Michael In early June, we once again went on an old folks vacation to Hawaii. To European ears, this might sound absurd, but if we want to hang out on the beach for a week relatively inexpensively and without much hassle, Hawaii is our preferred destination. The flight from San Francisco takes about five hours, which is easy to endure. You don't need a passport, just a California driver's license, and you can shop in familiar supermarkets and pay with the same currency on the island paradise as you do at home.
Especially the main island of Oahu is very American and partly very ugly, but to Angelika's dismay, I don't really mind that. Of course, we don't hang around in Waikiki, which is more like a party scene similar to Ballermann in Mallorca. Instead, as we have often done, this time we rented a vacation apartment from private individuals, just two minutes away from a relatively little-visited beach, and we hung out at the beach with regular local Hawaiian-Americans and a handful of tourists.
In the tourist hotspots, it mainly attracts Japanese people because Hawaii is their Mallorca. By the way, Japanese people are, as I recently read in a Report on Tourist Popularity, the world's most liked tourists. Also according to the survey, the French are the most hated tourists worldwide, in case you were wondering.
On Hawaii, we usually prefer to venture off the beaten path. The capital, Honolulu, even has some authentic spots, such as a small Chinatown, but if you're familiar with San Francisco, you might just scoff arrogantly at that.
One day, we actually got ourselves together, drove a bit into the city, and took some photos. It is noticeable that the residents walk much slower than elsewhere in the USA. You just have to stand on a busy street and calmly observe the pedestrian traffic; it's almost like watching slow motion.
Interestingly, there is already a striking difference in pedestrian speed between the East and West Coasts of America; a New Yorker walks and talks much faster than someone who lives in California. But compared to Hawaii, even Californians move like startled rabbits.