Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire From Alaska to The South Pacific…

I’ve always been struck by an insatiable wanderlust that compels me to seek new places and new adventures. I can’t stay put for long periods of time without getting anxious to explore but with the state of the world I’m reluctant to go far. We’ve been to all the main islands in Hawaii multiple times, Mexico a dozen or more times and this March we’ll go to the Caribbean for the first time. My wife likes visiting the tropics but we aren’t the type to just lay on the beach, we like doing things. My wife has been around the world a couple times and I’m not far behind her but we were running out of options…places that we wanted to visit that weren’t overrun by ragheads. The South Pacific has always been at the top of my bucket list for travel destinations but I never thought I’d get the opportunity. I’ve long dreamt of diving on the WWII wrecks in the places where battles raged and fishing the blue waters of the wide open ocean in virtually unpopulated areas. Being so remote means far less pressure and more opportunities at BIG fish…

My grandpa was a WWII vet and the sweetest man I’ve ever known. Grandpa was an electrician for Alcoa for 40+ years who was satisfied with the “little things” in life. Grandpa didn’t suffer the wanderlust that my wife and I have been afflicted with but grandpa always dreamed of going to Tahiti. He didn’t care much about Hawaii, I suspect it was due to Pearl Harbor, but he always wanted to go to Tahiti.

Thanks to my favorite airline my world just got a lot bigger, the fish got more trouble ahead and I’m gonna have to start learning the Bimini Twist….👍🏼👍🏼

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...hawaii-and-the-west-coast-302003943.html

Must be some Nomad in your veins. Happy travels.

I’ve always been accused of being nomadic. 😀

Having Alaska Airlines “absorbing” Hawaiian Airlines is a good thing not just for the new destinations that will be available in Asia and the South Pacific but also for U.S, Alaska and Hawaiian routes….more non-stops and more options in general.



“Alaska Air, which operates more than 200 Boeing jets, has been expanding beyond its historic footprint serving the Pacific Northwest. In 2016 it acquired Virgin America.

Taking over Hawaiian would expand Alaska Airlines’ reach to destinations in Asia, including Australia and Japan, that it currently doesn’t directly serve. Alaska Airlines has an existing partnership with American Airlines, launched in 2020.”

Try Palau, it beats Tahiti. And snorkeling along over the remains of a Betty or Zero is to cool to describe.
RB

Too bad the authoritarian and ineffectual TSA has made flying completely and utterly untenable.

"Faraway places with strange sounding names."

Thailand and the Phillipines...... await you my brother ...

Aces n 8's the world is not that safe a place anymore especially for American travelers. You might find searching on your computer almost as enlightening and a whole lot less expensive. It is your assets and life to spend though , have at it. Mb

Thailand is definitely on my list but I think we’re going to do a longish SE Asia cruise with multiple ports and the comfort of our suite onboard.

RupertB….Tahiti is not where we’re planning on staying other than a few days on either side of flying in and out of Papete. Moorea and Bora Bora are where we plan to vacation for a little while.

Since I’m “confined” to the places Alaska airlines and now Hawaiian airlines fly to I will have to look into Palau. Our daughter wanted to go to Fiji for her graduation trip but she recently mentioned Australia/NZ so we’ll see. I’m always satisfied by the vacations and the organization and consideration my wife invests into them so as long as I have a rod and reel I’m good. 😉.

No Sir! I’m not allowing “fear” to imprison me. I WILL however attempt to mitigate the dangers and NOT travel to places that are gripped by unrest like Europe, Middle East, Russia including most former Russian satellite states like Ukraine. 😉. The South Pacific is about as stable as can be expected….being isolated doesn’t hurt. I’ve always loved to travel and I’ve been blessed to have the unique opportunity to do so…..I ain’t squandering that kind of gift. When my wife worries about me flying in bush planes I tell her the same thing every time which is that I’m always right with God. I’m at the unique age where I’m young enough to have fun I’m old enough to not have died a young man. I shoulda died several times already so I’m in high cotton.

Bullshit. I’m in Thailand at the moment. Choose to be imprisoned by your own ignorance if you wish. I’ll travel and enjoy the world.

The Cook Islands are my favorite South Pacific destination followed by Fiji if you get far from Nadi. French Polynesia is pretty but expensive and French. You can fly to Betio easily from Fiji, it’s a [bleep] but if you’re a WWII history buff it’s worth a couple days. The Solomon’s are tough traveling and the climate makes it even tougher. Guadalcanal can make it worth it. New Caledonia is pretty nice too.

I’ve had zero interest in going to Hawaii - too commercial and too expensive. Would love a trip to Fiji or somewhere else in the South Pacific. Thailand and the Philippines are on the list, too.

Have fun. It’s a big world with lots to see.

We had a port visit at Perth and it was really nice. We were going to go back some time later but the boat’s schedule changed. An uncle and aunt we went to New Zealand and they loved it.

Hawaii is nice enough but I’ve been there, done that and I got the t-shirts to prove it….it is pretty commercialized and sometimes frustrating by how rude and lazy the locals are in general. The South Pacific on the other hand is remote and relatively unspoiled. The Cook island chain receives about 170,000 tourists annually which is a mere fraction of the number of tourists that Hawaii sees.

Any and all advice from those who have gone is always appreciated. 👍🏼

If TSA is the only excuse for not traveling then it’s likely the person didn’t want to travel anyway. I’ve never had much trouble with TSA and I fly on average at least once a month but the wait can get frustrating. My family and myself decided that we travel enough to make the TSA Pre Check or Trusted Traveller worth the little extra effort. Now that we have our TSA Pre Check the wait is nothing, basically just walk right on up and on through. Roughly $80 and it’s good for 5 years. 👍🏼

TSA is the least of the issues with flying. It’s the endless delays and cancellations that make flying such a pain, and that isn’t TSA’s fault.

Why are you confined to Alaska air?

How did TSA do this? I only fly 4-6 times a year and the only complaint I have is the size of the seats.

Enjoy A's & 8's!
I've not been much further west that 10-15' into the surf of the SoCal Pacific Coast and doubting I'll ever be out that far west again.

Cool. I have a bunch of Alaska Airlines miles. It will be neat to see where all they end up flying to.