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I am a 22 year old female who is graduating from college this month. My boyfriend has been offered a civilian position with the air force in Hawaii and he would really like me to go with him. I have a few questions and concerns if you guys could help me out.
I will have a Bachelor's in marketing, but I do not have a job lined up yet. I'm still waiting on an offer at the moment, but it would be for a job in Indianapolis. If I got the offer I might try to defer the start date to June or July just to try out Hawaii. I am interested in the tourism industry and am wondering if it would be difficult for me to get a decent paying job near Honolulu. It doesn't even have to be that, a decent job with my degree will be perfectly fine. How will the current economy affect my job outlook in Hawaii? Since I don't have a job yet in Indiana I'm kind of thinking "why not try Hawaii?"
Also, I've seen that Hawaii is very expensive compared to living costs in Indiana. This would be my first time living on my own so it's hard to comprehend what kind of money we will need to make to survive. His offer is for about $42,000 plus a $10,000 signing bonus. I'm not sure if they take care of relocation expenses. Would this be enough to get us started until I could find work?
What is it like to go from living in the midwest to living in Hawaii? I've never even visited before and would not have the money to fly out there for a visit first. What kinds of things would I have to "give up" to live in Hawaii?
Any other suggestions, insights, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch
I had to respond because my Grandmother was from Richmond, Indiana and my Dad grew up there! We used to visit all the time. Anyway, to answer some of your questions -
I think you would find it very different - and I don't mean that in a bad way. My family moved here from coastal southern California - so we were used to a casual lifestyle, beach culture, and had visited and vacationed in Hawaii upwards of 20 times before we moved. Still, it has been an adjustment for us. However, I think any time you move anywhere new - different state, away from family, you will go through this. For example, had we moved to Indiana from southern CA would have been a huge change for us too.
The great thing about trying Hawaii now is that you and your boyfriend are young. What a wonderful chance to get out there and see a different part of the world!
You will definitely find it more expensive - at least that has been my experience. But, for us, this is far outweighed by all the islands have to offer. If is warm here pretty much year round, so you would leave behind those cold, snowy winters. You will find it very diverse compared to Indiana, and there many different cultures and languages here. You might find there are certain stores you were used to that are not located here. We are just getting our first Target next year (yea!!). Also, foods that you love there might not be typical here - or taste the same. Example - Mexican food, a beloved staple of our lives in California, just is not the same here.
There are a several recently-arrived-to-Honolulu posters here who have written about their experiences. You might want to look up threads/posts by newUHprof and NoMoreSTL, to name two who have written thoughtfully and eloquently about what they expected and what they have found.
All in, it sounds like you have a reasonable plan -- the only hitch is the local economy which is quite fragile at the moment, and may prove tough for job-hunting. The tourism industry has been hit particularly hard, but since Honolulu is the "main" airport and largest city, you may fare better there than on another island. (Hard to compare it to your prospects in Indianapolis, though.) I read something regarding costs in the forum recently that I thought was a reasonably good rule-of-thumb when considering Hawaii: up what you expect to pay for costs-of-living (no matter how high your estimate) by about 30% and lower what you expect to make by about the same. That seems to give a fairly reasonable comparison with living anywhere but in one of the top 5 or 10 mainland cities.
As for what you will give up, I'd say the main thing you'll notice -- aside from being surrounded by water -- is that you'll have less space. Less living space and less open space all around you. Everything about Honolulu is far more compressed than most mainlanders are used to. Houses and apartments are much smaller, buildings are closer together (and taller than in mid-sized mainland cities), and everything feels a little more jammed together. That said, a 30-minute drive will take you to open skies, beautiful beaches, Diamond Head and other stunning mountain views -- things unlike any you've ever seen.
If I were your age and had the opportunity to "try" Hawaii (coming over with someone who will have a job and a decent starter salary), I'd do it in a second. It may not work for you -- or you may not be able to find work that pays well here -- but as long as you have reasonable expectations and a good backup plan, why not?
Last edited by whynot?; 12-10-2008 at 12:33 PM..
Reason: clarification
The barbecue will be really different from what you are used to. There will be mountains and oceans and loads of folks from places you've probably never heard of. There will be more and bigger bugs and a lot less little mammals than you are used to.
Just pretend you are going to a very expensive foreign country where they somehow inexplicably speak English and you might be a bit more prepared than most who arrive here.
Whatever you know "is so" may not be true here at all.
More impressions from a recent Midwestern transplant...
Hi danilynn!
Lots of time to write today because it is POURING today . Grab a snack before settling down to read this one... you've been warned.
You will notice HUGE differences on Oahu. I've been to Indianapolis a few times and have friends there... Indianapolis is a great town! Love downtown and the canal.
