Image provided by Hanno Mackowitz
Are you looking to Travel2change on Maui? Maui attracts thousands of tourists each month… but how can you make your time worthwhile and at the same time be a part and help the local community? You should reconsider your hotel-booked kind of trip and just backpack with the essentials. (Don’t forget: flashlight, tent, water container, knife) Hitchhiking around Maui is extremely easy… so don’t be afraid! Stick your thumb out and in no time you will be picked up. Everyone is extremely friendly and you will be surprised of how interested people are to listen to your story and into sharing theirs. Instead of a boring hotel stay, you should get in contact with the Mystic gardens (http://mysticgardenshawaii.wordpress.com/). The Mystic gardens is a magical place situated not far away from the little Haiku town on the Maui north shore or “upcountry” as the local saying goes. At the Mystic gardens they are focused in co-creating a permaculture farm & conscious community to cultivate artistic/spiritual expression and evolution. The goals of the farming community as stated on their website are: -Create a sustainable lifestyle by growing up to 100% of our food, and develop off-grid energy and water catchment systems. – Develop & offer a 1-week immersion program integrating Permaculture, Hawaiian wisdom (Huna), and Yoga. – Co-create a sacred sanctuary encouraging artistic expression by providing creative tools, space, and time to pursue the arts. You will be able to negotiate your free staying at the garden with some hours of work around the farm. During your stay, you will be able to learn many aspects of farming as well as permaculture and Hawaiian traditions. The other community members will accept you as a brother\sister and you will have the opportunity to interact with different interesting individuals like John Dillon that has lived on the farm for 3 years and is currently working on his music career (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/John-Dillon/203754333055849). Hope this blog was helpful to you; do not hesitate to ask me any questions 🙂