On almost any given day of the week, Loren Johnson Sr. and his group of “adventurers” are in the midst of planning. Planning for a hike on Kauai’s rugged trails, a canoe trip down the Wailua River or even just
On almost any given day of the week, Loren Johnson Sr. and his group of “adventurers” are in the midst of planning. Planning for a hike on Kauai’s rugged trails, a canoe trip down the Wailua River or even just a small get-together to talk story and watch “Survivor.”
They are part of the Kauai Adventure Club, a group Johnson co-founded three years ago.
“It’s really fun for me and I get some company,” the 70-year-old Kalaheo resident said as he ordered happy hour appetizers Thursday at Kalapaki Joe’s in Lihue for what would be a meet-up for two that day.
Johnson, a retired schoolteacher and private home caregiver, said he visited Kauai several times while he was still living in Homer, Alaska, but decided to finally make the island his home about six years ago.
“I just fell in love with the island and I had to get out of Alaska,” Johnson said. “I’m getting too old for that cold and the snow. It’s just an amazing island every way you look at it and in ways that are kind of unexplainable, spiritual and healing. I chose this place for that, and I’ll be here for the rest of my life.”
The group itself, he said, was created about three years ago on Meetup.com, a website dedicated to managing and facilitating local social groups, by a friend, who was moving from Kauai to Austin, Texas.
And since then, the group, which now has a total of 593 adventurers listed on its online page, has hosted a total of 1,615 meet-ups ranging from camp outs at Polihale State Park to holiday and birthday parties at members’ homes.
“The club has just been a total blessing to me,” Johnson Sr. said. “I feel like I’ve gotten younger and I feel like I have more energy.”
Johnson Sr. said that the club itself is rather unique, in a way, because it is open to hosting almost any kind of event and caters to all age groups, abilities and personalities.
“Nobody is excluded,” Johnson, Sr. said. “Believe me, I’ve met all kinds of people — we’ve had everyone from a 3-year-old to a 95-year-old take part in an event over the years. I helped kick start this club on the general principle that this club is for everybody.”
What activities do you like to plan for the group?
LJ: Hiking is No. 1, canoeing is No. 2, for me only, but a lot of other people like kayaking as well. But, let’s put it this way, I have canoeing as a specialty. I only take two or three people up the Wailua River to see Secret Falls in my canoe, and it actually converts into a rowboat. I’ve been doing that weekly for about three years now on Sundays only, because all of the tour companies run from Monday through Saturday — they shut down and don’t do any tours on Sunday. If we go out there on any other day of the week, there’s about 50 or 60 people heading up to Secret Falls.
What kind of impact has the club had on you?
LJ: I can’t even begin to explain the kind of impact that this club has had on me, but it’s really not just the club — it’s living on the island itself. A lot of people have asked me, “You must have been a great hiker up in Alaska,” but the truth is that I’ve never hiked at all till I moved here. Now I’m an avid hiker and I love it. So, the club has taught me how to hike and taught me the value of hiking. I’ve always been a people kind of person, but this club has really expanded my horizons completely. I meet new people almost every week, if not daily. To me, this club is the definition of “social networking.” When we come together and notice that someone is a little shy, we just give him or her some time and help foster them.
Do you prefer to have new people come into the club or spend more time with returning members?
LJ: Both. I love meeting new people and liking having our regular members bring in their friends to get to know all of us. This does create splinter groups where people who are in this group start meeting all of these new friends and soon have their own set of friends, who start doing all kinds of things outside of the club. And that’s good, because I’m glad that we were able to be a part of that. What I like are the new people, because we usually get an average of about one per meet up, and some of them are visitors. And that’s a good thing, because I have something to offer them, which is a free guide service. But I’ve changed that a little over the past few weeks — I do accept gratuities, because it is sometimes hard for me to afford the gas and attend meet-ups throughout the island.
What kind of changes has the club undergone over the past three years?
LJ: The club has really changed a lot. When the club first started, we had tons of young people but we don’t seem to have a large group of them anymore, because a lot of the people in the club who do sign up for meet-ups tend to be middle-aged or older. A lot of young people see that and might think, “Well, I’d rather stay with people around the same age.” Other members have kind of splintered off as well and created their own groups, which are still around.
What is something that you want people to take away from your meet-ups?
LJ: I want people to love Kauai. I love Kauai — I really do, and I want them to taste that and feel it and almost everybody that I go out with seems to say that they do. At one point or another I hear things like, “I love this place,” “This is amazing,” or, “Why would I ever go to another Hawaiian island?” That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to come to stay and live here, but there has been several people in the group who have made up their mind to come here and settle down.
