gosh, as soon as i jumped into the water this morning, i felt revived. super fun waves, only 3 locals, and had a great session. then had to run around today catching up on things. gosh, why is the sky so blue in hawaii??? i love it!

the surf talk in hawaii is about Joshua Moniz and his big win. everybody coming up and congratulating me on Josh. my response was “i didn’t know Josh can surf that good?” haha. but hey, i was really surprised on his level of surfing recently. only 18 years old and beating seasoned adult professionals. amazing.

so Joshua Moniz is sitting #14 in the world on the current mens QS rankings. unbelievable.

so i come back to hawaii, check CNN, and just see chaos. we are at war in america. the people vs. the government. pretty sad.

than in nepal, the huge earthquake? omg, i didn’t even know. i’m speechless now, and pretty sad too.

then the 2 australians that were executed by firing squad in bali? when ever i see people getting caught for drugs in indonesia, i always remember what i saw the first time, and every time i arrive to indonesia. the immigrations form clearly states in red block letters: DRUG TRAFFICKING IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. the government wasn’t kidding. over 18,000 indonesian people die each year due to using drugs. the government has a zero tolerance policy with drug traffickers and will not make any exceptions. that’s what the world just learned.

knowing you will be facing death at midnight must be haunting. i feel sorry for the families left behind.
also some sad news out of hawaii. a lady that lives in maui died from a shark attack today. omg.
one of the Israeli guys i met backpacking told me something after i asked if Israel is dangerous or not. this is what he said “hey kirby, stop watching that bullshit news CNN. it’s all negative, it’s all bullshit, and they just tell the story they want so viewers will watch.” after today, i wish i listened to him. sad depressing news all day long. makes me feel like hiking to the top of that volcano again where i felt so happy and at peace.

Monster Wave!
Good morning 6am.
South/East wind swell.
Chest high sets at Ala Moana but very windy.
Diamond Head head high and super windy.
Strong trade winds at 25-30mph today.
Super sunny and warm.
Going to the ocean to surf!
Have a wonderful day!

what a long journey back to hawaii today. from guatemala city to the airport to LA, to honolulu. super far but had a great time in the airplane and airports.

as soon as the airplane took off, i knew we would fly along the volcano i hiked so i kept my eyes on the mountain top. i thought to myself “wow, wouldn’t it be cool if it erupts again for me? wouldn’t it be a great way to end a dream nature trip?”

5 minutes later, Acatenango shoots out some smoke for me! we said our bye’s and i couldn’t have felt more complete.

my flight flew pretty low so i could check everywhere from guatemala, to mexico, to america. amazing views!

then i was about to arrive in LA and started my culture shock! where did all the green go? from nature to total concrete jungle. kind of shocking for me.

had the best sleep of my whole trip on the two flights back. 5 days of hard core traveling. i’m so tired and my body really hurts all over. i really need a good massage. but getting welcomed home with singers and hula dancers made me so happy.

then greeted by a big rainbow. it was raining and usually i would be bummed because i don’t like to ride motorcycle in the rain. but today was different. this trip made me stronger. i jumped on the yamaha, raced on the freeway, getting wet, and loving life.
can’t wait to sleep on my own bed without 15 other people in the room. without the loud banging music until 4am, without people coming and going, without the mosquitos, without the cockroaches, without the bed bugs, and without 5-6 average snorers. finally got to wash my hair for the first time and couldn’t believe how brown the water was. tomorrow going to jump into the clean ocean and everything will be back to normal. good night amigos!