Kaua'i, Hawai'i Limahuli Botanical Gardens
Like most people, my first visit to Hawai'i was love at first sight. That was in 2001 during a workshop where an intense week was spent connecting with the sacredness unique to the Big Island, visiting places like Kilauea, Halema'uma'u and Pu'uhonua 'O Honaunau. It was especially profound because it was at a time in my life when I was collapsing into myself and desperately clawing for spiritual meaning.
Since then, I visit every year but hardly as a tourist. Instead I return as a volunteer, prepared to shed the routine of the mainland life and for a week, work under the hot sun, in terribly humid conditions with unpredictable downpours, silently suffering from mosquito bites, immersed in mud, trying to maintain balance on uneven terrain, digging holes, pulling 
weeds, hauling rocks, all to plant native species in areas where few people tread. Few consider this to be their idea of a vacation but for me and others like me, it is truly paradise to be amidst the elements, doing good, giving back, sacrificing ourselves, fulfilling our kuleana (responsibility), and sharing that common goal to malama 'o ka 'aina (take care of the land).