In 2008, Louise and I embarked on a trip that took us around the world almost twice. Chasing swell and making unforgettable lifelong friends along the way, we documented the whole trip via this blog. Created before social media, this was our way of keeping in touch of friends and family but realized that a larger global audience was also following along.
The trip ended in 2010 but our love for traveling never ended. Louise and I got married a few years later, we started a very successful nonprofit organization called Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii inspired by our trip, and now we have two beautiful kids.
We’ve decided to begin revisiting the places we traveled to 17 years ago and maybe check out a few new zones too. Tag along here as we document it again and show you what it’s like to travel with kids.
BLOG POSTS FROM OUR FIRST TRIP August 2008 – February 2010
Hoi An
Returning to Hoi An was filled with anticipation. Last time we were here in December of 2008, Louise and I were falling deeper in love with each other and also now had a friend in tow. Louise’s college buddy Liz joined us for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Unfortunately she couldn’t join us this time as…
Da Nang Delivers
We pulled up to Da Nang with the goal to connect with a buddy that had flown up from South Vietnam. Our buddy Olly, originally from Aotearoa, now calls Vietnam home and is one of the few foilers in the country. He was stoked on our visit and a bonus was that we timed our…
Our gateway to Southeast Asia and a Wave Pool along the way
International flight at 2 pm, aim to be at the airport around noon, pack up in the morning, heck…….there’s enough time for a surf! With the sun risen and a drone pilot ready to shoot a quick one hour tow boogie session, I zipped out from the dock at our house and set out for…
Sri Lank(brah)
We got to Sri Lanka just in time for the New Year. Landing at 12:30 AM on New Years Eve meant that we had to stay the night in Colombo and we tried to make our lives easier by using Hotels.com to arrange lodging and a shuttle to the hotel from the airport. We were…
Bangkok Powershop
Tiny street market near Khao San Road On our way to Sri Lanka we had an 8 hour layover in Bangkok. To some this would be an annoyance. Who wants to spent 8 hours cooped up in an airport? I on the other hand was looking forward to this 8 hour opportunity to shop till…
Dubai is plastic
Layover: Turkey sandwich in Turkey, had to do it. One of the difficulties of planning our journey around the world was choosing destinations, but I always knew that I wanted to check out Dubai. Luckily Louise had no qualms and we were slated on spending a week there in order to find out what it…
morocks2
Another amazing swell was predicted to hit Morocco in a couple of days. The Fiz knew it was going to be epic and a road trip to the south was our best chance of scoring. We packed our bags, piled our boards on the roof of the car, and began our journey south. The Fiz…
Moroccan Love
I visited Morocco three years ago and it was till that time, the best surf trip of my life. It was the mix of epic waves and the Moroccan people we encountered that truly enchanted our trip. The endless perfect right hand point breaks complimented with the open armed hospitality of the Moroccans will make…
Amsterdam
Kahi and I were on the plane headed to Portugal enjoying our personal movie players. While I was watching some cheesy romantic comedy, Kahi was jamming to a concert of The Arctic Monkeys. We were jonesing to see a show and thought it would be sick if they were playing in Europe because maybe we…
Pocho Road Trip
Our mates from New Zealand, Kyle and Nat were driving around Europe and happened to be in Portugal at the same time as us. They invited us to go on a road trip down south with them and we happily obliged. Meeting up with them was easy, we told them a place, they plugged it…
Portugual
It was hard to say good-bye to South Africa but the surf season was winding down and we had spent almost 4 months exploring the country and its neighbors. It was defiantly time to move on to our next destination, Portugal. Some time during our trip Kahi got an offer through one of his credit cards…
The final march back to Cape Town
Guess which one is our car. We were just floating, landing where the wind would take us. Its been a consistent theme of our travels. Stressing on making deadlines or meetings results in the missing of intricacies on the way. So the rest of our trip across South Africa was spent landing where we wanted…
Bungy, Knysna, Surf & Ostriches
After spending so much time in J-Bay, it was a little hard to say goodbye but we were excited to hit the road again. The clock was ticking and there were still so many things we wanted to see and do in South Africa before we left for Portugal. Our first stop was the Blourkarns…
Our last days in Jeffreys Bay
The rest of our stay in Jeffreys Bay was spent scoring good waves again, getting our stuff in order, and preparing for our next road trip to Cape Town. We had a nice going away meal of which many of our good friends came to bid us farewell. The heavy local crew at Supers had…
Back in Coffee Bay
We had to go back to Coffee Bay because I left my computer charger at the Four Winds Hotel. Our drive from Mantis and the Moon was done in pouring rain. What should have been 4 hours turned into 7. Todd drove the treacherous road through the thick rain, dodging potholes, dogs, kids, cows, sheep,…
