Aloha Spirit Alive and Well

Yes I've returned back to England, ready for the next adventure; aka living back with the parents and job hunting! However I'm continuing to finish and update the blog of my travels as writing my experiences down is a chance to relive them, remember what I have learnt and it serves as a reminder that it really did happen and wasn't just a dream. 

Community is everything

One of the things I was most curious about prior to reaching the Valley was the way people would organise themselves and how they'd live together away from roads, shops and electricity. I had my reservations - would it just be hippies living out there in attempt to escape society? How harmoniously can people really live? Would I have enough space, privacy and time to myself or would I be inducted into some kind of cult?

Exploring the Valley

Despite these reservations, I very much felt, and feel more than ever, that community is important. Over the past few years I became fascinated by ways in which people could unite, realising the potential of what humans can achieve together is far greater than alone. I'd been trying to encourter different types of communities to understand what works well and not so well. My dad's tales of kibutz living in his younger years had somewhat disheartened my idealism about group working and living situations and I heard tales from others of reasons it can't work - personality clashes, power struggles, varying levels of commitment, different beliefs etc. The politics sounded exhausting and it's easy to see why people would prefer just to live their own lives.

Yet my personal experience in the past three years of community situations (including those where people live or work together) has proved otherwise and all of the different types of communities that I've been part of or encountered are flourishing, growing in size and are creating richness for the people involved.

Aloha Spirit Alive and Well
The Valley was no exception and I was pleasantly surprised by how respectful and sharing people were. The sense of community, or as they'd say in Hawaii - 'Aloha Spirit', is very much alive and thriving, despite the unusual dynamic of it being a fairly transient community. This was a good reminder to me that you can find great people wherever you go.

At any one time there are between ten to twenty long term residents who live in the Valley permanently.  Their camps tend to be far from any other people, impossible to find without being shown.  Camps were amazingly sophisticated and charming, created with a great deal of thought and effort.   Residents had created incredible wooden structures to sleep under, they'd collected and carried stones from the beach to create patios, walls and walkways and had built fire pits and cooking facilities. The 'hardcore' Valley veteran, as I like to call them, leave only a few times per year to fetch supplies. The still dedicated (but more sensible ones!) leave for the challenging wet months escaping the constant rain and thus avoid having to spend months preparing by ensuring they have enough wood and food supplies.

The cooking facilities

A handful of people, myself and Scott included, stay for a good chunk of time such as a few weeks, or a month. These are those who are 'in the know' and come with proper supplies planning to stay. However for some that go there, the beauty of the place just draws them in and their other plans to visit the rest of the Hawaiian islands melt away. Why go else where when you are already in paradise?

'David' (not his real name) was a popular character who had made it a tradition to visit for a month every year in October and saw it as a vital part of his sanity! The long term residents look forward to him coming every year and have built deep friendships with him. Each visit he opens up his camp to everyone, hosting bonfires and providing people with morning coffee and pancakes. People come with their instruments to play music and bring offerings of fresh fruit, foraged from the jungle to contribute. It's a wonderful atmosphere.

It can be hard for people to leave when this is the view!

The majority of people staying in the Valley hike in, stay just a night or two and then depart again, which is a shame as there is just so much to see and experience there, but it does keep it dynamic and interesting. If they are unlucky (or lucky depending on how you look at it) they can be stuck there for a few days if the weather is too wet to hike out because the trail gets too dangerous.

No going hungry in the jungle
One wonderful aspect of the community there is that regardless of whether you're there one night, one month, or even one year, you're welcomed with open arms; so long as you're respectful of others and the nature around you. There's the most amazing sense of sharing what you have - the wisdom of 'you give and you shall receive' rings true.

There were just so many nights that Scott and I had the most delicious dinner made for us that you just wouldn't expect living in the wild; from pizzas (jungle style cooked on an open fire) to fish stews, pancakes, fruit pies, curries to freshly caught goat and prawns. The list goes on. The food was of such great quality and you just felt so truely nourished. In return, whenever we cooked and whatever it was, we would welcome others to join us or we would bring our meal to another camp to share.

