Easter Island Brought Back My Travel Spark

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While Amanda and I were in Bora Bora, I worried that maybe I had seen too much. I was feeling burned out and I wasn’t excited by the new places I was seeing anymore. Luckily Easter Island turned out to be so amazing that I felt refreshed and in awe of everything again.

Due to a five and a half hour red-eye flight from Tahiti to Easter Island, we didn’t do much on our first day. But we did stop at a truck selling fruits and vegetables on the side of the road to see what she had to offer. We didn’t even have any Chilean pesos yet, so we told the woman we’d have to come back the next day. But she insisted we take what we wanted and pay her the next day! She had no idea who we were, but she was willing to trust us to come back later with cash. Amazing.

The next day, after paying our wonderful vegetable lady, we set off to explore the island. Amanda wanted to hike up Ranu Kau Crater, and the views were supposed to be beautiful, so we made that our first destination. Unfortunately I didn’t make it very far. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that I’m not exactly in the best shape, so hiking up a steep hill with the sun beating down on me wasn’t so fun for me. I figured if I continued I was likely to hyperventilate or faint, so I turned back and told Amanda we’d meet back at our guesthouse.

From the hill I could see waves crashing into the rocky shore, and I wanted to see it up close. What I found grabbed my attention more than the crater would have anyway. A series of caves lined the shore, and the waves continually rolled into them. The force with which the ocean crashed into those rocks surprised me and captured my attention for quite some time.

That’s when I felt it again. That awe at being somewhere new, that feeling of excitement about the place I was about to explore. And it all came back to me because of some gorgeous caves, a rocky shoreline, and the sound of crashing waves. I hadn’t even seen the good stuff yet! I spent the next few days enjoying Easter Island, taking tons of pictures, and being amazed by everything. My love of travel was reawakened.