-People: Oahu is very diverse (very). You'll notice that right away- especially coming from Indiana where it feels like everyone is white. The people are downright beautiful and come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Not sure of your nationality, but white people are a minority here. That's not as scary as people make it out to be although you may be abruptly yanked out of your comfort zone if you're a product of suburbia. Don't let the "stink eye" thing scare you if you've read about it on this forum. I'm pretty sure I got more dirty looks in STL. In general, everyone has been super nice and polite. In STL is everyone is pretty much milling about in their own world, oblivious of others and their surroundings. I think the forced closeness makes for a sense of community here and Hawaiians are FIERCELY proud of their island. Kinda cool!
-Food: WHOA! I miss BBQ! The BBQ here isn't bad, but definitely NOT the same. When we buy our grill, I'll show everyone how we do it in the 'Lou! I also really really miss provel cheese (think Imo's or Lucia's), although that might be a STL thing. Corn on the cob: I was looking at Foodland's online "sales" flyer today; 79 cents EACH?! W-w-whaaaaat?! At home when it's in season, corn = 10 ears for $1. On the flipside, the last pineapple we bought cost less than $1, compared to $5 or $6 at home. It tastes better too! Someone mentioned Mexican food. Oh boy do I miss the huge amount of real (tasty) Mexican food available wherever whenever. On the flipside, sushi is super delicious and cheap! I haven't seen any cajun, irish or greek restaurants. Italian joints are on every corner in STL city but I don't think there's one in my immediate area on Oahu. (Ewa Beach? Anyone?) No White Castle, Lion's Choice, or Steak 'n Shake ; enough said. If you like ethnic food, especially the Asian varieties, you'll be in heaven. Also, rice is everywhere; that's good because I LOVELOVELOVE rice! In general, we're having a hard time finding close/affordable restaurants that aren't chains except... VAN FOOD! Yum-O. There are at least 3 dozen of these jobbers on the N. Shore sitting around waiting to feed you yummy grilled food for cheap. They lure you in with the delicious smells.
-Rent: OMG. I was paying $650/mo. (not counting utilities) for a beautiful 2 bedroom flat in St. Louis City. Triple that here, not counting utilities. Of course, there was no beach by my house in STL!
-NO MLB! I miss my Cards already and it's not even baseball season. No telling what I'll do without a cold Bud on a hot day at Busch come springtime. The postman said they have minor league games here or something? Does anyone know what he was talking about?
-Gas: My dad says gas is about $1.50/gallon at home right now. Here I think it's about $2.50, give or take. Can you imagine what they were paying out here when midwest gas was $3.50/gal? I shudder to think... Of course how much gas would it take you to get to the beach in Indiana?
-Roads: Just because you can SEE where you want to go (a store, for instance) doesn't mean you can get there soon. It seems like you can't drive anywhere in a straight line, but that may just be because I'm new. You also have to look really hard for road signs in less-populated areas. On the flipside, I haven't seen any billboards corrupting the views. Hooray!
-General home goods: 20-30% more than what you're used to is a good estimate of how much things cost. We're starting mostly from scratch aside from the few items I shipped or shoved in a suitcase. Just as I suspected, it adds up REALLY fast. Amazon.com's free super-saver shipping is a blessing for small items.
-Weather: LOVELY. Even though it's raining today, it's warm. My dad said it just got through sleeting and snowing in STL? YUCK. I'll take a green Christmas and LIKE it!
-Flora/Fauna: LOVELY. The plants growing in people's yards here are giant versions of what people use as decorative potted plants in STL. The air smells like flowers and the ocean. Birds are plentiful and weird and don't sound "right" at first. No little furry critters (squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies) running around, although I saw a bunch of chickens (!) on the North Shore and snails are fond of Hawaii. We have a couple resident geckos or little lizards or something in (yep, IN) our house. We like 'em- they eat bugs and mind their own business. They also give my cat a good run for his money. He wouldn't know what to do if he caught one- no claws and a picky eater!
-If you smoke, cigs cost about $6+/pack. Also if you smoke, don't be one of "those guys" that thinks the beach is one of those sand ashtrays for your personal use, kay? I smoke and I always manage to find a good trash can home for my butts. I believe with a little effort, everyone else can too.
-Stores: No Target! Boo hoo! I think they're building one near the Navy Exchange though. Counting the days until I can get my Target fix... I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart and hadn't stepped a foot in there for 6 years before I came out here. Yay Target!
I work from home for my same company in STL, so I'm sorry I can't give any insight on the job market. Maybe you can check online to see what's available? Does the Indy company you're talking to now have a HI affiliate? The $ amount you mentioned is not going to stretch very far here, I'm afraid. Especially if starting from scratch. Since he's working for the military, will he get BHA? That will help a bunch if so.
