Women Who Wander: Lana Rukab

Hello everyone! This is the second post in my Women Who Wander series, and I’m very excited to introduce Lana. Lana and I first met while lifeguarding at the same beach a few years back. We have grown very close over the years, and I’m extremely grateful for her presence in my life. This past year, I got to wrap up her world tour with her in Hawaii. We created some amazing memories, and I’m excited to share her travels with everyone. 

Where She Went

During Lana’s trip, she went to Portugal, Denmark, Morocco, Spain, Italy, London, France, the Netherlands, and Hawaii. She spent two and a half months traveling and stayed mostly in Airbnb’s and hostels. 

Highlights From Her Trip

Some highlights she recalls from her trips were being able to travel in Europe with her cousin, exploring the Hawaiian Islands with me (I’m blushing), and the food. One of our personal favorite places we ate was The Musubi Truck in Kauai.

Challenges She Faced

One challenging aspect of her trip was dealing with the airlines, specifically trouble with her checked bags. She reminded herself that she’s seeing the world, and this is the smallest problem she has to deal with. She might have also had some help with her parents calming her down over the phone. 

Her Favorite Memories

Some of her favorite memories from Europe were spending her days hiking and going to the beaches in Portugal. She expressed a deep love for Portugal and hopes to return someday soon. She also told me about the beautiful scenery she saw while driving the back roads in Italy. 

Seeing the beauty of the untouched land in Hawaii left her in awe. One of the most beautiful things she saw was the Napali coast from a helicopter. For those wondering, she booked with Airborne Aviation. She also found the waterfalls and beaches on the islands breathtaking. I can recall many moments while traveling with Lana when I could see her pure excitement and appreciation for the places we were seeing. It’s truly an amazing feeling to have friends who share the same values as you, and moments like this definitely grew our friendship. 

What She Learned

Lana expressed to me that she has always felt like she had culture in her personal life, but traveling made her realize the lack of culture in the continental US. She loved seeing how much culture was in other places around the world. While traveling in Hawaii, she saw how simply people lived their lives and how community-oriented the people are. It gave her perspective on where she wanted to settle down. 

Her Advice

Lana’s advice is to full send it. She says don’t hesitate because you won’t regret it. If it were up to her, she would make traveling mandatory for everyone. 

Her Next Adventure

As you can probably tell from this blog post, Lana truly fell in love with Hawaii. Lana is very aware of the fact that many Hawaiians struggle to find housing and jobs. She has always wanted to move there but has been very hesitant for that reason. She felt that it was not right to make the move unless she was giving back to the community and society. She now has an amazing opportunity to do that and has officially moved there. Before making this decision, she did a lot of research and talked to several locals on the islands. 

Lana, thank you so much for letting me share your story, and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to be a part of it. I know that the future has great things in store for you. I am so proud of you for living out your dreams, and I’ll be visiting you very soon!