By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate When I lived on the North Shore in 1978, there was not one home on the shore of horseshoe-shaped Hanalei Bay. The notorious Taylor Camp treehouse colony, populated by hippies living off the land, was in full swing. The now famous Tahiti Nui featured in the film The Descendants was a hole in the wall. I could hike the Kalalau Trail, tracing the rugged Napali Coast up to the roaring Hanakapi’ai Falls, and take a dip in the pool below, without seeing another soul. I never made it to the site of the sacred Hawaiian village at the end of... Read More

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate  Poipu is the favored spot by visitors to the Island because it guarantees full blown sunny beach days. In 1978 Poipu Beach was a deep azure plunge where I floated in ecstasy. But in 1992 Hurricane Iniki carved out a new coastline. Today the crescent shaped white sand beach is still a favorite of sun worshippers, but the water is shallow with a bottom littered with coral rocks. It is popular with snorkelers and small children but is no longer the best swimming beach on the South Shore. Numerous resorts and condo complexes now line the shore,... Read More

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