We’re doing a survey tour of Maui, driving different roads and regions of the island, meandering, stopping, getting rained on, eating, oohing and aahing our way through our stay.

Hawaii is an amazing state, with a rich culture that seems both exotic and familiar. There’s so much to take in, visually, it’s easy to miss out on the history and customs of the islands that make each one unique.

This is our second island this trip. We spent the first half of our time on the Big Island, and will end our visit on Maui.

Here’s my advice…if you come, whichever island you choose, spend the bulk of your time exploring, driving, and walking. Avoid the obvious tourist traps. Not that I have anything against traditional tourist activities…I just think they offer the stereotypical experience, and you miss out on so much if you limit yourself to those events and venues.

Instead, get off the path a bit. Try the marvelous food trucks, which are plentiful. Find a local beach. Drive the back roads, shop in a country market. There’s scenery to fill your every minute, and photo opps to fill your phone / camera storage capacity.

Most of all, just get out and enjoy. Yes, it is expensive to travel to Hawaii, and yes, some things you can do are expensive as well. But there is a lot to do that’s free, or almost free, and a lot of the freebies are the best part of the experience.

Though these are islands, there’s a lot of road to travel, and small communities dot the hillsides and coastlines, along with arger towns, and even a city or two to explore.

Hawaii has national parks; on the Big Island, Hawaii Volcanoes, and on Maui, Haleakala. Both parks encompass drives to the summits of volcanoes, and offer amazing views. Both parks showcase incredible terrain, from lava fields to alpine forest, overviews of coastline, rolling green hills, waterfalls, meadows, and everything in between. Beautiful, and so worth the drive time.

All the islands have different regions, famous local drives and beaches, scenic points. You’ll find a plethora of information online, as well as all the maps, guides, magazines, apps, and advice by word of mouth to plan in advance, or on the spur of the moment. I don’t think there’s a true off season to visit, though some months may be busier with tourist traffic than others.

If you’re a planner, you can find almost anything you want to know in advance. And if you’re the spontaneous sort, you can do that too, without missing out on too much. We did some of both, advance planning and winging it, and made a few reservations to smooth the way. But most of our days have been open, choosing what to do based on location, weather, or how long we want to spend on a given activity.

I’ve learned a bit about volcanoes, types of lava, visited gardens and pools, found new varieties of fish to enjoy, tried pickled pineapple, macadamia everything. Fun, delicious, and memorable. I can’t recommend it enough!

I wish photos could do it justice, this 50th state, but it’s impossible. Aloha, and Mahalo!