Hmmm... That's all I can think of now. Let me know if you have any specific Q's.
flowermom: Thanks for being positive about the opportunity, but also realistic. That helps a bunch!
whynot?: Also, thanks for being positive and realistic. I was worried about the space issue too because I couldn't imagine living in some of those small apartments with all of my stuff. However, I don't think I would bring a lot with me so it might be ok. Just the essentials, you know, clothes, HP books, guitar hero :-)
hotzcatz: I'm not a fan of bbq (I know, right?) so I won't be missing much. The bugs do scare me.
NoMoreSTL: Wow! Thanks for your long post! Yes, I'm white and I'm a little nervous about being the "minority". It's safe to say that I've gone to school with all people exactly like me. I grew up in a small town. About the only experience I have with lots of diverse people is working at Cedar Point for 2 summers. That was definitely an experience! Food will definitely be an issue. I'm about the pickiest eater you could probably find. No bbq, mexican, rice, sushi, ethnic food for me. I'm a straight-up pizza, pasta, fast food kind of girl. I'm sad that there is no Fazoli's, Steak 'n Shake, etc. I also know that much of the food that I eat will be insanely expensive so I'm probably going to have to start expanding my taste buds.
Other general questions:
What are prices at fast food restaurants compared to the mainland? I'm thinking Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's, etc.
When is the Target expected to be completed? I think I'd die without Target.
How long does it usually take to find an apartment once you're there?
I read that Hawaii requires all employers to provide health care to employees who work more than 20 hours a week. Is this true?
He would be working at Hickam and I would probably try to find a job near Honolulu. Where would be the ideal place to live if only one of us had a car? I can't even imagine not having a car, but seeing as how expensive it is to ship and most places only have 1 parking spot, I might have to deal with it.
Billboards are illegal in Hawaii, so you won't ever see any of them. Signs are very regulated so they may be smaller than you are used to. On an island, everyone knows where everything is, so no real need for signs. Street names are handy occasionally but those sometimes are hard to find. The island is round and all the streets sort of go around the edges since the middle is full of mountains so of course the roads are anything but straight.
Also the roads have names, not numbers. Someone will tell you to go over the Pali highway and if you ask the number of it, they won't know. I'm not even sure if it has a number, but probably it does. The "H3" does have a number, though, it is an exception. Also, those directions you use on the mainland, "North", "South", "East" and "West"? Those aren't directions here, those are parts of place names such as "North Shore" or "East-West" Center. How can you tell someone to go "north" on a curving road which kinda points NNW or NNE with occasional bits of West and South? The directions which make sense on an island are "mauka" which is "towards the mountains" and "Makai" which is "towards the ocean". Since we are usually traveling around the edges of this big pieplate in the Pacific that makes up our island home we use a landscape feature for the last two directions. "Diamond Head" and "Ewa" are two common directions used in Honolulu. So a set of directions could sound like this: "If you are at Ala Moana Shopping Center (the destination of most buses) then go to the makai side and turn Diamond Head to find Waikiki." There is frequently mention of it being where something else used to be, too, so that can add interest to directions. "Turn left where Bay Chevy used to be".
You could check an online version of the Honolulu yellow pages to see which fast food chains are represented on the island. There are not that many of them since shipping in franchise food is prohibitively expensive. I'm not sure if there is a Wendy's on Oahu. Hmm, maybe, yeah, I think there is one downtown somewhere, I remember finding it once and getting one of those chocolate ice cream malt things. Just because there is a franchise of your favorite fast food place doesn't mean there will be many of them. Or that they will sell the food you are used, too. One of them was selling spam burgers not too long ago. The nearest fast food place is thirty five miles away from my house, so we don't eat at them often.
The plate lunch trucks (van food) mentioned by NoMoreSTL is a very good alternative. It is usually cheaper than a meal at a fast food place and it is fresh cooked food. Very much like the "home made" food you may have wished your mom may have known how to make if you had a mom who cooks like mine does. Generally, you get two scoops rice, potato/mac salad, sometimes a toss green salad and then usually a selection of several entrees such as beef stew, curry beef, terikaki beef, chicken, pork adobo, laulau, etc. If you see a lunch truck with a long line, that's the best one. Once they sell out, the trucks are done for the day and go back home so they aren't always parked where they sell food.
Yup, all employees working more than twenty hours a week get health care. However, sometimes folks end up working two or three nineteen hour a week jobs and not having health care.
The Bus is a very good public transportation system and it is pretty hard to live anywhere that The Bus doesn't get to. Having only one car is very workable. You can get a monthly bus pass and then go everywhere without having to worry about parking, dealing with traffic and all the rest. The buses are nice and air conditioned with many bus stops being covered in case of rain.
