\u201cI\u2019d never been far from home,\u201d Nora says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t plan vacations or have excess money, so I always thought of travel as something I\u2019d experience later.\u201d The years were ticking by and she felt like before she\u2019d know it, her career-end would be approaching. Fast. She started bringing up the topic of travel with her husband, pushing him to consider taking a vacation with her. On a rainy winter evening, he came home from work with two tickets to Hawaii.<\/span><\/p>\n The tropical climate of Hawaii had been a fantasy Nora carried with her through years of wet winters. \u201cI\u2019d always wanted to go to Hawaii, but knew almost nothing about it,\u201d she says. \u201cThis was the first vacation of our lives!\u201d She was overwhelmed with excitement leading up to their departure.<\/span><\/p>\n Crossing the Pacific for the first time seemed endless to her. \u201cI fell in love with Hawaii as soon as I stepped onto Oahu and the heat almost blew me over,\u201d she says. On the first night of her trip, she stood in her room looking at the sea through floor-to-ceiling windows. They popped a bottle of champagne and she still claims it was the best drink of her life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll never forget the first morning I woke up in Hawaii and walked into the ocean to feel the water consume me,\u201d Nora recalls. Overwhelmed by the brightness and vibrance of everything around her, she lay down in the sand watching the palm leaves sway against the deep blue sky above her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like coming home to a place I\u2019d never been before,\u201d she adds. The air was wet, smelling of fresh fruit and coffee, and everything she ate seemed to be picked from a nearby tree or pulled from the ocean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nora recalls the unfamiliar impact the rain had on her. \u201cWe get rain for months on end at home, but it\u2019s completely different,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe Hawaiian showers were torrential and hot, almost like this unique form of sunshine. I really can\u2019t describe it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/hawaii_oahu_hanauma_bay_EDITED_2080--1024x624.jpg\")
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