A snail!
I spotted it as I lowered into my second chaturanga of the morning. The snail had taken residence right off of the corner of my mat, minding his own business as he slugged across the lawn. It didn’t choose any of the twenty other girls, all about my age, who were partaking in the Andaz Maui’s complimentary sunrise yoga session.
It was a big snail, too.
Many of my favorite travel experiences around the globe have occurred during yoga sessions. It’s not even the experience itself, more of the thoughts that pop into my head, the discovery of the destination and the world around me.
Which is why it’s ironic that my particular takeaway from this yoga session was about the snail. As soon as I saw it, the line from a song by The Format popped into my head: “Snails see the benefits, the beauty in every inch.”
I can’t imagine that this particular snail would have a hard time seeing all of that. He has an ocean view home in Wailea. Actually, though, he had his home just about anywhere. A nomad.
Relatable.
The season that we’ve entered into post-wedding is one of nonstop going and discovery. When Jeremy left for our wedding in St. Kitts, he also left his job in finance to join the Epperly Travel team full time.
When we tell people this, we are either met with pure joy and support or a look of terror as that person imagines working with their spouse. We decided we’d take this leap while we’re just young and dumb enough to not know why we should be fearful.
Just kidding, we spent approximately one million hours of conversation leading to this decision.
Do you want to know a terrifying question? Your fiancé asking if he can apply for the position that just opened up at your company. He said it casually, too, as we cooked dinner together, back in April. It was four days after a major shift in the company occurred – I was still reeling from being blindsided personally while determining our next steps professionally. Just a little, “What if you hired me?”
I think we were cooking Alfredo and the recipe called for dry white wine. I’m sure I took a swig of it in that moment. We played the question out over a series of weeks, a couple of which while we were in New Zealand, and finally came to the conclusion: Let’s do this.
We burned the ships by booking back-to-back trips post wedding. It was our attempt to keep us from backing out and to ensure that we could run this thing without missing a beat, no matter where we were working from.
Every other week this fall, we’ll be in a different corner of the world. London and Amsterdam down. Maui this week. The Dominican Republic the week after.
It all felt surreal still while in Europe – but now, in Hawaii, with more of a rhythm to our responsibilities in the day job and our roles in our relationship, this great big world is beginning to feel like home. And, like the snail, I want to see the benefits, the beauty in every inch.
We started our getaway by immediately heading to the Andaz’s luau, the Feast at Mokapu. Luaus are a must in Hawaii and this seated, family-style offering is one of the best options for those seeking a great show without sacrificing the food quality!
For the first half of the week in Maui, we hotel hopped between the Andaz Wailea, Four Seasons Wailea & Hotel Wailea to better determine which options would be the best fits for our clients. Spoiler alert: they’re all great, but they each have very distinct personalities. It’s a big reason we offer not just destination matching as part of our planning services, but also hotel matching. A good hotel that strikes a cord with you and your personal travel style is crucial to a great travel experience.
For us, we found such similarities between the Andaz and our wedding hotel, the Park Hyatt St. Kitts (both belong to the Hyatt brand) that our hearts were happy – but that modern style just happens to appeal to us. Traditional luxury enthusiasts would prefer the Four Sesaons, whereas adults looking for a more boutique experience might lean toward the Hotel Wailea.
Then, we attended the Journese Curator’s event, held at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, where they honored their top 25 producing agents (our Epperly Travel team represented two of the top three agents!). With a gracious staff and awesome food experience, the Ritz provided a fantastic experience for the group.
The Journese team arranged for a day trip over to the stunning, brand new Four Seasons Lanai, a hit amongst our clients. It’s not hard to see why:
While at the Four Seasons Lanai, we were able to partake in a five-course tasting experience at Nobu. For the entree, the Nobu team creatively fried one of the ugliest fishes I’ve ever seen but most delicious that I’ve ever tasted. Don’t let the teeth fool you: this little guy was awesome.
From a professional standpoint, I sat in a similar place as I did back in April of this year. When circumstances outside of our control occur that feel like a setback, what choice do we have but to rise?
Thanks to a fantastic mentor of mine who was at Journese at the time, I had a conversation that I’ll never forget. I sat on the razor’s edge of courage: would I take the leap and believe in myself, or would I stay in a situation that I knew was holding me back?
She, along with those closest to me, encouraged me toward believing in myself. And had she not, there’s no way you’d be reading these words today: one month later, I launched Epperly Travel. This week, we had the honor of two agents being named the top 3 producers of the 25 Curators. Super proud!
For a second time with Maui as the backdrop, I get to thank my lucky stars for the obstacles that would eventually become opportunities.
