By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate As a young woman, I had dropped out of society and landed on the North Shore of Kaua‘i. It was a head-spinning transformative time in my life. There, I was introduced to people experimenting with alternate lifestyles and those leading highly creative lives. After a year of Island life, I was brimming with good health and ready to face the future. Now, 45 years on, I yearned to return to the nurturing clime to know how both the Island and I have changed. Kaua’i is lush with foliage, resplendent with waterfalls, and isolated by tumultuous... Read More

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Floating face up in the Watsu pool at the Kalani Ocean Retreat that is tucked into a remote corner of the Big Island in Hawaii, I drifted in a state of embryonic innocence. Sylvie, my provider, massaged my spine gently and rotated my limbs to release joint tension. This was the first of many experiences on my quest for an Aloha fix that would include traditional lomi-lomi massage; interviewing Kumu Dane Silva, a respected native Hawaiian healer; a swim in a hot pond used for centuries by the ancestors to cleanse body, mind, and spirit; feeling... Read More

Linda Ballou, Our Intrepid Adventure Traveler,  Reveals the Five Best Stress Busters on the Big Island of Hawaii By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Could you use a lomi-lomi massage, therapy in a warm pool, or perhaps sea- water cleansing to get rid of toxins in your body? How about a little ho’oponopono that comes from the heart to clear your psyche? Two hundred yeas ago when disapproving missionaries arrived, Hawaiians took their beliefs underground. But in the 1970s, native Hawaiian healers dared to bring their ancestral knowledge back into the light of day. The intensity... Read More