Is the grass greener in Maui? Contemplating relocating from Saint Paul. (purchase, live)

[Mary22]

maui-intoxicated: "People tend to make big mistakes when under pressure and stress,"

Excellent point~

[MitchTempo]

How goes things in Maui @maui-intoxicated?

[maui-intoxicated]

MitchTempo thanks for checking up. Things are going well for us. I really don't have too many gripes and life seems just peachy for us now. However, all good things come to an end and my technology contract for work will be up next year this time where I will then likely make a move to the West Coast or back home again to MN.

Either way I need to try and buy a house within the next two years to avoid my capital gains so it will get interesting.

If I did have to complain, I would complain about the Vog. Even living in S Kihei, practically Wailea it can bother me. It's funny because it doesn't bother my wife at all and she is the one with asthma. Its the allergies that get to me. The price we pay to live on a volcano in paradise I guess.

The other complaint is housing costs in relation to wages. I earn a decent wage, but housing is not affordable. If I had a dual income here on Maui it might not be as big an issue. With that said I was fully prepared for that increase of cost, but not fully prepared for the reality. My wife found a job right away but in a less-prestigeous position for less pay as well. I don't know how people are expected to survive on the lower-economic pay they offer here. She earns 10k/year after taxes working part time because the company most-likely doesn't want the added cost of benefits for full-timers.

I am wishing I could be saving+investing more right now but that's not the case living on Maui. So it's slowed down my early retirement plans but to us it's worth the sacrifice. I would rather enjoy Maui now while young without kids, than come back an old despicable man and retire here.

Our dog died before making it here on island. He was old and I can admit I was nervous about him traveling the whole time as we were getting ready for the move. His body just shut down from old age and we kind of saw it coming. In hindsight, it made finding a home easier...however my current landlord said she would be fine if I wanted to get a dog. Had I asked her prior to leasing and knowing me as a tenant, she likely would have said no as the ad on CL said no dogs heh.

I will be posting some oddball questions here and there in hopes of making our adjustment a little better, but so far it's been okay.

My wife smokes so I am still looking for a cheap place to find her smokes. She smokes camel blues I guess and so far I have found Wal-Mart to be the cheapest for those at $80/carton.

I bought a used beach cruiser that was way over priced but does the trick and was worth it financially for me as I didn't want to drive the expensive 40k vehicle all over the island.

If there was anything I underestimated, it was overall costs of relocating. I was still able to relocate for under $10,000 from the middle of the country. I am hoping if we move off-island it will be cheaper than moving to maui but most-likely it relocation costs will rise with everything else.

[maui-intoxicated]

With all the shark attacks happening this year it has scared me into staying in shallow water when I go in the ocean. I thought I was going to be swimming and snorkeling and surfing a lot more than what I do...but those attacks just really keep me on the beach knowing it could happen.

[maui-intoxicated]

Oh and we managed to pop over to Oahu for a weekend and spent enough time there to realize its not for us. Much more rainy, not as sunny and too many people crammed on a small island.

I am hoping a trip to Big Island (Kona) or Lanai will be more enjoyable for us. We had fun in Oahu...but its just not for us.

[maui-intoxicated]

Making friends for me has been easier than I would think. Everyone is very friendly but some are hesitant to befriend if you are only on-island temporarily. I am guessing the locals have met enough people to form this mindset.

A city-data forum member took the liberty of saying Hi to me when he was here visiting with his wife and I thought that was pretty cool.

The troll that I offered to meet over coffee is yet to take me up however.

One thing I noticed is the DEPTH of the friendship you will aquire is nowhere near that of those child hood and college buddies you love so much.

[maui-intoxicated]

I am hoping to do some more 'road trips" up around Haiku and down near Hana. I wouldn't mind taking a lunch cruise whale watching and a little trip snorkeling somewhere.

When my dad comes to visit he said he was going to spring for a helicopter trip.