Jungle cooked pie made of pastry, fruits and topped with raw chocolate

I was astounded by how organically this worked - there was always enough food for eveyone without lots of formal planning. It was an adjustment to share our food as there is this innate want to cling to what you have to ensure you can take care of your own needs. It's not that I don't ever share, but I have always had limits, this experience broadened my sense of generosity because others were so generous.

In the Valley in particular your instinct is to protect and hold onto your limited supplies to ensure you never go hungry and can stay as long as possible (as it's not like you can pop to a shop out there!). Add to that the fact that getting your supplies there in the first place takes blood, sweat and tears and you want to know that in times when you seek your creature comforts that yes there will be some hidden supply of chocolate to dig into!

Yet letting go of this thinking, was extremely rewarding and beneficial. I learnt that once you start sharing what you have, however little that may be, you just can't help but continue . We all need a good balance of giving and receiving - if we're always giving we exhaust ourselves, yet if we are always taking, we don't feel fulfilled and others will grow wary of us. I truely think that deepening our generosity whilst also being able to accept other's hospitality and help is such a great way to live.

Food I foraged from the jungle; a selection of salad leaves, lemons, chillis, papaya, taro root

In the past my thinking around this was that it would be just me giving, giving, giving and others would take advantage of this, but it was the opposite in the Valley and it was just unbeleivable how much people were giving away things all of the time. My theory is that if you give generously to all, only a small handful of people wouldn't reciprocate in some way. Another way I've heard it being described is as 'paying it forwards', doing good deeds, which you'll later reap the benefits of at some point when you need the help or support. Yes, I am a dreamer and an idealist, but it makes life so much nicer! And so this is the spirit I will try to continue.....

Food in the Valley always felt abundant. Those that came for just a few days would want to hike out with as little weight as possible thus would donate their remaining food to share among the community. We aquired all sort of goodies this way - from smoked salmon and nori sheets, to macaroni cheese and teas. As I said, we were eating very well.

Sushi Wraps (with avacado, salmon & quinoa) for lunch

I was reassured knowing that if your hiked in supplies run out, that was always going to be food to forage from the forest as this is just so abundant with fruits and vegetables. Not necessarily what you would want to live off for a long time, but then again, eating only fresh fruit and vegetables is what the Hawaiians would have done when they lived here and it would make you extremely healthy!

For me food is a major part of my enjoyment of life and having eaten so well for every meal in the Valley meant that despite the fact I was living very simply outside, without electricity, I still felt like I was living well and richly, better than ever in fact. The satisfaction of sharing meals together, sharing stories, sharing music, cooking for others and being cooked for in itself felt like nourishment for everyone creating such a positive environment to live and learn in.

Paradise on earth

What if I told you that paradise on earth really does exist? That there is the most beautiful of valleys filled with rich jungle, situated by a white sandy beach, bursting with nature, abundant with food, where you can drink the water straight from the rivers and where there are no dangerous predators and the weather is just great for outdoor living....... Where there is a sense of community, with people caring for one another and living in harmony with nature; not taking too much without giving back, ensuring the environment is clean and treated with respect by passing visitors. Where people live by the sun (as there is no electricity), time slows down (as there are no clocks), where every waterfall is a handy shower (as the water is so clean) and where there is no pollution or traffic (as there are no roads).

Just a dream or was it a reality? 
I am fortunate enough to have been taken to this magical valley by Scott who lived there for three months during his last trip and insisted I go.  I was somewhat apprehensive given I would be heading into the middle of nowhere without any phone or internet signal, or road access with a man I'd not seen for two years.  On top of that, living in the jungle sounded pretty hardcore and I wondered what kind of community would be living there.  How would they be organised? Would I still have my privacy? Would it be a commune of crazy hippies avoiding the real world!?

Yet, it was adventure that I wanted from my time away:  I knew I could trust Scott from the short time we'd spent together on our previous trips and so I felt in safe hands and took a leap of faith into the unknown.  I just hoped no one would worry about me given I would not have any contact for a while but I made sure I warned the family of my absence to avoid any concern and they were surprisingly relaxed, having grown used to me going off radar from time to time.

