Missouri woman returned from Hawaii and found a volcanic rock in her shoe. She mails it right back: ‘I don’t want any bad luck’

A Missouri woman said she discovered a lava rock lodged in her shoe after returning home from a trip to Hawaii’s Big Island. Sarah Kraffty said in a TikTok video that she immediately decided to mail the rock back to the island as she didn’t want to risk bad luck for herself or her family.

Kraffty said in the video that the rock came from a pair of shoes belonging to a person she identified as Joel. She said she should have checked the shoes before leaving Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. She described the discovery as her own fault.

Kraffty said it is considered extremely bad luck to take anything from Hawaii, including lava rocks and sand. “It needs to belong to the land,” she said in the video.

Tourists have reportedly returned rocks to Hawaii for decades over curse concerns

Kraffty said she searched online for information on where she could return the rocks. She said she found that lava rocks are typically mailed back to the island they were taken from. She then addressed an envelope to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

According to Hawaii Guide, the park receives thousands of letters each year from tourists apologizing for taking lava rocks and asking to return them. The guide reported that many of these letters are accompanied by the rocks or sand the senders wish to send back.

The belief is apparently tied to a legend involving Pele, who is regarded in Hawaiian folklore as the goddess of fire and volcanoes. The legend holds that Pele considers the islands’ rocks and sand to be her children and that removing them brings misfortune, the guide reported. It also said that the curse is believed to lift only when the items are returned. Similar social media attention has recently highlighted other tourist experiences in Hawaii, like a restaurant fee that backfired on TikTok. 

In her video, Kraffty said, “I don’t want any bad luck, okay? This family’s already had enough bad luck, so I’m gonna mail them back to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.” She addressed the envelope to the park’s post office box in Hawaii National Park, Hawaii.

Kraffty said she also spoke to her mother-in-law after learning she had taken lava rocks of her own. She said she told her mother-in-law that the rocks needed to stay in Hawaii. “Whatever’s on Hawaii land should stay there,” she said in the video.

Before sealing the envelope, Kraffty said she wrote a note to accompany the rocks. She wrote on the envelope, “Found in bottom of my shoe, want to return to the land!” She said in the video that she considered adding an apology, asking her viewers, “Should I write a message and be like, I found these in my shoes, I’m sorry?” 

Kraffty ended the video by walking to her mailbox and depositing the envelope. “Here we go. Bye. No bad luck,” she said. She added that she did not plan to do anything risky over the following days. According to Hawaii Guide, the origins of the curse legend are unclear, and scholars say it has little connection to traditional Hawaiian religious practices. The website reported that some believe the story was created by park rangers in the 1940s who were frustrated by tourists removing lava rocks. 

It also reported a separate theory that tired bus drivers may have started the legend to discourage passengers from bringing rocks onto their vehicles. Many Hawaiian residents apparently view the curse as a myth.

However, the guide noted that removing natural materials from the islands may still be discouraged under broader Hawaiian cultural beliefs, including the concept of “mana,” or life force, which some believe can inhabit natural objects such as rocks. In a similar case, a Seattle man was fined for removing natural materials from islands by throwing a rock at an endangered seal.

The video drew mixed reactions in the comments section. One commenter, who identified as Hawaiian, wrote, “hawaiian here i appreciate you respecting our goddess and our land that means so much to us.” Another commenter, who identified as working in the mail industry, offered practical advice, writing, “Mail lady here, put them in a padded mailer they will just pop out of regular paper envelopes.” Other commenters described the situation as silly and questioned whether the curse should be taken seriously.