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Hello all,
As an Oahu guy, I thought I'd keep this post over here. Moved to Oahu at 23 years old, 20 years ago with the proverbial savings ($5000 then) and managed just fine in the hostel and later shared an apartment with friends while bartending, surfing etc. Since then I've been visiting for 2 weeks per year and there is zero chance of moving there permanently for atleast 12 years. So...I'm doing my best to be satisfied with the 2 week vacation and my exit strategy includes ways to spend even more time there...snowbird?, VRBO for a month? etc. Just Curious, amongst other wannabe Kamaaina (locals), what's your magic number of weeks or recipe for satisfying your "Hawaii Time" needs? FYI, the zero chance of relocation is due to having a career and modest lifestyle that cannot be duplicated by me in HI and would just be unfair to the kids and delusional on my part. Not happy about being so responsible either!
Hello all,
As an Oahu guy, I thought I'd keep this post over here. Moved to Oahu at 23 years old, 20 years ago with the proverbial savings ($5000 then) and managed just fine in the hostel and later shared an apartment with friends while bartending, surfing etc. Since then I've been visiting for 2 weeks per year and there is zero chance of moving there permanently for atleast 12 years. So...I'm doing my best to be satisfied with the 2 week vacation and my exit strategy includes ways to spend even more time there...snowbird?, VRBO for a month? etc. Just Curious, amongst other wannabe Kamaaina (locals), what's your magic number of weeks or recipe for satisfying your "Hawaii Time" needs? FYI, the zero chance of relocation is due to having a career and modest lifestyle that cannot be duplicated by me in HI and would just be unfair to the kids and delusional on my part. Not happy about being so responsible either!
We visit 2 to 3 weeks a year to see my wife's family, usually in January or February when it gets moderately cold (highs in the 50's, lows in the 30's) and the days are pretty short in coastal VA. That is enough time to be wowed again by the natural beauty and pleasant weather, visit all of our friends and family, and then remember why we left and be ready to come home. I wouldn't call us wannabe Kamaaina, my wife is local as can be (born and raised) and I lived there for 7 years and we were making it out there just fine (actually able to pay our bills and save about $500 a month). It was a conscious decision to leave and we don't intend to move back probably ever (unless we win the lotto and can split time between here and there). But there is no other place like it in the States and there are things we miss (Family and Friends, Goma Tei Ramen, Yamas Hawaiian Plate, hike Mariners Ridge, surf at Pops, the view from her parent's lanai) so it is nice to get a fix every year for a couple of weeks. Especially since we stay for free and get fed while we are there!
We visit 2 to 3 weeks a year to see my wife's family, usually in January or February when it gets moderately cold (highs in the 50's, lows in the 30's) and the days are pretty short in coastal VA. That is enough time to be wowed again by the natural beauty and pleasant weather, visit all of our friends and family, and then remember why we left and be ready to come home. I wouldn't call us wannabe Kamaaina, my wife is local as can be (born and raised) and I lived there for 7 years and we were making it out there just fine (actually able to pay our bills and save about $500 a month). It was a conscious decision to leave and we don't intend to move back probably ever (unless we win the lotto and can split time between here and there). But there is no other place like it in the States and there are things we miss (Family and Friends, Goma Tei Ramen, Yamas Hawaiian Plate, hike Mariners Ridge, surf at Pops, the view from her parent's lanai) so it is nice to get a fix every year for a couple of weeks. Especially since we stay for free and get fed while we are there!
Thanks UHgrad, I appreciate your posts on here and I'm also an East Coast resident/surfer up in NJ. Yes, we really enjoy it in February also but it's going to be hard pulling the kids out for 2 weeks as life is getting very "serious" for them with 2nd grade and Kinder next year. We would fit in well there with my Japanese wife and hapa kids but the numbers don't make sense. I think you wrote one time about sitting out at Pops with all the Japanese surfer girls and thinking "what more could a man want in life?", I've done the same thing. Unfortunately, like they say, day to day life is not lived on postcards and the thing/place you love could turn to hate if things start going wrong. I'll try and keep it in the fantasy stage for as long as possible. Almost time for the 3/2mm!
