Over the course of a month, my family and I traveled thousands of miles across the Pacific, from Hawaii to Guam, through Saipan and Tinian, on to Palau, and finally to Japan. It was an unusual itinerary built around World War II history and some of the most remote islands in the world, and it turned into one of the more challenging kosher trips we have taken. Three of our stops had no Chabad, no kosher restaurants, and no Jewish infrastructure at all, and that reality shaped how we planned nearly every part of the journey.
Getting There
Our routing took us out of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), where the United Polaris Lounge offers a variety of kosher meals, and on through Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu, which served as our jumping-off point for the roughly seven-hour United flight to Guam’s A.B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM). Kosher airline meals were ordered in advance on every segment where they were offered, and as always on a trip like this, we brought backup food regardless.
Guam: Where America’s Day Begins
Guam is a U.S. territory that was captured by Japan within days of Pearl Harbor and retaken by American forces in the Battle of Guam in July 1944, and much of what we came to see centers on that history. Because we were heading into places where kosher food would be difficult, if not impossible, to find, we traveled with our own supply of meat and cheese, which meant every hotel booking revolved around one requirement: a kitchen with a full-size refrigerator.
Keeping kosher in Guam turned out to be considerably easier than we anticipated. There was no Chabad and there were no kosher restaurants, but the local supermarkets carried a surprisingly wide assortment of kosher products imported from the mainland United States. The bread situation was weak, with use-by dates only days out, but we did find frozen Uncrustables, which made for easy lunches on day trips. We also discovered Infusion Coffee & Tea, the one coffee shop we found on the island with kosher oat milk, and stopping there became part of our daily routine. One other Guam quirk worth the detour: the island is home to one of the last three Kmart locations still operating in the U.S. chain.
On the history side, we started at the Asan Bay Overlook in War in the Pacific National Historical Park, looking down on the beaches where U.S. Marines came ashore on July 21, 1944. The overlook’s Memorial Wall of Names carries more than 17,000 names, including the people of Guam who died or suffered during the Japanese occupation and the battle to retake the island. From there we visited the park’s T. Stell Newman Visitor Center, hiked the Piti Guns Trail through the jungle to three Japanese coastal defense guns that were never fired, walked Asan Beach itself, and finished at Fish Eye Marine Park, an underwater observatory out in Piti Bay.
Continue to Page 2: Saipan and Tinian