I am from a small, homogeneous, rural town (in Virginia) originally, too. Since you've graduated from college -- which should have been one kind of character-building and outlook-expanding process -- I heartily recommend living in a friendly cultural and racial minority situation as another growth experience. It is an amazing thing to learn to be seen by "others" the way you have become accustomed to seeing "others" -- amazing for many of us whites to be seen as "other." I moved away from my mountain clan 35 years ago, and -- while I love being *from* there -- I have lived in major cities until we moved to Maui. Not everything you learn will be comfortable, but you will learn a great deal about the world at large if you pay close attention and just "be yourself."
And you will find plenty of ordinary mainland food on Oahu -- almost all of the major chains -- and you may find that you'll like Zippy's and many of the local brands, too. You may find really tasty ethnic foods that you don't even know you'll like: malasadas (Portuguese doughnut holes, kind of) and chow fun (since you like pasta). The fairs and events with food booths are excellent places to start tasting local fare to see what you like. (The kalua pig, BTW, looks like southern pulled pork barbecue, but is just shredded roasted/smoked pork w/o any cloying sauce if that's what you don't like.)
Hotzcatz, as always, is very wise about the health insurance. Many people are hired for "20-hour/week" jobs but just never seem to get scheduled to work that 20th hour somehow, so be careful if you're counting on your employer for health insurance. The 19-hour trap is very widespread.
You sound like you can figure it out -- how to live in a smaller space, how to find what you want (you may find you'll want less since it's such a pain to store things, let alone find them in stores), and you'll have an amazing adventure to live and to learn from as you get older and start your career, wherever that may be.
Best of luck.
Last edited by whynot?; 12-12-2008 at 10:59 AM..
Reason: clarification
I'm 29/M/Virginia and I'm considering moving to Maui where my brother lives...I have no job lined up either but things are shaky with my job here at best so I'd rather be unemployed living in the bed of a truck out there than the same here!
I've spent several weeks in Maui visiting my brother in the last 3 years and let me tell you.... If you like perfectly livable weather it is THE place to live. Personally I can't stand cold weather. My current location in VA is too cold for me. A benefit of this is you do not need A/C or heat in Hawaii...so at least you can save some money there. My brother's place has screened windows, no glass at all, his house is open air year round unless it storms.
If you need classy living, a nice house, fine dinning and nice cars, Hawaii is NOT for you! Even run down houses that would be viewed as "dumps" here on the mainland are probably worth $300K - $1.5 million in Hawaii! The land is usually worth FAR more than the house. My brother's place is only standing because the termites are holding hands! You really don't need much to live in Hawaii. A roof over your head, food, water, occasionally some brews, and something to get you from point A to point B...as long as it runs!
The worst thing you can do is settle down in the place you grew up and end up with kids and a mortgage and never get the chance to explore and try things to see what you really like!
Settling down where you grew up and having a family especially where your extended family is nearby can be a really good thing, but traveling and seeing new things is a really good thing too. Frequently, traveling is what lets folks really appreciate what they have and where they are from and occasionally allows them to go back to their childhood place and really enjoy it. I'm sure it is different for everyone.
In these economic times, having a job is a really good thing, it would seem hanging onto it would be desirable although if you did move to Maui, I'm sure the job on the mainland wouldn't stay empty for long.
Would your brother take you in if you were there? Ohana and all, he should but some folks are different with their relatives.
Being willing to live differently than you are used to on the mainland is really important for getting along well in Hawaii.
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More impressions from a recent Midwestern transplant...
. Grab a snack before settling down to read this one... you've been warned.
In general, everyone has been super nice and polite. In STL is everyone is pretty much milling about in their own world, oblivious of others and their surroundings. I think the forced closeness makes for a sense of community here and Hawaiians are FIERCELY proud of their island. Kinda cool! 
W-w-whaaaaat?! At home when it's in season, corn = 10 ears for $1. On the flipside, the last pineapple we bought cost less than $1, compared to $5 or $6 at home. It tastes better too! Someone mentioned Mexican food. Oh boy do I miss the huge amount of real (tasty) Mexican food available wherever whenever. On the flipside, sushi is super delicious and cheap! I haven't seen any cajun, irish or greek restaurants. Italian joints are on every corner in STL city but I don't think there's one in my immediate area on Oahu. (Ewa Beach? Anyone?) No White Castle, Lion's Choice, or Steak 'n Shake 
; enough said. If you like ethnic food, especially the Asian varieties, you'll be in heaven. Also, rice is everywhere; that's good because I LOVELOVELOVE rice! In general, we're having a hard time finding close/affordable restaurants that aren't chains except... VAN FOOD! Yum-O. There are at least 3 dozen of these jobbers on the N. Shore sitting around waiting to feed you yummy grilled food for cheap. They lure you in with the delicious smells.
You really don't need much to live in Hawaii. A roof over your head, food, water, occasionally some brews, and something to get you from point A to point B...as long as it runs! 
