Latest / Hawaii Travel Podcast by Hawaii’s Best: Plan a Better Hawaii Vacation / Island of Hawaii Pono Pledge

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Island of Hawaii Pono Pledge · Hawaii Travel Podcast by Hawaii’s Best: Plan a Better Hawaii Vacation

• 0:04
  Hawaii's Best: Welcome to Hawaii's Best Podcast, where we help you prepare for your next trip to Hawaii. Discover the experiences, businesses and stories that make Hawaii the Aloha state. And now your host, Brian Murphy.
• 0:18
  Lauren Manuel: Hello, and welcome to Episode 56 of Hawaii's Best where we help prepare you for your next trip to Hawaii. I'm your host Brian Murphy, the owner of Hawaii's Best and we help you discover the Aloha state and in the ever changing world of travel updates. Big news came out this week for the island of Hawaii.
• 0:35
  Lauren Manuel: And as of April 5 2021 kowai, has rejoined the states Safe travels program. And this means you can now travel to Hawaii and bypass the 10 day quarantine granted that you tested negative for COVID 72 hours prior to your final departure flight and we cover Hawaii Safe travels program on a previous episode and how to navigate it. So be sure to listen to that after this episode. or save it for later time. You can just go to Hawaii's Best travel comm slash Episode 50 to listen to that we'll also link that below wherever you are listening. And if you listen to the last few episodes, you've probably noticed a theme going on. Not only do we want to help you travel to Hawaii by, you know highlighting some of the best places to eat, stay what to do, what not to do and all those good things, best beaches, best hikes for family stuff like that. And how do you experience the amazing culture above all else. In addition to that we want to help prepare you for what to expect meaning there are some things you want to be aware of things to do, things not to do. And back in late 2018 the island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau in Hawaii county announce the Pono pledge and today we're gonna unpack everything you need to know about the pantum pledge what it is, but here's a reason behind the Boehner pledge from Ross birch, the iih VB executive director, the island of Hawaii is one of the most geographically diverse and awe inspiring places on the planet.
• 2:16
  Lauren Manuel: And it is our cuyana our responsibility as an island community to encourage Pono practices so that it remains that way for future generations.
• 2:29
  Lauren Manuel: by committing to this pledge residents and visitors are acknowledging their responsibility to have respect for place no matter where you are. So in talking with the island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau and as travel has reopened, it made sense to talk more about the poena pledge, especially right now in this moment. So on this episode, I am joined with precious vyos and Lauren manuelle. Felicia is a tourist specialist who has a huge passion for helping Hawaii thrive by promoting healthy communities, maintaining strong culture in protecting natural resources. And Lauren is vice president of sales for a destination management company and helps people experience the islands fully with a special place in our heart for Hawaii Island. They're going to help me unpack the importance of the panto pledge what it is and how you can take the pledge. If you want to follow along you can go to porno pledge calm right now and take a look at what we're going to cover. And you can take the pledge at the end of this episode would highly encourage you to do that. Or as we're, you know, kind of discussing the pledge and if you want to take that that would be awesome. It's free to do. It's more about just kind of educating ourselves what the opponent pledges on why it's important, and how we can pass that on for generations.
• 3:51
  Lauren Manuel: Alright, so why don't we go ahead and head over and talk story with free shot and Lauren from the porno pledge in.
• 4:07
  Lauren Manuel: Lauren and Felicia, thank you so much for coming on Hawaii's Best today. How are you both doing?
• 4:11
  Lauren Manuel: Lauren, we'll start with you.
• 4:14
  Lauren Manuel: Awesome. Thank you so much for having us, Brian.
• 4:17
  Lauren Manuel: Absolutely. Appreciate it. Tell us a little bit about your role, who you are. And as we get into this conversation about the Pono pledge, but I'd love to hear a little bit more about who you are and what you're all about.
• 4:28
  Frecia Cevallos: Aloha. Thanks, Brian, for having me on this podcast. My name is Jess vyos and tourism specialists.
