This time a year ago, I had just embarked on a five week trip around the USA (/Mexico/Canada) and Hawaii was my first stop. It also served as a reunion with one of my childhood best friends, so I was pretty excited. Hawaii is one of those dream destinations that felt so exotic growing up. Air New Zealand had just started doing flights directly from Auckland to Honolulu, so I only needed to catch the one flight. We stayed in Waikiki (it felt like we were one of the only non-couples /families in the area) but took every opportunity to get out as it was extremely touristy. My favourite area was the North Shore – hopefully which I have managed to capture in the video below: