Today’s post is a collection of questions I have been asked or heard asked in and about the state of Hawaii. And I promise I have not made any of them up.
The inspiration came from a manager from the Four Seasons Lanai, who told me that when he talked to a guest about spear-fishing, was asked
“Can you swim all the way under the island?”
Another true questions, either asked of me personally or vouched for by hotel or boat staff:
“Is there water on the other side of the island?”
And to hotel employees regularly,
“Do you live on the island?”
Along with,
“Where do you get electricity?”
Asked to me as a travel agent,
“Can you use U.S. money in Hawaii?”
And its corollary,
“Do you need a passport to go to Hawaii?”
“Can you drop off a rental car on a different island?” (The person in question thought it was like the Florida Keys with bridges.)
From Laura Townsend Elion,
Years ago I lived in Hawaii and had friends visiting from the mainland. They raved over the landscape on the way from the airport and we gossiped over the real estate prices of some of the oceanfront homes. One friend turned to me and asked, “How many beads did they trade this island for?” (She was confusing it with the story about the Indians and Manhattan).
Asked on a catamaran off Maui,
“What altitude are we at now?”
And of an island in the distance,
“Is that Catalina?”
And my all time favorite:
“How do they keep the islands from floating apart?”
(The person in question here was commenting on the “nice” formation of the islands, with Hawaii as the most southeast, Kauai on the west. The hotel employee who told me the story said he still wishes he had told her they were all anchored to the ocean floor with really big anchors.)
Although if any Tripso readers have heard questions to match or top these, please as always feel free to add them in comments.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
