It just takes one person to wreck it for others. With some ugly details.
500 thoughts on “How Some Tourists are Ruining Hawaii Travel for Everyone”
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It just takes one person to wreck it for others. With some ugly details.
Comments are closed.
We haven been traveling almost every year since 1979. We started to notice in the early 90s that the tourists did not seem to follow the Aloha spirit. An example of that was seen in Kauai where there are a number of 1 way bridges on the North shore. Never a problem before…..if you come to a 1 way bridge the driver must slow down and stop to allow the driver in the opposite direction to cross the bridge. We began to notice an aggressive attitude where the drivers would rush to get over the bridge even if the driver from the opposite direction had already started over the bridge. This behavior let to stalemate on the bridges where one or the other of the drivers had to back up. Disgusting behavior that is not in synch with the Aloha spirit
I, Haole, was playing pickleball in Lahaina for a few weeks, and I was talking with on of my new native Hawaiian acquaintances, and I said something about one of the better players being a big Kahuna at the court, not even thinking about even being in Hawaii, just something I might have said in my home court, and when I got back to the hotel I mentioned it to my wife asking if she thought it was wrong, and she said it was a major faux pas. She said it was. Next day I spoke to my fellow player to apologize and asked her about it. She said she remembered my saying it and thought it was perfectly acceptable, appropriate in the situation and took no offense. She smiled about my concern. Any thoughts?
It is a common American expression that probably honors the acknowledgment of Polynesian Royalty. It was being used in the Midwest long before Hawaii was a state! Your concern showed great empathy and I applaud you.
Well said, Jodi.
When my wife and I came here on honeymoon long ago and fell in love with Hawaii and its people, we were quickly told we definitely were not Haoles because of our Akamai Aloha spirits. For those visiting for their first time we strongly recommend learning as much as possible regarding accurate Hawaiian history-the good and the bad. You will understand locals better, no matter what their race is.
True story: after moving here for just 2 weeks I went to a coworkers house for Monday Night Football. His caucasian girlfriend, originally from Seattle, was there and we were imbibing in intoxicating items.
When his Mom came in the girlfriend switched to speaking Pidgin to her and I thought I was hallucinating!
I gave that up!
You did right. Hawaiian natives do not like it when a Haole attempts to speak Pidgin English. It is considered appropriation of a culture not theirs, no matter how long they have lived in Hawaii.
I don’t know about that, Pat. My friend’s parents and many TUTU’s respected our attempts to communicate with them more easily. They absolutely did not comprehend the near perfect version of English we were taught in mainland schools.
I don’t recommend casual visitors to do it, but my best recommendation would be to ask the older locals (which we did) if they minded us practicing our Hawaiian and Pidgin dialects. We Never were told no!
There are several lists out there on “Things Haoles should not do when living in Hawaii”, and all of them have “Attempt to speak pidgin” as one of the bullet points. Your friend’s parents feel differently, but there are native Hawaiians who prefer that Haoles not speak it. Different strokes, I guess. Some are more sensitive than others.
I’ve been traveling to Maui for 25 years. I own a timeshare and a condo. I was talking to a Hawaiian lady about the aloha spirit amongst the Polynesian people, and she told me that We, the mainlanders have a expectation of the spirit of Aloha so we also encourage that spirit her word were “you bring the spirit of Aloha with you” because of our expectation of the Aloha spirit. All my life I’ve seen what is called the “Ugly American” speaking or travelers to other places. I think we all need to understand more about who we are sharing this beautiful place with.
I want to let you know I love this blog/website, it is so helpful to stay on top of events, deals, and warnings You guys do a great job. Thank You & Aloha!
Hi Jodi.
Thanks for being a reader and for this first comment. We appreciate the feedback!
Aloha.
There are indeed respectful visitors coming here, I am a tour guide and I always thank my guests and say you are smart visitors, you are taking a tour and leaving the driving to us, and learning more than you would driving yourself with a i-phone as your guide. But “they” are out there, seen some stupid behaviors for sure…
Revenge Travel. Hmmm, that’s a new one on me. Think the way a person acts anywhere is a reflection on the character and manners of said person. Most folks tend to have good manners and behavior, it’s the minority that misbehave, sometimes due to alcohol over consumption, sometimes because they’re just not nice people that have a sense of entitlement. Hang Loose Brah! Have a good time. Just remember your rights end where the next guy’s begin. *My flying tip of the day: Stay away from coffee and alcohol on the flight, and don’t overeat beforehand (gas).