For some reason camping on the beach seems fun as well, but when I pay out the whazoo for rent I have a hard time pitching a tent.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated

Either way I need to try and buy a house within the next two years to avoid my capital gains so it will get interesting.

You only have to live in your house that you sold 2 of the prior 5 years to get the capital gains exemption. The rule about buying another house went away a long time ago.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated

Making friends for me has been easier than I would think. Everyone is very friendly but some are hesitant to befriend if you are only on-island temporarily. I am guessing the locals have met enough people to form this mindset.

A city-data forum member took the liberty of saying Hi to me when he was here visiting with his wife and I thought that was pretty cool.

The troll that I offered to meet over coffee is yet to take me up however.

One thing I noticed is the DEPTH of the friendship you will aquire is nowhere near that of those child hood and college buddies you love so much.

I'm glad to hear things are still working out for you on Maui. I can confirm that you are actually on Maui. I hope you liked the wild rice. Some people don't like it, some take awhile to get used to it. You're missing out on the nasty sub zero weather in the twin cities that is supposed to come by the weekend. It's been snowing a little off and on for several days. Duluth, up north got hit hard with a lot of snow and I heard the schools closed up there.

Maui is absolutely more expensive than Minnesota, and more expensive than the Big Island too. It would be a lot harder to live below your means, to save more for retirement. If you visit the Big Island, there are so many things to see when you visit. You can only see a bit here and there in a week. If you go to the Big Island, but sure to go north on 19, Queen Kaahumanu Hwy about 30 minutes north of Kona, a few miles past the Waikoloa Road turn off. There's a wonderful beach there called the Hapuna Beach State Park. The water is amazingly clean and clear there. They have nice shady shelter areas, barbaque grills, restrooms, and an outdoor shower to wash off the salt water. There's also a beautiful new highway called the Danile K Inouye Hwy that connects to the Saddle road. We took it many times to go from the west side of the Big Island to the Hilo area; its a smooth and easy drive across the island.

It was tough to take the 40 degree weather when I returned from Kona to Minnesota. Then it got colder and nasty after that. We are absolutely going to return to the Big Island to visit again, or 'practice' retiring there. I think about 13 months from now would be ideal, in the middle of the winter for about 3 to 4 weeks.

I'm sorry your dog passed on. I remember you were making all the necessary preparations for your dog while your wife stayed behind in Minnesota for several months. When your contract is up, maybe you can find an IT job that will let you telecommute from Hawaii. If not, I'm sure you will be able to return to visit, but at least you would have had the experience of living in Hawaii while you were young. I dreamed of doing that 30 years ago, but I never did. But I may be able to retire there. I don't think I would be a cranky old man living in Hawaii. I think it would be difficult to be a cranky old man with the near perfect weather every day and the friendly spirit of aloha all around you.

[MauiPartTimer]

Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated

I am wishing I could be saving+investing more right now but that's not the case living on Maui. So it's slowed down my early retirement plans but to us it's worth the sacrifice. I would rather enjoy Maui now while young without kids, than come back an old despicable man and retire here.

Our dog died before making it here on island. He was old and I can admit I was nervous about him traveling the whole time as we were getting ready for the move. His body just shut down from old age and we kind of saw it coming. In hindsight, it made finding a home easier...however my current landlord said she would be fine if I wanted to get a dog.

If you're only there another year, taking a year off from investing/saving for retirement won't set you off course too much, so you can still plan on retiring early and moving back.

Sorry to hear about your dog. When you're ready, the Maui Humane Society is awesome and there usually more dogs than adopters, meaning lots of them ship out to the mainland.

My wife and I volunteer there when we're on the island. We were out there a couple weeks ago and there were a lot of sweet dogs looking for homes. If you're not ready to take a dog on yet, volunteering there is a great way to get a Fido fix. They need people to spend time with the dogs; practicing walking on leash and spending time socializing with them so they're good around people and attractive to would-be adopters.