• 4:36
  Frecia Cevallos: Counting of what you have been in this position for about seven going on eight years now. I've been in the colony 12 years. I'm Hilo girl on raids. What drives a lot of the work I do in the visitor industry is my passion for helping our communities thrive, not just survive. That's also our news mantra. But It's also looking at ways we can promote and maintain healthy lands and happy communities. And so my passion is to really be there for our people, and strengthen our culture, and preserve our natural resources.
• 5:15
  Lauren Manuel: I love that.
• 5:15
  Lauren Manuel: Thank you. Thank you so much.
• 5:18
  Lauren Manuel: Lauren, what about you?
• 5:19
  Lauren Manuel: So I am vice president of sales for desilva meeting consultants.
• 5:25
  Lauren Manuel: We are a local destination management company. I've been with de Silva for a little over five years now started at the Mona Lani. And I was there for almost a decade before switching over, it's really exciting to be able to still support the island and the hospitality industry, but not just focus on one place or one hotel, I get to work with everybody on Island. And that includes all of the activity partners and the community when we do community service.
• 6:02
  Lauren Manuel: Awesome. Thank you both so much.
• 6:02
  Lauren Manuel: And I know there's a lot of excitement with travel to Hawaii being reopened, you know, through the state's Safe travels program. And and that seems to be and have been going pretty well. From your perspective. You talked a little bit about, you know, a lot of people's first impression of Hawaii, for the first time would be the island of Maui and Oahu. Hawaii Island is a very special place. And I think maybe just give us a little overview of what makes a ye Island so special and unique.
• 6:37
  Unknown: I feel like all the islands are so unique and special in their own way.
• 6:41
  Unknown: Yeah.
• 6:42
  Unknown: And when you look at Hawaii Island, you're able to visit so many of the different climates of the world. In one day. You could be on a hot Sunny Beach and turn around and you see Mona kale with snow on it. Yeah. And you know, you can drive 45 minutes and be chilly. And you know, looking at all the horse pasture and ranch land here, Island, and it's green, and it's misty, and it's cool. So, and then you can drive down and walk around in black lava rock and see petroglyphs. So you know, so many unique beings here on this island.
• 7:28
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah, that's incredible. I was having lunch recently with one of my friends in Waikiki. carniola and Native Hawaiian. And when he was vizient Monica, he talked about exactly what you said like he was at the beach. He was uh, you know, Monica and he, when it's all lava flow on the same day, and that is pretty unique and probably the only spot in the entire world you can do that and all these climates so very special. So travel to Hawaii Island is definitely open but I know each of the counties has an you know, choir is going to be rejoining the Safe travels program here in April. Whenever you're listening to this Hawaii Island. What are the current restrictions? And what should someone know if they are traveling to violin,
• 8:18
  Frecia Cevallos: I have the mayor's most recent proclamation in front of me. So we're following the ATF emergency proclamation for all persons traveling to avoid I'm and this is under the state of Hawaii is mandatory 10 day self quarantine unless an exemption or modification applies. So for example, retesting, if the traveler has a negative result, they will be exempt the mandatory support requirement that they must have their negative test result onto the stage Safe travels program. And this pre test should be conducted by trusted testing partner, which is on the same travels website.
• 9:06
  Lauren Manuel: That's perfect.
• 9:06
  Lauren Manuel: And we'll link all that below.
• 9:09
  Lauren Manuel: Wherever you're listening to this go go back and check on all those links. Hawaii COVID nineteen.com is the most up to date and official info. I know there are a lot of postings and and blogs out there trying to you know have their own spin and definition of of how to but the state has done a great job of kind of compiling everything on on that website. So take advantage of that. Today we're talking about the Pono pledge one or before we can dive into that. Maybe just to be able to define Pono and start there and the importance of why even have this pledge and have this conversation around it. So let's start with what is Pono mean?
• 9:53
  Unknown: Yeah, so Pono is being righteous, and in that sense being morally correct. And the word we would love to share when we think about being ponal is to be mindful. Just thinking about, you know, really, how would we want to be treated, and we're going to be treating people the same way. So same thing, you know, if you invite somebody into your home, you would hope in Hawaii, they take off their slippers before entering, you know, because it's part of the culture. And if they don't know, they will learn, and then they will do. So that's just one small example of, you know, really just being mindful.
