I often find myself wondering when exactly it will be before I start feeling like an actual adult. Oh, I have my moments when I can act like a grown-up…I’m usually pretty mature at work, and I can carry on a pretty serious conversation when I have to….but in general, I’m sort of kid-like. This trip has proven that over and over again. For instance, I’ve found a new love for the candy NERDS (how many adults do you know that carry around a handful of colorful sugar specks with them on a regular basis??). I also like to wear my hooded sweatshirt over top of my nice going out dress, I have been known to suck red wine through a twizzler, and phrases such as, “race you up that rock face,” and “come on Jess, let’s do handstands on this mountain just to say we did it” often come out of my mouth. In general I would say that the “non-adult” way of living life is much more fun, but sometimes I worry that I should be different by now…that I should give up the hot chocolate and order a black coffee if you know what I mean.

Well this past Friday, I had a break through, a little hint of adultness if you will, that told me that in spite of all my weird childish quarks, I’m still a 30 year old.

We arrived at our Hostel, the Banana Bungalow Friday evening. Up until then, we’d spent a good portion of the day complaining about leaving Kauai. We made a final stop at Tunnels beach to get sand for Leisyl (which later caused me to be stopped in the airport and searched….thanks a lot Leisyl :)) and also Bubba’s to get a burger for Jessica. We said goodbye to Tahiti Nui, and drove one more time down highway 580 to the airport. By the time our plane took off though, I was feeling excited about exploring a new island, although a little nervous about our hostel. Jessica and I both had experience in hostel accommodations, but had read some dodgy reviews the night before about this particular one, and felt just a bit uneasy. Our plane landed, we grabbed a taxi, and the driver proceeded to tell us in his own blunt way that the BB wasn’t a very good choice, and that we should have gone to Lahaina instead. Thanks, that was very helpful Mr. I obviously don’t like my job, minivan driving taxi guy- Things were not looking good.

Once at the hostel though, I felt much better. From at least the safety perspective, everything seemed to be on the up and up. The staff was very friendly, and all the people we ran into were very nice and asked us to join them for hot-tubing. That’s when the 30 year old Sarah showed up.

It was in the moments of getting the tour of the place, seeing the closet, I mean room where I would be staying, observing the shared bathrooms, and labeling my food in a kitchen shared by 45 other people, it was during this time that I realized, I’ve already done the college dorm- life thing- I’ve already had my fun on a top bunk, and I’ve already experienced staying up until 3am with friends, just talking and drinking, and that life was a blast….but I’m not 21 anymore. I want to go to bed at a reasonable hour, I want my own bathroom, I want a bed with more than a pathetic little white sheet, and I NEED A CLOSET, ( and apparently some shower shoes…gross:)).

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Banana Bungalow, it was all me. Somewhere along the way of life, I apparently turned into a grown-up, and it showed. If only for this short amount of time, I was happy to be a 30 year old professional with a salary- I wanted adult stuff- like a condo or a charming Bed and Breakfast.

Clearly Jessica was feeling the same way…10 minutes after unloading our things, we both proceeded to take our laptops outside and look for a new place. We sat together in mostly darkness around a plastic circular piece of patio furniture. We were undoubtedly out of place, surrounded by a few dozen people in bathing suits, beers in hand, talking, laughing, having a great time…I wondered at that moment, “what is wrong with me, why do I feel so out of place here?”..but now I know….I’m a grown-up…or at least part grown-up…and as I type this from my comfortable couch in my spacious condo complete with a view of the ocean, I have to think that being an adult definitely has it’s perks! :)

For the record, we did stay 2 nights at the Banana Bungalow, and had an amazing trip to a volcano that I will fill you in on later…so I don’t feel like we completely sold out. Also we met some really nice people- I don’t want you to think it was all bad :)