I am about to do something so middle class, so privileged person with a job and no kids, something that I never thought I would be able to do. I’m about to go to Hawaii in February. I am escaping Seattle. Leaving leaving leaving, for a week of sunshine and a beach and no work. I am a tourist. And honestly, though I FEEL like I should have some chagrin about this, I just don’t. Of course, I want to be mindful of my footprints: plane travel, in particular. And, I want to buy locally and ethically while I’m there as much as I can. Tip well, be considerate, etc. But I am so, so excited to get out of the moss-encased wet hell that is the Pacific Northwest in February. Especially this February, after our record-breaking January rainfall. I’m over it, you guys. I want out.
The other day I caught myself complaining about how much money gets taken out of my paycheck for taxes. I absolutely do feel chagrined about that. I’m happy to pay taxes. I hope with the fervency of Hermione Granger raising her hand in class that I will never forget how I financially struggled through my 20’s and early 30’s. And who knows, I may struggle again. If paying taxes can help offset that for others, even a tiny bit, I’m for it and I hope to always keep that perspective. But I’m also for using my new middle class privilege to leave the drear of this place for a week and a half.
People keep asking what I’M going to do in Hawaii, and to be honest, I don’t know and I’m not that concerned about it. What I really want is to sit in the sun for hours, drink iced coffee, eat coconut, and write. Oh god I want to write. And I want to be alone, away from crowds, from a big city, from people I don’t know. I might get the gumption to try snorkeling or rent a kayak, but mostly, I want to write and I want to feel what it’s like to be warm and dry again.