Today I found out that my dad’s dream house is on a stretch of beach next to the Grand Wailea Hotel in Maui. We vacationed there once, a few years back, with my family. Like most vacations, it came and went without much fanfare. Truthfully, I completely forgot we had ever been there. Until today when my dad called it one of his favorite places on Earth.

For as long as I can remember my dad has always woken up with the sun, even on vacations. While my my mother, brother, and I laid happily ensconced in our palatial, hotel beds my dad spent his morning silently walking along an empty beach. Though we always had a lot of fun on family vacations, I know that those morning walks were really what my dad loved about vacationing.

If there’s one thing I’ve always admired about my dad: it’s his simplicity. He loves being outside and spending time with his family, but most of all he loves quiet moments. The moments we all desperately need, but never seem to make time for; those are the moments he loves. He told me today while we were walking along the bay in Coronado that when he gets stressed he thinks about that empty beach in Maui.

It’s strange to think that I didn’t know about my dad’s favorite place on Earth. But then again, I’d never asked. Lately I’ve been learning that there are truths to people that we’ll never know about, small secrets that everyone hides underneath the surface of themselves. Those are the little things that make us who we are: our hopes, dreams, and idiosyncrasies. And it’s not that we don’t want to share those things with others, but mainly that no one really ever asks.

So ask. You just might be surprised as to what you find.