About
Discover Garden is the Hawaii adventure, activities and Aloha Spirit resource. We believe that fun in Hawaii doesn’t have to be expensive. The islands offer some of the most beautiful beaches, hiking trails and breathtaking scenery the world has to offer. Whether you’re a local, interested in relocating, or just visiting Hawaii, Discover Garden is your guide to life in the islands. At Discover Garden we do not support paid tours, riding on packed buses with tons of tourists or highly commercialized activities. We’re just a few locals pointing you in the right direction for adventure off the beaten path.
Our Mission
At Discover Garden we believe in supporting travel and adventure on a realistic and affordable level. It is our belief that there is so much left to discover in our backyards, or gardens, if we just take the time to explore. As inspirational as magazines such as National Geographic Adventurer are, we find it difficult to relate at a level of possibility within our own lives. Most of us don’t have the time, money, training and sponsorship to climb Everest, surf Peahi or base jump the Cave of Swallows, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have an awesome weekend adventure. In our fast paced computer driven lives, we often forget to connect with nature and the people around us. At Discover Garden our mission is to remind people that there’s more to life than work, bills, schedules and the latest episode of Lost. It’s a beautiful and magical world out there if we take a little time to discover it.
Our History
Discover Garden was founded in 2005 by David and Jana Morgan in Florida. The couple created the site as an outlet to share their adventures with friends and family. What began as a simple photo gallery of camping trips and backpacking adventures would eventually evolve in to the Hawaii adventure resource it is today.
It began with a passing thought, “What if we quit our jobs, sold everything we owned and traveled across the country before relocating to Hawaii?”After 2 years of corporate job misery and an anchor of a mortgage shackled to our feet, Jana and I felt like it was the beginning of the end of our lives. As if our souls were being sucked away one day at a time. Some say the definition of madness is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I was losing my mind commuting multiple hours to and from work every day just to stare at the same computer screen. Where had the spark of our relationship gone? What happened to our grand dreams of adventure and discovery? Finally, we snapped. Jana and I no longer cared about job security or a steady income. We were ready for risk and adventure – for life!
We purchased one-way tickets to Hawaii from California eight months in advance as an anniversary gift to each other. Everything we did for those eight months was preparation for the journey. We sold our furniture and anything we could spare. Donated extra clothes and goods. Took the necessary steps for bypassing the Hawaii quarantine laws for our dog. I left my job at a prestigious design firm and accepted a higher paying short-term contract position to save for the move. We listed our condo for sale, and crossed our fingers in a crashing Orlando real estate market. People thought we were crazy, that we would chicken out, or just couldn’t make it. Jana and I were greeted with skepticism from nearly everyone we presented our “crazy” plan to – which meant we were doing something right.
One day in the summer of 2007, the time had come. We packed our car with everything we owned, threw a couple surfboards on the roof, said our goodbyes and embarked on a journey from Florida to Hawaii. We slept in our car, rest stops, marina’s and national parks along the way. It was total freedom. After arriving in Hawaii, we lived out of a rental car for the first few days before securing an apartment in Waikiki. We had arrived!
After a wonderful 2 years of living in Honolulu, Jana and I have recently decided to move to the island of Maui. As of August 2009, we will be living in Lahaina and enjoying the country and wide open land of Maui. We are very excited about this new chapter of our lives and sharing the adventure with the Discover Garden community.
David, a professional graphic designer and animator, and Jana, a professional photographer and graphic designer, had big plans for Discover Garden since its conception. After settling in Hawaii and starting their design company Muku Studios, and Jana’s photography company, Jana Morgan Photography, the couple finally had the time and resources needed to develop the site they envisioned. After a lot of hard work (and plenty of fun too), the current version of Discover Garden was born. A site designed to inspire others to begin a life changing adventure, and debunking the myth that Hawaii is only affordable for the rich and famous. We’re just a couple kids seeking adventure in the land of Aloha. A big Mahalo to all of the support and contributions from friends, family and sponsors.