Southern Draks + Oribi Gorge
Kahi, me, Kim and Todd over looking the Southern Draks Driving though the Sani Pass was a great way to see the Southern Drakensburg Mountains. The view was spectacular and the drive itself was an experience in its own. We had done our fair share of hiking and driving through the mountains…
Lesotho
We saw it on the map. Lesotho, a country within a country. We called it Lay-so-tho. But as we begun questioning locals about this place we learned that it is actually pronounced Lahy-su-tu. We also learned that it was worth the visit and considering we were so darn close, why not go check it out? …
Northern Draks
After Swaziland we booked it a couple hours West to the Northern Drakensbergs, the mountain range on the Lesotho – South Africa border. A few weeks into our road trip we were flipping through a travel magazine, saw some amazing pictures of the Drakensberg Mountains, and decided to make it a stop. Like most of…
Swaziland
Our car died at the Jeppes Reef border, no surf. With a beer in my lap and the border guard motioning me forward the car froze. I passed the beer back to Todd and got out of the car. I explained to the officer that the car had died, it didn’t want to go to…
Kruger National Park
South Africa – Mozambique Border Our journey through Mozambique was a crazy adventure and we loved every minute of it but it was time to cross back into South Africa. Not knowing what to expect in Mozambique added to the experience but sometimes made things a little difficult. We decided to drive through Kruger vs.…
Bazarutos and the drive across Mozambique
It had been a few weeks of Mozambique and we still hadn’t scored epic waves. But that’s how surf trips go. We’ve learned that you can’t expect to score non-stop surf. Such high expectations leave you disappointing. The attitude we chose to take was one of, the absence of waves gives us the opportunity to…
Mozambique: Ponto de Ouro to Pomene
Girls working hard to fetch water just outside of Maputo, Mozambique We had been on our road trip for about two weeks now and were finally closing in on the South Africa/Mozambique border. Before leaving Jeffery’s Bay we did a little research on Mozambique via the internet and by asking those who have been before…
Lions, and Elephants, and Zebras oh my!
Just a few hundred kilometer out of Durban and we were now in prime wildlife viewing area. The CRV was a smooth ride and it was luxurious compared to what we were driving. We first stopped at St. Lucia (Loosha) to check out the Hippos and scored the bonus of Crocodiles! We stayed at what…
1st Leg of the Road Trip to Mozambique
Over a month ago we left Jeffery’s Bay in search of adventure. Kahi and I both wanted to go to Mozambique but needed a little motivation to move on from J-Bay. The waves in Jbay were really good which made it very difficult to leave. One day while surfing we randomly met another couple from…
Jeffreys Bay Update – With Alaia Videos – Lekker
Louise and I have gone nowhere. We are here in Jeffreys Bay and are completely content. After visiting 14 countries in the past 8 months, the chance to just relax in one has been just what we needed. We’ve become part of the community in this short time and we feel comfortable. When we were…
South Africa
Super Tubes at Jeffery’s Bay At times traveling can be stressful especially when things don’t go according to plan. Although we were unable to go to Central America due to uncooperative airlines (click here to read about what went down) we looked at it as a blessing instead of a curse. At first I was…
PARKO be kickin’ some okole on the World Tour
Pretty cool experience. Not something we need to do all the time, but every once in a while, watching a professional surf contest can be extremely entertaining. The best day of the contest went down on the second day. The weather was frigid, it started off with a light drizzle while ominous clouds loomed over…
WCT first round
Day 1 is complete. They got through an entire first round and part of the second round. This newer format sees immediate elimination with no repocharge heats. In other words, once you lose you are out. Pack your bags and go home or relax and enjoy Jeffreys Bay. We’ll see what those who have been…
The World Tour is here
Just got out of the water, surfed Supertubes, the best section of Jeffreys Bay on the alaia. Wanted to see if it worked and this evening was my last chance before the start of the WCT contest. Looks like the first heats should be hitting the water tomorrow morning. I’m not sure if you’ll find…
Going Going Back Back to Cali Cali to Cali
WE WEN GO BACK MAINLAND FO CUPPO DAYS, LI’DAT Pops and I Off we go again! We decided to route our ticket through San Diego. From there we planned on finding our way up to LA and then off to Nicaragua. As planned, things didn’t go totally as planned. Barret picked us up from the…
Back in the 808 state
As much as we love traveling it sure was nice to be heading back to our home. Looking out the window of the airplane and catching a glimpse of the white sandy beaches and inviting turquoise ocean brought tears to my eyes. Hawaii is like none other. From the surf, the people, the lifestyle, and…
Western Saaaaaaaaaamoaaasal
