Iyeoka 1st posed the idea to me when it was still cold in the Northeast so god only knows it could have been as recently as March considering how the winter lingered this year. I think it was earlier though, like around February or January. She said, "put Hawaii in the back of your head. It'll be some time in July. I've decided that I want you to come with me" So I did. I put it in the back of my mind and didn't get my hopes up or think too much about it and I decided I wouldn't until she brought it up again. All the while I was scheming ways I could make it work financially for me and now that I think of it, I guess that's what the back of my mind is meant for - to calculate without taking away from day to day functions. Mine works by the way. The trick was to fool the front of my mind into not obsessing about the possibility of HAWAII!!! HAWAII AHHH HAWAII !!!!
I made it work. Through conversations about spending money and ticket prices and really just a little tightening of the belt I made it happen and we were on our way to Hawaii. Just the 2 of us without a bass player, real guitarist or drummer. I say real guitarist because technically I'm a guitarist - just not her usual carry-all-the-weight guitarist. During the previous months and for no other reason than wanting to relate to her music better I decided to learn her songs on the acoustic guitar. We'd done some workshops and gigs just her and I, so at least we'd have that to fall back on. She said she knew musicians there and that we'd be fine. I trusted her.
We show up 1/3 of the way around the globe on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Before departure I pulled Oahu up on Google Earth and toured the Island, highlighting key places that I knew we'd be stopping at for gigs and such. I can't champion this method of preparation enough. Download Google Earth! It's FREE! And if you're going somewhere even the slightest bit foreign to you, scoot around the place on Google Earth beforehand and I promise you will feel at least 30% more comfortable with your new surroundings immediately upon arrival. There was definitely one time when I was like "WAIT! I've been here before! I've seen this before!" It took me a moment to remember it was on Google Earth. Such a weird feeling.
As soon as we walked out into the open air of the open air section of the open air airport I was smacked in the face with a sensory overload. It wasn't what I saw, but rather what I felt and smelled that hit me. The smell of uber fresh flowers and the feeling of cool moist air came into me like a much needed transfusion. We had just spent 12 hours traveling by plane and it was only a few hours later than when we left. What a concept right? I mean even if you do this kind of thing all the time, it's still gonna hit you hard. It was 6 hours earlier there than I was and I knew I had some work to do to catch up. I tried not to quantify the difference but it was impossible. I tried not to calculate the time difference but every time I felt awkward, my brain jumped into calculation mode and before I knew it I was telling myself exactly what time it was back home. This is the furthest difference I have ever time travelled in reverse - or forward for that matter. I knew this would take a couple of days to level off.
They say showing up is 50% of the getting the job done.
So does that mean my trip is half over?
