its good for me.of Oahu, stopped to hike to a lookout point where we saw Charles HammerTia Swanson admit that I am a homebody. I dont especially in-CONTRIBUTORS vite change,whales breaching the water, visited a Buddhist temple, and Ken Gagne Change creates a certain level of discomfort, andwent to a beach in search of green sea turtles, which we Rose Gilbert who wants that? Yet were told over and over to getnever did find. One of the trips highlights was visiting the Mason Levinson comfortable with discomfort if we want to grow. naval base at Pearl Harbor where World War II began for Donny Levit In December, Shelley, one of my college besties,the United States in 1941.Ilysse Rimalovski texted me, inviting me to join her and her husbandLanding in Kona a few days later, we understood why Joy Yagid in Hawaii for a week. Shelley has a number of homes andTom had dubbed the area a lunar landscape. Beyond the is always traveling among them. When our college bookairport, the island featured a deserted, flat landscape with group of four plans our next Zoom meeting, we often haveendless miles of churned-up black volcanic rock against the to shift the time based on Shelleys ever-changing timebackdrop of a turquoise sea. The highway signs warned of zone. Its a hard life, we tell her, but lucky for those of uswild animal and donkey crossings.who get to visit her wherever she happens to be. Once we reached Shelley and Toms place, the lava rock Of course, I thought of a dozen reasons why my hus- was replaced with gentle rolling hills, blooming tropical Please address all correspondence to:Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. band, Rob, and I couldnt go to Hawaii: The flight is tooplants and herds of goats munching on whatever flora they P.O. Box 198 far. I had too much work. Our beloved cat Oliver wouldcouldreach. Weimmediatelychangedintoourbathing Maplewood, NJ 07040 miss us. Truthfully, its just easier to stay put.suits and took to the beach for the last rays of the day. Shel-973-763-4900 On the other hand, we had never been to Hawaii andley had packed several coolers with all types of seafood and mattersmagazine.comthis could be our only opportunity. Suddenly, I was think- salads, so we ate dinner at makeshift dining tables topped info@mattersmagazine.com ing, Why not? and began researching flights.withbeachtowels,glassesofwineinhand,facingthe Matters Magazine is owned and publishedSoon enough, a plan started taking shape: We wouldPacific Ocean as the sun set into the great beyond.by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O.fly into Honolulu and explore the island of Oahu for a fewThe rest of our days were packed with excursions around Box 198 Maplewood, NJ 07040. Mattersdays before flying to Kona on the big island to stay withHawaii, including tours of a sea salt farm and a Kona coffee Magazine is free, with editions direct mailedShelley and her husband, Tom.plantation. I even played pickleball for the first time, putting seven times a year to the residents of Maple-wood and South Orange and distributed toMy stepdaughter, Leah, who had lived on Oahu foraside my self-consciousness about my lack of skill and fear of businesses and surrounding communitiesfour years, gave us a driving itinerary with stops at herhitting the ball into an adjacent court. It turns out I liked the totaling 16,000. Subscriptions are available to non-residents for $30 (U.S.) $40 (Foreign)favorite places. I watched a bunch of videos with travelgame and may even buy some paddles now that Im home.annually. No part of the publication may beadviceone of my favorite ways to research tripsso IAm I glad that I said yes to Shelleys text? Absolutely! reprinted or otherwise reproduced withoutcould visualize where wed be going. True, the flights were long; the air travel unpredictable and writtenpermissionfromVisualImpact Advertising, Inc. Rob and I left the morning of February 12. We tooktense; I had a lot of work to make up and Oliver did miss an 11-and-a-half-hour direct flight to Honolulu, whichus. But the chance to go somewhere new, be with dear CIRCULATION VERIFIED BYU.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS. ended up departing five hours late. But we landed just asfriends in a different setting and experience beauty around READ & RECYCLE the sun set (theres a five-hour time difference) and thusevery corner was priceless.began our vacation. We drove up and down the east coastMaybe Im not quite the homebody I thought I was. 8/ matters magazine / hearth + home 2024'