by Melinda Palacio
Would you plan the perfect vacation only to leave your uke behind (cue sad music in any minor key)? I guessed right; you would not. Last May, I took a girls’ trip to Maui. It was my friend’s birthday and she had planned the whole trip. All I had to do was show up. How could I resist such a fabulous invitation?
Before I left, I made sure my budget included a new uke. I’ve been devoting all my free time to studying the little instrument that brings me so much joy. When I realized I would be traveling to the birthplace of ukulele music, I knew I would be bringing one back. Although I knew I had every intention of finding a ukulele store in Maui, I didn’t take any chances of being without one and packed my black soprano Enya Nova. In the case, it fit snuggly at the bottom of my duffel bag with wheels, which I planned to stow overhead, having measured my bag back in California. On the plane, I fantasized that someone would see my Ukelandia t-shirt and whisk me away to the best ukulele shop on the island or that I would find a Hawaiian luthier under a shady palm tree, who would tell me they had the perfect uke for me. True, when I daydream, I don’t hold back.
Back to reality. My flight on Hawaiian Airlines landed on time and my friend had no trouble securing a rental car. I didn’t have to worry about my carry-on luggage or the soprano Enya Nova stuffed in my duffel bag. The Enya Nova is a great travel companion because it is made of carbon fiber so you don’t have to worry about heat or water, which made for fun photo opportunities by the pool and beach. In hindsight, it was smart of me to travel with my Enya, even though I would be bringing back a second ukulele. There’s only one drawback of the travel Enya and I bet you can’t guess what that is?
The one drawback is that it’s so great you may not return with it because you might give it away. When a friend asked me how many ukuleles I owned and I had a hard time counting them in my head, I realized I had a problem with UAS (ukulele acquisition syndrome). Let’s not get started on my guitar collection, a story for another time. I thought giving away a ukulele would be the best thing to do because I’d return with one instrument, instead of two. Not to mention the blue Enya Nova concert ukulele that waited for me in my car back in California. Although I miss the black Enya Nova soprano I named Johnny Cash, I brought home a souvenir from Hawaii and a locally made ukulele.
After choosing our rental car, we stopped at the first ukulele shop we spotted, Mele Ukulele, a modest building not far from the airport in Kihei. I chose my first pineapple mango: a pineapple shaped spalted mango concert ukulele. The matte finish shows off the natural beauty of the mango wood and the back is a little curly (a wave that is part of the design of the mango’s natural grain). Some ukulele experts argue that a matte finish allows for a better tone than a glossy finish. It’s a personal choice. While I love anything sparkly and shiny, the natural finish and rope binding of the Mele Ukulele spoke to me. The handmade uke has a tone that makes me return to it again and again. I also purchased a backpack style gig bag because I was sure there was no way I would check the uke on the plane. Also, my new mango pineapple ukulele was a tad bigger being a concert size, rather than the soprano Enya Nova that fit inside my duffel bag. I wasn’t about to stuff my new mango-pineapple into a bag or suitcase. If worse came to worse, I would check my duffel bag and purse and stuff important items such as my wallet and ticket into the pineapple gig bag.
Luckily, I didn’t have to check any baggage and everyone on Hawaiian Airlines respected my ukulele. The stewardess even had an overhead bin she reserved for travelers taking home a uke; there were three of us, which was surprising. I thought there would be more travelers taking home a new uke. After all, what better souvenir of the islands and the spirit of aloha than a handmade ukulele from Hawaii?
Follow my ukulele travel journeys on IG at ukenmermaid.