Thanks UHgrad, I appreciate your posts on here and I'm also an East Coast resident/surfer up in NJ. Yes, we really enjoy it in February also but it's going to be hard pulling the kids out for 2 weeks as life is getting very "serious" for them with 2nd grade and Kinder next year. We would fit in well there with my Japanese wife and hapa kids but the numbers don't make sense. I think you wrote one time about sitting out at Pops with all the Japanese surfer girls and thinking "what more could a man want in life?", I've done the same thing. Unfortunately, like they say, day to day life is not lived on postcards and the thing/place you love could turn to hate if things start going wrong. I'll try and keep it in the fantasy stage for as long as possible. Almost time for the 3/2mm!
I'm picking up a new SUP in a couple weeks and have my 3/2 ready. The water is about to hit 60degrees down here already. The water isn't as clear, and there are no green mountains in the background, but it is way less crowded than Hawaii with less attitude in the lineups and there are tons more places to explore when the waves are flat with all of the inlets, rivers, creeks, marshes etc...
I'm sure you guys would blend right in around HI, plenty of Hapa kids running around. It is not a bad place to raise kids, there are some really good aspects of the culture like the community/family focus and the love for the outdoors that I really embrace... it is just hard financially and there are other aspects of the culture that I wouldn't really want my kids growing up with. It is definitely doable, and as long as you don't move to Waipahu or something your kids will definitely adapt and fit in, there are just a lot of trade offs.
The real kickers for us were:
1) Almost every public high school in Virginia Beach is rated in the top 10% of schools in the country (according to great schools).
2) We will have options for Virginia Tech, UVA, William and Mary etc... as in-state tuition colleges. No offense to UH, it is good for certain subjects and I got a degree there, but there really just isn't any comparison in that regard.
3) We got a nice single family home for under $200k, I get paid 20% more than any offer I got in Honolulu, we still live 15 minutes from the beach, and we are less than a days drive from DC, NYC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Philly, Baltimore, Shenandoah National Park etc...
4) The public schools here are pretty diverse as well, as are most cities these days. Hawaii is diverse but it is definitely tilted towards asian/pacific islanders. Here we have more Latinos, Indians, African Americans, and other immigrants. The school system is about 50% white, 20% black, 10% hispanic, 7% asian, and almost 10% multiracial with tons of Hapa kids running around (mostly Filipino/Caucasian mix) since we have a large Filipino population locally. So nobody sticks out here either.
5) I am from this area so I have tons of family and friends here already and that support network is in place.
...it really became a no-brainer since neither of us were "in love" with living in Hawaii. Some people are, and I think those are the ones that deserve to live there because it is a unique and special place, but it wasn't worth the price of paradise for us.
"In the states" has the same sound as the eeeeekkkkkeeee when fingernails are dragged across a chalkboard.
Well since the context I used it in was inclusive of Hawaii...
"no OTHER place like it in the States"
I'm not sure what you are bothered by. Do you not like me saying that Hawaii is the only state that looks and feels like Hawaii? It also looks and feels a lot like St. Thomas and Barbados but those aren't states.
If you just don't like the phrase "In the States" then too bad, that is what I say when I am referring to the U.S.A. (Hawaii included)
Personally, I hate the phrase "In the mainland..." but I had to let that go years ago, it just wasn't worth the trouble.
Oh, as in, "no place like it in the other States".
As in, within the subset of the United States which Hawaii is included, there is no other place like it. Southern California is kind of like it, but not really because it is not an island and the water is cold. Florida is kind of like it but there are no mountains and it is way muggier. There are other places like Hawaii, Puerto Rico is a lot like Hawaii for instance... but it is not a state it is a territory. I thought Barbados was a lot like Hawaii, but it is its own country I believe. So there is, in my opinion, no OTHER place in the States that is like it and we enjoying visiting there because of that (they speak english, they use dollars, I don't need a passport etc...)
As for these type of comparisons, just booked a SoCal family trip for July. I plan to put SoCal (San Diego to Santa Barbara) under the microscope as it compares to HI, specifically Oahu. We know about many of the differences but have'nt been out there in 20 years. FYI, Hawaii 2012 is already booked for November. North/Central Florida is next. I'm taking this exit strategy planning very seriously and just can't see spending 12 months a year in NJ for the rest of my life for many reasons (excluding vacations). Also, already know that Oahu is far and away the Number 1 pick but the other options to have some pluses.
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