• 11:38
  Lauren Manuel: I think that's super important is no matter where you're where you're traveling to, is to be mindful of the environment and the culture you're traveling into.
• 11:47
  Lauren Manuel: And why is it important? That might be kind of a, maybe an ignorant question, but a simple question. I think a lot of people traveling to the island might have like, why even have this initiative?
• 12:01
  Frecia Cevallos: Yes,
• 12:01
  Unknown: I think a big reason would be safety. We want anybody visiting and who live on this island, to all be mindful of everything around you, you know, including land and sea. So when we're thinking about things, people might not be used to the fact that during the wintertime, sometimes we have swells. And if they're turning their back to the ocean, there could potentially be a wave that comes up behind them and hits them down. Or if it's raining in the mountains, and they're, you know, taking pictures next to a stream, if they're swimming in the stream, they may not know that a flash flood could be coming. So we want to keep local residents and visitors are light, safe.
• 12:58
  Lauren Manuel: What about with travel just being reopened, what type of impact? I mean, you kind of have like this reset, right now, that hopefully we don't ever have again, but you know, right now, there was obviously a hard stop to travel to Hawaii.
• 13:16
  Lauren Manuel: And now it's been reopened.
• 13:16
  Lauren Manuel: Putting this Pono pledge in front of travelers is is super important. But as reopen has been happening for last few months, how has that been going from your perspective? And what are some things if someone's traveling to the islands to just kind of be aware of maybe some of the some of the good things that have happened with the reopening, but some of the learning moments for people to be aware of.
• 13:44
  Unknown: So I'm so excited to know that there is this pent up demand that so many people are just so excited to travel again.
• 13:54
  Unknown: And Hawaii might have been on their bucket list of places to visit one day. And once you tell somebody, oh, you know, stop travel, you can't travel. I think even more so people are going once I can travel again, I want to get that bucket list vacation. So you know, in the last year, I think a lot of people were dreaming about what can I do when I can travel again. And so many people are going on social media, they are looking at posts, they are looking on hashtags, and they're going, Oh, I want to get all these places I want to visit all these places, I bought a selfie stick, so that I can take pictures and post them and hashtag it the way I've been looking at it all these months, which is awesome. We're so excited that other people are excited to visit. On that same note. There might be things on social media, that in their head, it sounds like a great idea. It looks like a great idea. It's a beautiful, Instagram worthy picture right?
• 15:12
  Unknown: Now what we want to do with opponent pledge is make sure that they're being very mindful of being safe, of making sure that they're not trespassing on any private property to get to these places not to go right next to a cliff even though it's so beautiful behind them.
• 15:30
  Unknown: Because one step back could mean they fall. So all of these things we want people to experience, but we also want them to be safe while doing it.
• 15:43
  Unknown: Because the moment that they get hurt, then our first responders have to go out there and save them when we really didn't need to do that in the first place.
• 15:54
  Unknown: If They weren't just more aware and mindful.
• 15:59
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah, that's well said, I think people when traveling to Hawaii, one of the things that just has to be experienced is how much love for the land, people of Hawaii have.
• 16:14
  Lauren Manuel: That something you don't see in many places across the world. So you're traveling into a place that is incredible, as beautiful all the climates you described earlier. Plus, people who call Hawaii Island home, love, the land is so much is sacred. And for someone to come into as a as a guest to be mindful of, of that is super important. And, you know, we're going to talk through the opponent pledge. And it's not like this list of don'ts and Thou shall not it's that really to experience Hawaii to its full. And there's something about experiencing Hawaii, if, if you haven't, you're listening right now you haven't been yet there's something about experiencing this place that Hawaii, it becomes a part of you, it's hard to describe, like, you leave and you feel like you feel this this whole. The next time you travel, you feel this ownership, you feel this ownership to want to take care of this place for you thinking about your children, your grandchildren for future generations. It's all of our responsibility to preserve and to make better than it is. So I think this might be a good segue, talking into what the Pono pledge is. And we're going to talk through the different nine elements of it briefly. The first element into in the poem pledge is I pledge to be Pono, we talked about what that word is righteous mindful, on the island of Hawaii and chlorine, you kind of already spoke into that. But anything else you would want to add to that first one? Yeah, you
• 17:52
  Unknown: know, it's not just visitors, it's residents, right?
