“What is pono?”

A couple of years ago my other half and I found ourselves on the beautiful island of Maui, one of Hawaii’s eight pieces.

Among many things we were awed by the love, care and respect this island’s locals have for their small yet extraordinarily breathtaking piece of land. Out in the Pacific, really in the middle of nowhere, you feel anything but lost.

Much like many of our Maui encounters, the existence of pono was discovered by chance.

When we arrived we anchored ourselves in Haiku, a small lively town on the less traveled Northern end. We arrived “late” at night.

A note here – late in Maui is actually pretty early! Any time after 9-10pm is lights out, and the day starts bright and early around 5am. The locals like nothing more than catching that first wave – and who wouldn’t, it’s literally the most refreshing a morning can get. It’s a lifestyle that only takes a few days of getting used to, trust me.

Our plan for this trip was that we had none. We did the bare minimum and researched unique, not-to-be-missed, off the beaten path gems. Otherwise we were hoping our local hosts would steer us in the right direction, as this plan has never let us down!

This no-plan trip turned out to be one of the most unforgettable, and every bit of it worked out.

Three unique spots in Maui.

• The drive through the valley on West Maui was nothing short of exhilarating, and heavily underrated. Drive slow and stay alert.
• The Waihee Trail that initially lead us to a closed road was totally worth the detour.
• Perfect snorkel spot: as surreal as its green turtles. Due to increasing popularity, I won’t geotag this one! But I encourage you to get out there and explore – nature will reward you.

Many more gems, but that is for another post.

One night we randomly started chatting with a couple of locals, as we can’t help doing. They were asking what we had seen so far, and we eventually landed on talking about our detour that led to the Waihee Trail. We went completely out of our way to get the opportunity to hike this trail. The lady (whose name I did not catch), a 15 year resident of Maui and avid photographer, exclaimed, “You have PONO!!”.

“Sorry, we have what?”

Pono is a way of living.

In the Hawaiian language the most literal translation is righteousness, however there are over 80 English meanings. To put it simply, they are all centered around doing good for oneself and for our earth. Moral/beneficial/balance/respect are only some examples.

In this local’s eyes, we were showing respect and patience for a piece of the island by taking three detour-filled hours to get to this trail. I later spoke with an Indigenous Maui resident who further elaborated that we actually do not possess pono; rather, we are pono. By being pono, we listen to our gut, ask questions and seed guidance. When it is given, we actively listen.

The drawn out meaning of pono is one that inspired the creation of this blog, and is why I chose for this to be my first post.

Over the last few years I’ve been trying to make small changes in my day-to-day life that can help to counteract the negative impacts we seem to have on this pale blue dot we call home. Not an easy task – it takes lots of time and research, but is more than worth the effort.

Pono is now always in the back of my mind. Greenery does wonders for our bodies and minds, so why not give back?

I hope my musings and findings make the daunting task of actively changing pieces of your lifestyle easier and more enjoyable. Instead of researching it all from scratch, please use this space! I welcome ideas and comments, and am happy to look into topics I have yet to touch on.