January 2019 - Page 4 of 5

Hanging Out at Golden Hour: Ofu Photo Journal

Jan 14, 2019 | Lifestyle, Travel

January 2nd was a spectacular day.

We hiked Mt. Tumu, jumped in the ocean to cool down, and then two words: golden hour.

It was Taylor’s last night so Ben and Deb set up a sweet bonfire on the beach with bevvies all around.

And later, the clouds cleared and I finally got the stars I was wishing for.

Ofu, Olosega, and Ta,’ū islands make up the Manu’a islands of American Samoa

My golden boy

Sweet sunsets

Hanging out on the Ofu airstrip

I love how the sun reflects on the Ofu Fire Station (orange building)

A hunk at dusk

Always gushing over my guy

Ofu, ooh-la-la

Taylor stoking the fire

This beach is litttt

A lovely bunch of individuals – the Vaoto crew

Ian took these two pics (above and below) and I love the mood

Reading on vacation | Ofu Photo Journal

Jan 12, 2019 | Lifestyle, Travel

I love feeling like I have all the time in the world on vacations.

Reading is one of those things that I love to do but can be difficult to make time for in between a full day at work, social life, and (let’s be honest) eating and pooping. In fact, I used to do a lot of reading whilst sitting on that throne hahaha – but I digress.

I’m a slow reader so it took me all of 2 weeks to read “Coming of Age in Samoa” by Margaret Mead. I love it for its account of Samoan daily life in Manu’a, American Samoa back in the 1920s. She paints a vivid picture that I (having grown up in American Samoa in the 90s) can actually sort of relate to. Here we are lounging and reading in hammocks at To’aga beach on New Years Day.

Passing through Olosega

Jan 8, 2019 | Lifestyle, Travel

Olosega is another island that is part of the Manu’a group, and is separated from Ofu island by the Asaga Bridge. We biked from Vaoto Lodge to the Asaga Bridge, and decided to walk the sandy roads Olosega village on foot because I was weary of dogs. It was still Christmas break and the small village seemed pretty quiet. I made note of Mati’s store which is the only one in Olosega. We waved to few people and avoided the barking dogs. By the time we got to the Oge Trail, it was just past noon and we were almost out of water. We kept going for a little bit and admired the view of Ofu-Olosega and their unique landscape before heading back to into the village towards Mati’s store for water.

Coconuts and Jenga – Ofu Evenings

Jan 6, 2019 | Lifestyle

My days in Ofu are usually spent on the beach, or biking through To’aga, or killing my legs hiking Mt. Tumu. But the evenings are lax – usually spent around the table with kindred spirits.

This particular evening involved fresh coconuts and Jenga towers. We were getting really good (or so we thought) and attempted the world record with a 41 stack, but we could only get to 34 max. We had a blast though!

Coconut Crab for NYE Dinner

Jan 6, 2019 | Lifestyle, Sustainable Living, Travel

The guys went out the night before New Year’s Eve and caught two coconut crabs for our NYE dinner.

I asked why they only caught two and they said it was because they wanted to hunt responsibly. Good point.

Coconut crabs are suuuuper delicious, and it’s true that there aren’t many crabs just roving the land these days. Even though there are a bunch of coconut crabs in Ofu – doesn’t mean that we should be taking more than we need.

We sat down to eat on New Year’s Eve with family and friends and shared yum food. We also ate baby rack ribs that Ian made but lo – we’re going to be cutting out red meat from our diet in 2019! So we’re making steps towards more sustainable eating habits.