• 17:56
  Unknown: So we want to make sure everybody is being ponal on the island. The second
• 18:02
  Lauren Manuel: one is I will mindfully seek wonder, but not wander where I do not belong.
• 18:05
  Lauren Manuel: And you touched on that a little bit. But maybe we can expand on that a little bit more. And I know you I know, you talked about social media, in general.
• 18:17
  Lauren Manuel: And one of the things that we try to be super mindful, on Hawaii's Best when we're posting images is we're not posting images of, for example, the infamous hike on wahoo, Eastside Stairway to Heaven, like, that's an illegal height, that's super dangerous, that a lot of people want to get that shot, but not at the extent of damaging the land further, and not the extent I mean, county there just, you know, had like 93 citations in one day or something like that.
• 18:48
  Lauren Manuel: So it's not, it's not worth it, there's so many more places that you can wander, maybe this might be a good spot to talk about a little bit about what are some of those spots on Hawaii Island.
• 18:56
  Lauren Manuel: But Laura, maybe unpack the second element. For us.
• 19:01
  Unknown: That was such a perfect example. Because I knew exactly what you're talking about, as soon as you said that. But the island also has a lot of the places. So for example, a big one killer whale or volcano, there are places that are specified as safe for you to be able to view and take pictures there. But the moment you start walking around those, you know, barriers, and you're like, I'm just gonna get a little bit closer to the edge. I'm gonna just right here by the caldera, you know, you don't want to fall in lava. So that is a very good example of mindfully seeking wonder on our island. But do not wander where you don't
• 19:55
  Lauren Manuel: belong. That's the quote of the day. You don't want to know. Yeah, well said you don't want to you don't want to wander into lava fall into lava, the word kapu. You might see that around, briefly describe if you see that posted.
• 20:11
  Lauren Manuel: What does that mean?
• 20:13
  Unknown: Basically, it's private property, and you don't belong there. So a lot of times people will look around and go, Wow, I see this guava tree or I see all of these beautiful horses right there. And I just want to get a little bit closer to take some pictures or to pick some fruit.
• 20:32
  Unknown: But if you see a couple of sign, that just means you know what, don't pass this sign. It's private property. Please don't come on this property. And there's could be for multiple reasons, you know, also for safety. There's a lot of cattle on this island. So you know, just kind of keeping in mind that even though it might not look like private property, It is right.
• 20:58
  Lauren Manuel: I think that's the one thing about Hawaii is the signs have meanings like there's they're purposely like even talking about the beaches, you know, don't swim here and like to heed those warnings, especially in Hawaii is is super important. All right, next one, I will not defy death for breathtaking photos, trespass or venture beyond safety. You've talked about that. But is that a real thing? I mean, are there people who die every year trying to get these shots,
• 21:32
  Unknown: die or just get hurt?
• 21:32
  Unknown: Yeah, whether it be serious or a little bit. Number one, we don't want anybody getting hurt. That is not the way that you want to spend the rest of your time here on Island in an emergency room or hospital. You want to be able to enjoy your time here. And also, like I had mentioned before our first responders, you know, we want to make sure that everybody's keeping safe, including the people who are there for emergencies. If we don't have to put ourselves there in the first place, then we don't put them there.
• 22:09
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah. And resources are so limited on Island, it's important that these first responders are responding to those emergencies that are of priority and not these things that could have been easily prevented. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I will mallamma care for land and sea and admire wild wildlife only from afar. Let's talk a little bit about that word Malema a little bit. And then what about land and sea?
• 22:41
  Lauren Manuel: Should we care for pretty much
• 22:43
  Unknown: everything, you want to be able to take care of everything that you encounter.
