Remember Honolulu? | March 2022 #Shorts

Every so often, one of us will be scrolling through old camera roll footage and stumble on a clip that stops us in our tracks. That's exactly what happened with this one — a quick throwback to Honolulu, March 2022, and honestly, it hit us with more nostalgia than we expected. So we turned it into a quick short, and now we're back here writing about it because a few seconds of video just wasn't enough to capture what that trip meant to us.

March 2022 was a strange and wonderful time to be traveling. The world was still finding its footing again, borders were reopening, and there was this collective sense of "we made it, let's go see something beautiful." Honolulu was exactly that for us — our first big international getaway in what felt like forever, and Oahu delivered in every way we hoped it would.

Why Honolulu Stuck With Us

There's something about Hawaii that's hard to put into words unless you've been. It's not just the postcard-perfect beaches (though Waikiki absolutely lives up to the hype). It's the pace of life. Everyone we met — from the guy renting us snorkel gear to the aunty running a food truck — carried this relaxed, "no rush, we're on island time" energy that we desperately needed after the previous couple of years.

We remember walking along Waikiki Beach in the early morning before the crowds showed up, coffee in hand, just soaking in the fact that we were actually somewhere else. If you've read our post about flying to Hawaii and landing in Oahu, you already know how excited (and slightly delirious from the flight) we were on day one. Honolulu was where that excitement really settled in and became something more like peace.

Food, Culture, and a Few Surprises

As with every trip we take, food ended up being one of the highlights. Samantha, being Vietnamese, was thrilled to find how much Hawaiian cuisine borrows from and blends with Asian flavors — poke bowls, plate lunches with rice and mac salad, and shave ice that somehow became a daily ritual for both of us. Amir, meanwhile, was just happy to eat literally anything handed to him with a side of rice.

Culturally, Honolulu also gave us a lot to think about. Hawaii's history — the blending of Native Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, and so many other influences — reminded us a lot of our own story. As an interracial couple, we're always drawn to places that wear their mixed cultural identity proudly, and Oahu does that beautifully. If that kind of thing interests you, we've written before about what we've learned traveling as an interracial couple, and Hawaii honestly reinforced a lot of those lessons for us.

A Few Tips If You're Headed to Honolulu

If this short has you thinking about booking your own Hawaii trip, here's what we'd tell you:

• Rent a car. Oahu is walkable in Waikiki, but you'll want the freedom to chase waterfalls, hike Diamond Head, and drive the North Shore without relying on tours.
• Book snorkeling early in your trip. We waited a few days and the weather turned. Get it done while conditions are good.
• Try food trucks over restaurants for at least half your meals. Some of the best bites we had in Honolulu came from a truck parked in a gas station lot.
• Pace yourself. It's tempting to pack every day full, but Hawaii rewards slowing down. Some of our favorite memories are just sitting on the sand doing nothing.

Looking Back From 2026

It's wild to think this trip happened over four years ago now. So much has changed for us since then — we've grown as a family, added more stamps to our passports, and kept building this little corner of the internet documenting it all. But pulling up this Honolulu footage reminded us why we started filming our travels in the first place: not for the views or the algorithm, but so we'd have something to look back on exactly like this.

If you haven't already, go check out the full short on our channel — it's quick, but it packs in a lot of that Honolulu magic. Watch it here: Remember Honolulu? | March 2022 #Shorts.

Thanks for sticking with us as we keep digging up these throwbacks. If Hawaii is on your bucket list, we hope this gave you a little extra push to book that flight.

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