French Polynesia

Resuming the RTW Journey: From Maui Isolation to French Polynesia

Covid is over… or so everyone says.

For 2.5 years, Barbie and I had been hunkered down on Maui during one of the strangest eras of my life. I’ve seen my fair share of wild shit during my 58 years on this planet, but I never could have imagined a literal closure of the entire world and a sudden, screeching halt to our round-the-world journey.

That said, we felt incredibly fortunate to experience Maui during the height of the pandemic. With basically zero tourists on the island, the beaches were completely empty. I vividly remember turning to Barbie when we were the only two people sitting on Kaanapali Beach—Maui’s most renowned and heavily visited tourist stretch.

I told her, “We must really take this in and appreciate it. We will never, ever experience a sight like this again in our lifetimes.” Being the only two humans on that massive, beautiful beach was surreal.

The Perfect Re-Entry: French Polynesia

As the vaccines slowly rolled out and the immediate dangers began to mitigate, it was time to say our goodbyes to Hawaii and hit the road again. While everyone kept chanting that Covid was over, we were still a bit cautious. For our first step out of isolation, we deliberately chose a destination with wide-open spaces and a familiar, comforting tropical island lifestyle.

French Polynesia, sitting right in the middle of the South Pacific, fit the bill perfectly.

We had two full months to play with before needing to head to Florida for family events, so we mapped out a slow-travel itinerary utilizing premium private rentals:

Tahiti: Pa’ea Airbnb, Papette Airbnb
Mo’orea: Ha’apiti Airbnb, Pao Pao Airbnb, Maharepa Airbnb
Bora Bora: Fa’anui Airbnb, Matira Beach Airbnb

By bouncing between different properties, we were able to embed ourselves into local life across various corners of each island, giving us a completely different feel for the local culture. The moment we landed in Tahiti and saw that not a single local was wearing a mask, a massive sense of relief washed over us. It was our sign that it was time to get busy living, put the over-protective pandemic mindset to bed, and resume our global flashpacking journey.

The Verdict: Mo’orea vs. Maui

This was actually our third extended visit to French Polynesia. In the past, whenever Barbie and I started feeling the symptoms of travel burnout, we used Maui as our sanctuary to hunker down and re-energize.

Moving forward, though, I think we are officially transitioning our recovery home base to Mo’orea.

Mo’orea is significantly less developed than Maui. It has retained its authentic Polynesian soul—something Maui has slowly lost over the years due to the heavy influx of corporate development and U.S. mainlanders.

The Flashpacker Visa Hack: The only real hurdle with making Mo’orea a long-term base is the strict 90-day tourist visa cap for Americans. But as seasoned nomads, we know there’s always a workaround. A quick “visa run” to the nearby Cook Islands, Fiji, or even a flight down to New Zealand for a brief getaway will reset the clock, granting us another 90 days upon return. Not the most convenient, but definitely a luxury problem to have.

Next Stop: Florida

Our two months living the good life in Tahiti, Mo’orea, and Bora Bora have sadly come to an end—and way too quickly.

However, we are incredibly excited for the next chapter. We are embarking on a marathon travel route from Tahiti to Florida (flying via Los Angeles) to attend some major family milestones. We’ll be spending two weeks splitting time between Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.

The main event? Celebrating the wedding of my nephew, Cory, to his beautiful bride Alex at the iconic Breakers Hotel in West Palm Beach. Time to trade the swimsuits for formal wear. Very exited to see the family but less enthusiastic needing to rent a monkey suit….I mean a tuxedo.