• 22:47
  Unknown: And some people might not know about the many gurus and the Hawaiian sea turtles, the Hawaiian monk seal. So although it might look so cool, to get a picture, just touching the seal or touching the turtle, people might not know you're not supposed to. And there are reasons for that. So we just want to be mindful of keeping our distance. You can look at them. It's beautiful. But also, you know, people don't want to swim right up to a humpback whale. Some good examples of wildlife you should only admire from afar. I
• 23:36
  Lauren Manuel: don't fall in love. I don't swim up to humpback whales. Yeah, yep.
• 23:38
  Lauren Manuel: Talking about to only what is it 20 feet.
• 23:47
  Frecia Cevallos: If you go to the pledge website, protected species cage, they've got all the information on what are protected species and how to appropriately use them in interactive.
• 24:00
  Lauren Manuel: Love that.
• 24:00
  Lauren Manuel: Thanks, Felicia, we'll we'll link that below as well. The next one molten lava will mesmerize me, but I will not disrupt its flow. Does that happen?
• 24:13
  Unknown: Pretty much one way you can disrupt the lava flow by getting too close and we never want that to happen. But you know, again, it's one of those things where it's beautiful from afar. Yeah. And our volcanoes, national park staff, they do a great job making sure that it's daily, you know, tracked and barriers are moved, where if one place, there's lava coming out, and it's getting too close to the visitors, you know, Center for viewing, they will move it just really embrace whoever is in charge of that area, and be respectful and know that they're trying to keep us safe. Right.
• 25:00
  Lauren Manuel: And on that topic. Where can you see lava flow? What's current right now?
• 25:07
  Unknown: My best place would be go to Volcanoes National Park.
• 25:11
  Unknown: Yes. And they have so many Rangers there who know Okay, so today, the best viewpoint is here. Here's a map. You can drive there. You can hike here.
• 25:21
  Unknown: And they will tell you based on the day and the when where the best viewpoints are
• 25:30
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah, yeah, that's that's incredible. I think a lot of people don't realize how much it changes like that. So yeah, definitely go to Visitor Center, seek out Ranger ask questions and do your research and we'll link that in the notes as well. Next one, I will not take what is not mine leading lava rocks and sand as originally found. Like why why can't I take a lava rock or some sand You know, stinking in my pocket on the way back.
• 25:59
  Unknown: This really comes down to respect. You might have heard some stories of people taking lava rocks home with them, or black sand and encountering some negative things when they went back home. And it could be, Madame Pele not happy that they took something from the island that wasn't theirs. And a lot of times, a lot of the hotels will tell us yeah, you know, there's guests that, put it back in a box and mail it back and say, this is where I got it, please put it back. But more so than anything else. It's just respect, you know, you go into somebody's home, you don't take something and, you know, without asking. So that is the main reason behind not taking lava rocks not taking sand. It's there. You can take pictures of it. You can enjoy it for its beauty. But don't take it home.
• 27:02
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah, that goes back to leaving a better than we found it and preserving for generations. Yeah, I've heard stories of people sending lava rock back address, Madame Pele, and, you know, stacking up at the post office. And so that's a real thing. Okay, so next one, I will heat ocean conditions, never turning my back to the Pacific. Lauren, talk a little bit about why heating ocean conditions is important. You know, the
• 27:35
  Unknown: swell can pick up. And although something might look so beautiful, and the waves crashing on the beach, looks so inviting, if you are not used to, and you could even be the strongest swimmer, the ocean is stronger. And just be very mindful that when you get into that ocean, you want to be able to make sure that you're safely swimming. And especially if you're turning your back to the ocean, you can't see what's behind you. You can't see that wave that's coming up. And the moment it knocks you down and sucks you in. You can't fight back against the water. So to really understand, okay, if this were to happen, don't fight the water. Just, you know, be safe in there and know that if help is needed. Don't panic, but not turning your back to the Pacific. In the first place.
• 28:40
  Unknown: Right is the safest?
• 28:42
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah. 100%. And I think we've all seen those videos of people who have done that. And yet, faceplant in and inside of us kind of laughs a little bit all like I don't want to be that person. But the reality is, it does happen to be super cognizant of it. Because not only could you get faceplant, and you can get ripped right out because of the current rip conditions or whatever. And you find yourself a mile out super quick. And, you know, I would encourage you to, you know, follow any of the local lifeguard accounts on social media. And you'll be surprised at how many rescues are done per day. And I think that also is a great way just to kind of self educate the importance of heating ocean conditions. So thanks, Lauren.