IF ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS SEE THE SURF PHOTOS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM. After a few days in Western Samoa we knew we wanted to extend our stay. Louise and I have learned that if we like a spot, its advantageous to extend it if possible. But with so much to see…
NZ Round 2
Raglan was amazing and we scored some of the best waves in our lives but the swell was fading and it was time to move on to our next adventure. Our buddy Sam was heading to a beach clean-up on the Great Barrier Island located right off the eastern coast of the north island and…
Raglan
Buoyweather, some of the best money I’ve ever spent, was displaying 8-10 feet at 15 seconds with offshore winds in about a day, (means its going to be really good). Raglan faces North so the Southwest swells wrap in almost 180 degrees and would reveal perfectly groomed six footers by the time we got there. …
New Zealand
Auckland, New Zealand Next stop Auckland, New Zealand. One of Kahi’s good friends Kyle, who he met and worked with in Tahoe, and his girlfriend Nat scooped us up from the airport and whisked us away to their cozy Auckland home. They hooked us up with a place to stay and a car to use…
Iced Tea
With the surf waning and the weather sticking true to Gold Coast form we figured a trip inland to the pastures was in order. Cam had been here once before, just inland from Currumbin. With the amount of pastures inland it wasn’t fully necessary to get back to that exact spot. But like a pig…
East Australia
Waves we scored at da Superbank, Gold Coast A little under two weeks of driving and we finally made it to Sydney in time to pick up my parents. This was our first time driving around a foreign city and navigating it was a challenge, especially without a proper map. We drove though the arrivals…
South Australia
The road was long but not hard. With the comfort of a white station wagon and bags of goodies the trek was made enjoyable. Our goal was to surf good empty waves, avoid hitting kangaroos, and meet some locals. As I’m writing and now that we’ve made it all the way across I can confidently…
West OZ
We were really excited to head to OZ and get back to a first world country. I was especially looking forward to be in a country that regularly supplied toilet paper in their bathrooms. However, traveling through Australia would be a completely different style of traveling and would pose new challenges for us. First of…
Malaysia-vu
We got back to Malaysia with two goals. The first was to eat as much Indian food as we could and the second was to find waves in the South East. With dedicated focus, we were able to achieve both. The first couple of days we spent with Ditesh our couchsurfing host and now our…
Thailand
After a short flight from Luang Prabang we arrived in Bangkok. I was really excited for Thailand and was really looking forward to the food. I’ve been dreaming about the curries and most of all the pad thai. Yummy street side Pad Thai Our first day in Bangkok we spent hunting for the muy thai…
Vang Vieng Vices
Laos (Lao) is a land of contrasts. On one side you have the natural beauty of untouched forest and then on the other hand you’ve got drunk travelers floating down a river and launching themselves off of ridiculously huge swings. Both have their positives, one has some painful negatives (hangovers). After flying from Siem Reap…
Cambodia
Good bye Vietnam, Hello Cambodia! We really didn’t have much time left in South-East Asia but we had to stop in Cambodia to explore the temples of Angkor. To save some time we caught a bus straight to Siem Reap and decided to save Phnom Phen for our next Cambodia visit. It was a 6…
bottom half of Vietnam
Vietnams a pretty large country, roughly the size of lets say the West Coast of America. Exploring the vastness of SE Asia could take years and I envy, or should I say, respect those that truly engage Vietnam for that long. After Hoi An it was on to Nha Trang. We took another overnight bus…
First Half of Vietnam
A shiver rushed down our spines not from the bouncy landing by the pilot but from his announcement that the temperature in Hanoi was a chilly 13 degrees celsius. A quick check in our heads, multiply by two and add thirty, put the temperature at 56 degrees Fahrenheit. After spending the past 3 and a…
Hong Kong and Macau
We had such a great time in the Philippines it was hard to leave, but it was time to begin the next leg of our journey. Our next stop was Hong Kong where we would spend a few nights before making our way to Vietnam. The hotels in Hong Kong were quite expensive, so we…
Picteresque Palawan – ****El Nido****
Far from the rest of the Philippines lies an archipelago that holds roughly 1/3 of all the islands of the country. Its a beautiful oasis that has more in common with Borneo than the rest of the Philippines. On Palawan, of the places that we visited, the area that stood out above the rest was…
Siquijor – Around the island
Over the next couple of days we rode our motorbike and drove around the island to see what else it had to offer. We headed towards Maria Bay and found a cozy resort called Princess Bulakna where we were the only guest. It was a nice change from the $25 standard mosquito infested room we…
Siquijor-RECONNECTED
