A few weekends back was one of the best weekends I’ve had for awhile, so let me tell you about it.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking: it is finally here, an actual adventure!

With the whole school thing going on, it’s hard for me to take time for an actual adventure; however, this weekend was an exception.

Clear of a huge work-load and in dire need of pictures for yearbook, I sought out to complete the “Figure-Eight Maui,” a trip that entails driving around the whole island of Maui.

It’s one of the largest adventures I’ve ever taken up, and it actually needs to be executed correctly in order to be successful.

This sally is a long one, so sit back and soak it all in. Let me break it down for you.

Here are 8-steps for the perfect Figure-Eight Maui:

1. Gather your friends

Sure, adventuring by yourself is fun, but when taking on such a large one, having friends is ideal.

In this case I brought along senior Justice Rodrigues and a few of my freshmen faves, Ali Tavares and Blaise Brath as well as fellow yearbook staffers who were also trying to accomplish the assignment.

*Make sure to bring that one friend who is spectacular at taking photos because you’re going to want to capture these moments, especially if you’re a teenager doing it for the ‘Gram.

2. Know your route

This trip is all about playing tourist, so grab a map from the nearest ABC store, and mark the points you want to stop at and the route you’ll take.

Unfortunately, good maps are about $5, but if you’re lucky enough you might find a free one outside or just hop on an interisland Hawaiian flight. They give out maps before you land. Oh wait, if you didn’t have $5 for the map to begin with….

Anyway, once you have your map, find your starting point, then mark down the spots you’d like to visit throughout the drive.

We started off in Nāpili then headed out Kahakuloa-side. Here are a few of our stops that I highly recommend: Honolua Bay, Ho’okipa, Ke’anae, Kaihalulu Beach, Venus Pond, Kaupō, and Ulupalakua as well as ordinary stops on the way back to Lahaina.

You’re also going to absolutely run into look-out points that are a must-stop.

3. Get the equipment

You may wonder, “What equipment?”

Every adventure needs stuff, in particular:

• Beach mat
• Floaties
• Speaker
• FOOD
• Camera(s)

Without these items, you’ll never get the full experience of the journey.

Don’t let this list limit you though; feel free to bring anything you please, maybe even your dog!

4. Gas money, honey

Be prepared to spend some dollars, because this adventure is not cheap!

Going into this expect it to be somewhat costly, especially since you’ll be traveling around the whole island.

So keep in mind, you need some money, honey, because that gas tank does not fill itself.

Overall it took me my whole tank for the whole island; however, Mary (my 2011 Honda Civic) eats gas very quickly, and each car differs, but expect to spend around $50 on just gas alone.

*Don’t clean your car before this adventure because you’re surely going to to need to clean it after! Inside and out!

5. Find a halfway house

In order to execute this the right way, it’s not going to take just one day. It’ll take two, so you’ll need to find a house that is at the half-way point of your adventure.

Don’t even try to cram everything into one day, unless you don’t want to make any pit-stops and just drive the whole day.

On the first day, we began our adventure a little late in the afternoon, around 2-ish.

Once we were out of Kahakuloa and in town, we stopped for dinner. Yes, it was almost night. From there we then went to my hale in Ha’ikū which was our halfway house.

After staying the night, we woke up in the morning and were energetic and ready to continue the journey.

6. Risk-it for the biscuit

You’re not going to live to the fullest by being a mundane person who follows the rules.

Live your life to the fullest, you don’t know when the next time is that you’ll do this!

Take everything-in, venture to new spots, and even jump a few fences here and there.

You’ll never know what is beyond the horizon if you don’t chase after it.

7. Be open-minded

This adventure will not be perfect, there will be some ups-and-downs.

You might even reach a point where all you want to do is go home and sleep, but you’re on the opposite side of the island!

All you have to do is be open-minded to all experiences and have a positive mind-set.

This journey will drain a lot of your energy, so if you’re not a driver, taking quick naps between stops will help and even staying a little longer at certain places to “catch your breath” will help restore some energy.

Nobody wants a Negative Nancy on their trip!

8. You-do-you, booboo

Last but not least…

Sure, I just forced you to read a whole list of a lot of things to do, but these are just a few things that made my trip amazing.

Add in your own pizazz and change it up a bit. This is your adventure. If you think something will be cool to add in, do it!

The only thing that matters to me is if you’re living your life to the fullest and having an amazing adventure.

You do you, booboo.

So that’s it. We have a whole fall break ahead of us, so go on and embrace your adventures! And if you get the chance to do the Figure-Eight Maui, I highly recommend it!

I’d love to hear and see about them, so feel free to e-mail me your stories or pictures/videos at aaron.veincent@imua.ksbe.edu, or message me through social media @aaronkv_.

Stay safe over the break on whatever endeavors you may take, but never forget:

Always live your life to the fullest and with admiration, for the moment you’re living right now, is the youngest you’ll ever be.