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:
- Cheer my sister on to glorious completion of the Iron Man.
- Drink the best coffee of my life.
- Eat well.
- Swim, relax in the sun and enjoy the tropics in traditional beach vay-cay fashion (puzzles, etc.)
- 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
- Finish The Rum Diaries and do something Hunter Thompson-esque. Anywhere from eating grapefruit for breakfast to . . .
- 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.
- 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.