Full of history and ancient ways of living
The valley was previously home to the ancient Hawaiians and was an abundant food growing region.  We learnt that in it's hey day the valley was producing enough food to feed thousand of people on the nearby islands. You can still see the remains of the ancient, stony terraces throughout the valley which they built to grow and irrigate their crops of bananas, taro and fruit trees. They are now very much overgrown by trees and bushes but it is incredible to think that this peaceful jungle was once a bustling home to many families and you still find food growing everywhere you go once you learn to recognise what is edible.

We spent a total of five weeks here, leaving once after three weeks in order to stock up on supplies and recover from injuries and ailments, which you notice so much more living outside. Five weeks genuinely felt like about three months. Life becomes so much more spacious when you are just making sure you have the basics - food, water, shelter, good company, warmth. I find this way of life to be deeply satisfying and the beauty of the place is that you leave the valley full of life, charged with energy or 'mana' as they call it in Hawaiian. The challenge and adventure will be bringing this spirit of simplicity and sharing, back to the everyday living experience.

The valley is one of the few places on earth that I know of where it really is possible to live off the land, be completely off grid and live outside all year round. There is nothing better for the soul than spending all of your time outside, rising with the sun, staying fit from the physical activity required to live in this way ( collecting wood, trekking to get food, washing clothes in the river etc ) and going to bed when the sun has set. There were no dangerous animals to be concerned about, the wild animals were goats, pigs and feral cats. The most harmful creature was a stinging centipede which we never encountered. Nature provided us with it's own entertainment; our version of tv was watching the sun set and looking up at the sky packed full of more stars than I have ever seen. All of this with the ocean soundtrack in the background.

Energetic Charge
The valley is said to be highly charged with an intense form of energy or 'Mana'. Local legend says that the intense energy manifests in different forms depending on the people that are visiting and their state of being. For example, it is not uncommon for relationship break ups to happen within a few day of arriving in the valley, when couples are finally away from their creature comforts and routines and are facing just one another au natural.  For those who don't want to be there, and there are a few (those dragged along by friends, or those with injuries) it can be utter torture with no distraction, just your own thoughts and can certainly send you pretty loopy! Others develop an incredible knowledge of how to navigate the jungle, barefoot jumping across the rocks, up steep slopes and hopping across the rivers, mastering the art of flourishing in the jungle.

Whatever your beliefs, it makes a lot of sense as things are always more intense when contained in a small, isolated area, away from distraction. However other also frequently accredit the strong energy to the spiritual force of the island, creating a visceral feeling of high energy.  I most certainly experienced this for myself, often times feeling super charged and alive and bursting with ideas. For a few weeks I found it hard to fall asleep in the valley as my mind was whirring away and my body was just not ready to sleep. However it's hard not to feel charged when you live so much in nature, in the moment, nourished by the sun.

For me the intensity and energy came in the form of musical expression which was just so exciting. I ended up writing nearly an albums worth of songs, pretty good for someone who wasn't intending to write. I actually had hoped to facilitate singing workshops, my passion in England, but this never quite happened for many reasons.  Yet I am so grateful for that burst of creativity with songs just coming to me and then having the time to develop my singing and guitar playing to a level where I felt comfortable performing and sharing these songs. I so much enjoyed people asking me to play for them as I find it one of the most satisfying ways of being.

My time in the valley gave me many gifts and experiences to learn from but I now truely believe that whatever may come in life I can take solace in my singing and guitar playing, and in writing my own music. I can literally have the right song for any emotion or situation I encounter. Songs are also wonderful reminders of past events, ways to celebrate, give gratitude - whatever is needed I can create. So it really was a very inspiring time and I am pleased that my songs are a good mixture of styles, moods and topics. For a glimpse of my songs, see my you tube videos, unfortunately the sounds is not great due to wind and helicopters but it gives you an idea.  More to come in the future......

In every little thing -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1ng9ClqYZI

If these trees -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-G_yCm6Frg