When the Philippines came into the radar of a potential stop on our sojourn I realized that we might have the opportunity to see where my family originated. Roughly 90 years ago my Great Grandfather, Fransisco Suan Pacarro, emigrated from the Philippines, boarded a Ferry from Larena Harbor in Siquijor and headed for Hawaii. What…
Other stuff we did in Siargao
Siargao is such a beautiful island, and even though the surf is amazing, we did a lot of other things too. Drive Around the Island When the surf was small we rented a motorbike and drove around the island. The coconut palm covered island was quite small and we were able to do our tour…
Siargao
We left Cebu as quickly as possible, which took two days because the flights to Surigao are sporadic. The flight was painless and we landed at 11:30. The ferry to Siargao left at 12:00. We met another guy on the plane that was also headed to Cloud 9. We jumped on a trike and b-lined…
Cebu
It was an 8hour bus ride back to Manila. Personally I don’t mind riding the bus, it’s actually a great way to see the countryside and mingle with the locals. As long as they make a bathroom stop every couple of hours, I’m a happy camper. From Manila we flew to Cebu on Cebu Pacific…
La Union
Here’s a little video we put together We got to La Union in the dark after a 5 hour bus ride. We caught a nice bus this time and rolled in style. After reading our trust lonely planet book we had them drop us off at the Sebay Inn. The Lonley Planet is a truly…
Journey to the Center of Baguio
Baguio, the art gem in the Cordillera Mountains was reached shortly before 9pm after an exciting 8 hour bus ride. These buses are getting comical and easier as we continue to tackle them. This one had no A/C so it was a green bus other than the clouds of black smoke that flowed out the…
Manila to Baler
After having a blast in Malaysia we were headed to Manila, which was a short three hour flight from Kuala Lumpur. Our plane landed in Clark Airport located in the outskirts of Manila. The scenery abruptly changed from lush green to urban madness as we rode the bus into town. Rolling thorugh the streets of…
Malaysia
Malaysia was one heck of a good time. We stayed with Ditesh, a fellow couchsurfer that opened his beautiful home to us. Those that haven’t checked it out yet, please do, http://www.couchsurfing.com. If you can offer a couch or bed to a traveler they will surely be grateful. In addition you learn a lot about…
Last days in Bali
Our trip back from Lovina was an easy 4 hour mini bus ride that weaved through the center of Bali. We headed up into the mountains and then dropped down through Ubud finally landing us back in Seminyak. We spent the last couple of days in Bali involved taking a quick trip to Medewi, hanging…
Bali’s North Coast
The whirlwind tour of East Java ended as it dropped us off at the ferry port of Ketapang. We were headed to Gilimanuk, Bali and we got there just in time to board the ferry and secure great seats. Kahi and I wanted to explore the north coast of Bali and planned on heading to…
Java – round 2
After checking the surf reports, the waves looked as though they were going to take a short hiatus. Instead of hanging around Bali, we decided to take the advice of our Couch Surfing host Jacopo and flew to Yogyakarta to check out Borobudur and Prambanan, two of Indonesia’s most famous temples, plus a couple of…
Bali with the Rents
It had been one month of eating rice and noodles, staying in the cheapest accommodations we could bare, and learning to haggle the hustlers when my parents showed up in Bali. This was their first time to Bali and it was a quasi honeymoon reunion. They were supposed to be here 36 years ago for…
Bingin
After Shaun departed we headed straight for Bingin. I hired a car and we packed up our gear. The driver didn’t want to put the boards on the roof because it makes you a red flag for the cops to pull you over for a bribe so we stuffed all the gear in a mini…
Back to Bali
So back to Bali we went. We arranged for a driver to take us to Bandarlampung airport where we caught a plane to Jakarta on Sriwijaya Airlines. The ticket was around $50 each and we were charged only $8 for all of our surfboards. We hopped on the plane and about 2 hours later landed…
Southern Sumatra
We arranged for the same driver to take us from Turtles in Ujung Gentang all the way to Southern Sumatra near Krui. The journey was supposed to take 24 hours but our driver moonlights as a formula one driver so we made it in 16. The trip involved heading inland from Turtles up to Jakarta…
Turtles Beach
Check out our video Chichi helped us find a reliable driver to take us to Ujung Gentang. We had to pay a little more but it was a faster and more comfortable ride than if we hired a bimo, not to mention safer too. We began our three hour journey up a windy mountain road.…
Cimaja
We left Bali in search of somewhere less crowded and more relaxing. We packed our bags and bought a ticket to Jakarta. Our next destination would be Cimaja, a little town with a pebble beach and a small surfing community. After landing in Jakarta we grabbed our bags and headed outside to arrange our transportation. …
Kuta-Bali
We landed in Kuta a couple of days ago and are already headed out. Although Kuta was amazing in its own way, it just isn’t for us. We stayed in Legian in the Dawan Hotel. The price was right at about $4.50 a night and the motor bikes for an additional $3 a…
Scribbles Abroad 