• 29:35
  Lauren Manuel: Look out for those signs. Yeah, there's a sign posted, saying don't go in the water. Don't go in the water. When rain falls, Malka inland, I will remain high above ground out of rivers and streams and packed out a little bit.
• 29:53
  Unknown: Yeah, Brian, you know, this is one that people might not know of. So, if you go on like a waterfall hike, I always recommend go with a guide, go with a company that is going to be able to ensure your safety.
• 30:07
  Unknown: Because if it's a day where it's raining in the mountains, people might not know that rain in the mountains means streams are going to be flooded. Sometimes it's always nice to get the text updates for flash flooding in the area. So I think locals and visitors alike should sign up to get those county updates. And it'll tell you Okay, there's a flash flood in this area. And that means you can still go on your height. Just don't get in the water. It might look really good. And nice and cool. It's a dip in, but flash flooding can happen so fast.
• 30:55
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah. What areas on Hawaii Island, should you be aware of a little bit more the word flash flooding a little bit more or frequent?
• 31:06
  Unknown: Definitely the east side of the island. And I see pretty sharp, yes. Her side of the island gets a lot of flash flooding and up north as well.
• 31:14
  Unknown: There's some waterfalls up on the north side of the island where they get a lot of rain.
• 31:22
  Unknown: But definitely East Side.
• 31:24
  Lauren Manuel: Got it. Next one, I will embrace the islands.
• 31:27
  Lauren Manuel: aloha spirit, as it embraces me.
• 31:27
  Lauren Manuel: Maybe unpack a little bit about that. I know a lot of us have heard the word Aloha, but it's a word that has so many layers and depth to it. What does I want embrace the islands aloha spirit mean?
• 31:45
  Unknown: You know, Brian, I think you touched on this earlier about Hawaii Island, just being so special. And I've heard it from so many people.
• 31:53
  Unknown: They say as soon as I stepped foot off of the airplane, it's like, Hawaii hugged me. There's You know, they're embracing that aloha spirit. Because the moment you get to the island, it's already embracing you. And it's in the culture, it's in the people. It's in the land, it's in the ocean, it's everywhere around you. And I think if you come to the island, with that mindset of, I am going to have a lot of spirit, I'm going to treat other people the way I would love to be treated, you're going to get that same in return, people are going to embrace you, they're going to share that aloha spirit. So if you give aloha spirit, you're gonna get aloha spirit. And that's for the people and the island.
• 32:50
  Lauren Manuel: Fish. I love to hear a little bit about what that means to you.
• 32:55
  Frecia Cevallos: I think the echo Laurie, think of when you visit Hawaii, I think of it as visiting somebody's home, how would you like your home to be visited? Our people are naturally hosts, right, and we're hospitable. It's a part of who we are as part of our culture. So we want to welcome visitors, we want to teach visitors about us in a place.
• 33:25
  Frecia Cevallos: That's all rooted in the spirit.
• 33:25
  Frecia Cevallos: And so we we are very welcoming and very excited to walk off as long as it's done in the right way. And as Lauren has said throughout this podcast respectfully, there'll be an automatic and very natural exchange of aloha between residents and visitors.
• 33:48
  Lauren Manuel: Yeah, I totally agree. You get this the the love and hospitality of Hawaii and the people, you get so much more back. I mean, if you humbly respect and give, you will receive so much love, in return that, like I mentioned at the start of this episode, Hawaii will go with you. That's what it's about. It's about kind of instilling that ownership and love for the land and the people
• 34:22
  Unknown: loving eco Malaya. II qu are no no, take wisdom and make it deep.
• 34:31
  Lauren Manuel: And really, that kind of sums up everything with what we talked about. Yeah.
