Our sweet little Airbnb

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – while viewing the Caldera crater a huge chunk of wall collapsed and was engulfed in bright orange lava. It was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

South Point

L&L

Shrine near the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

 

Hawaiian style bento from the Kawamoto Store

Obligatory Green Sands Beach sign photo

We decided to stop over in Hawaii for the month of October before we embarked on our MAJOR MAJOR trip around the world (okay, mostly just Asia and Europe). The Big Island has it all. Desert, rainforest, lava fields, live volcanoes, and one of the best national parks in the country. Before we left and while we were there we ran into so many people disappointed by the fact that we had decided to stay on the Hilo side. The TRUTH is that Hilo is a locals city and Kona is for tourists. Now of course there is plenty of charm (and locals) in Kona and there are plenty of tourists in Hilo. But we never regretted it for a second. In Hilo you get a slice of real Hawaiian life. The other side of the island is just a short a gorgeous drive away.