Ollie’s Take

Ollie

As the 23-year-old son of Jack and Betsy and Kathryn’s youngest brother, I will be providing the blog with the entitled arrogance of a youngest child and the chagrin of an English major who is dealing with the harsh repercussions of choosing that breezy and impractical concentration.  I also have the unique privilege of being the benefactor of many tropical vacations courtesy of Jack and Betsy, so I will be able to compare this Hawaii experience to such classic excursions as, say, Belize ’01, Roàtan ’05, Cabareté Senior Year or the annual/biannual weeklong Florida beach house stay.

 

In preparation for this trip I did the bare minimum.  The exact opposite end of the spectrum of Kathryn, the Iron Maiden.   I used a credit card (not my own) to buy a flight, requested time off work, packed a bag, and found a ride to the airport.  I failed to research or plan or wish my sister luck before she took off.  I didn’t even spend the energy it takes to conjure a day dream about the trip in excited anticipation.  I just kinda stepped off the plane with a sore butt, breathed deep the salty jungle humidity which carries hints of fish and fresh fruit, and heroically sought out my parents’ rental car.

 

But now that I am here I have come up with some definitive goals:

  1. Cheer my sister on to glorious completion of the Iron Man.
  2. Drink the best coffee of my life.
  3. Eat well.
  4. Swim, relax in the sun and enjoy the tropics in traditional beach vay-cay fashion (puzzles, etc.)
  5. See a level 2 interesting underwater creature: shark, ray, turtle, eel — after twenty minutes of snorkeling, schools of colorful tropical fish no longer impress me
  6. Finish The Rum Diaries and do something Hunter Thompson-esque.  Anywhere from eating grapefruit for breakfast to . . .
  7. Get a grip on what this whole triathlon/super triathlon scene is about and use the athletic nerd zoo that is happening on this island as inspiration for my own foundering athletic endeavors.
  8. Hijack sayjack.net for the week

 

Many of the goals have been set in motion.  None are accomplished.  Stay tuned as I break down the week, expose what I really think about my family and sneak shots of rum with Kathryn’s (new to me) special friend, Kyle O’Day.


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