• 34:36
  Unknown: Yeah. And, you know, I would like to share a couple of examples of this. So some of the groups that come to Hawaii, they ask, what can we do, we want to do a community service. And you know, we've gone to other destinations, we've built bikes, we've put together toiletries in a bag, you know, for kids, but what can we do that's unique to Hawaii, or we're going to leave a positive footprint. So this is a very good way to also share part of the culture and for them to leave something positive behind. So taking them to a color patch and be learning about how the taro or the Hello is so important to Hawaiians and about the history of the plant color his life. So to be able to go to a camo patch and learn about how it's grown, how to clean patch, how to replant the plant and learn about puoi and learn how to even pound puoi they get dirty and they get to be part of the lamb part of the Ayana and to Be able to leave something better than when you found it. And that to, you know, being a Taro patch, and a lot of the taro patches, they're either family run. And they also try to teach the keiki. And that is huge because the keiki are the future. And to be able to kind of be a part of all of that, I think that's one great way for people to give back. And learning about maybe invasive species. And even when they're on a waterfall hike, to help take out those invasive species.
• 36:33
  Unknown: And if every buddy that went on a hike, took out 10 plants, that's that many less invasive plants that are there. So you don't have to designate a time to do this. And it doesn't have to be a whole day, it could be part of your adventure while you're on the island. Part of our portal pledge cohort is starting with our hospitality partners, and making sure that everybody is embracing the funnel pledge in the hospitality industry. Because those are the people that are going to be touching all of our guests on the island. And also getting into the community. We want to share this with businesses, nonprofits, and especially the keiki our children. So we want our kids to be taking the photo pledge. And so we kind of roll this out, and everybody's taking the Polo pledge, everybody's embracing it. And then when our visitors come, we will share that with them as well.
• 37:42
  Lauren Manuel: Awesome. I love to just kind of wrap our conversation a bit with what's like one must do on Hawaii Island for you. We'll start with Felicia,
• 37:55
  Frecia Cevallos: we already mentioned it. But the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, for sure.
• 38:00
  Lauren Manuel: Definitely.
• 38:00
  Lauren Manuel: Lauren, what about you?
• 38:02
  Unknown: course, I wanted to say the same thing. Because it's so unique to the island, but anything where you are embracing Hawaii's culture. And that could mean you know going on a hike, a guide that's gonna teach you about some of the history of Hawaii, and take you around the island to see the petroglyphs that our community has done such a great job preserving our culture, so that those that are coming, can learn about how the Hawaiians travel, seeing the petroglyphs that they left behind, going to the City of Refuge, and learning about the history of that. And then visiting a palace where it's it's like a museum nouns. So anything cultural, would be something that I would say, do something cultural, where you're going to learn about the history, because I think by learning a little bit about Hawaii, it's going to create a lasting memory for them to take home. And that in itself is priceless.
• 39:16
  Lauren Manuel: Yes, that's beautiful. Awesome. Well, Lauren anfisa thank you so much for coming on Hawaii's Best today, appreciate both of you what you're doing and we'll link all this and we're going to be blasting the porno pledge as well and getting everybody to take it in. And just to be aware in putting this in front of travelers and locals alike. So thank you so much.
• 39:39
  Lauren Manuel: Mahalo, Brian malama Pono.
• 39:42
  Frecia Cevallos: Thank you.
• 39:43
  Lauren Manuel: Well, a big mahalo and thank you to Felicia and Lauren and everyone else at the mayor's office in island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau. If you took the Pono pledge, thank you so much. Let me know I'd love to give you a shout out on our social channels. You can email us at contact at Hawaii's Best travel.com. And if you haven't taken the pledge again, you can go to Pono pledge.com. And take it today. Well, thank you again so much for your time and listening today. I truly appreciate you and if you're planning on traveling to Hawaii soon, thank you so much for doing that responsibly and safely. You're going to have the time of your life. I can't wait for you to experience Hawaii for the first time or maybe again.
• 40:24
  Lauren Manuel: So Oh until we meet again. Be well. Hello.
• 40:29
  Hawaii's Best: Thanks for listening to Hawaii's Best podcasts. To stay up to date on future episodes. Be sure to subscribe. For more information to help you plan your next trip to Hawaii visit Hawaii's Best travel.com