Mikayla was looking for a new life adventure when she relocated to Maui from Idaho in 2022. “I’d applied for several jobs around the US: deckhand in Alaska, river rafting guide in Colorado, and kayak guide in the Florida Keys,” she says. But it was a position with a startup company that brought her to Maui instead. “I didn’t know anyone, and had never been here, but I bought a plane ticket and moved.”
When that job didn’t pan out, Mikayla found work as a bartender and seasonal zipline guide. But her passion for hiking and love for the outdoors led her to Hike Maui, where she enjoys meeting people from all over the world with different backgrounds and personalities. “The interpersonal aspect of guiding is very intriguing to me.”
Mikayla says she’s often asked if being a hiking guide is repetitive. Her answer is a resounding “No.” “The look on my guests’ faces when they see the rainforest for the first time is like reliving that same moment in my life vicariously through them.”
Guest quote: We appreciated the awesome job Mikayla did showing us the best waterfall spots for swimming and cliff jumping. She has a vast knowledge of Maui’s flora, and she shared some great Hawaiian legends. I would tell friends to ask for her!
