Moving to Hilo in Summer 2012 (Keaau: apartment, houses, school)

[hotzcatz]

Since you are just moving over for school, leave most of your stuff on the mainland. If you want it later, you can have it boxed and shipped or have folks visiting bring it with them. Houses and apartments are smaller here than on the mainland so a lot of mainland stuff doesn't fit well in Hawaii houses anyway. We also have a lot more humidity so many mainland furniture items made of pressed wood turn into oatmeal here.

For clothes, most of the dressy ones won't be of much use here. Not many people wear nylons. (Ick!) Natural fabrics such as cotton, linen, silk, etc. are a LOT more comfortable to wear than anything polyester. Loose clothing is much more comfortable, too, than tight fitted clothing because of the heat and humidity. Leather will mold and mildew if given half a chance. Oh, and most folks don't know designer anything so no need to bring expensive name brand stuff since many people won't even notice let alone care.

Shipping your textbooks via the U.S. post office's "media rate" is probably the least expensive method to get them here. Don't ship anything else with them other than media, though, or they will charge you a higher rate and they sometimes check to make sure it is all media. If you don't have an address to ship it to, you can ship it to yourself via "General Delivery" to either the airport post office or the downtown Hilo post office. Both post offices are pretty easy to get to, although the parking at the airport post office might be a little bit closer by about a hundred feet. All the parking is free and since it's not near Christmas time, there shouldn't be too long of lines. You have to go up to the counter and ask for the general delivery packages.

There are yard and garage sales year round here as well as multiple thrift shops. You can also find things on Craig's List or even advertise for things on Craig's List, too. You can also save money by sharing an apartment with another student or two and they may have dishes and things already.

[presley29]

I would love advice im looking to move to Oahu 2012. Ive been to Oahu a ton of times and i fall more and more in live with it. I love visiting the other islands but i love the City that Oahu has.

My worries:

Meeting people in such a big busy city.

which cities in ohau are the safest and are up and coming?


Ill be visiting again in May so id really appreciate some suggestions?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by presley29

Meeting people in such a big busy city.

I have had a lot of luck with "affinity groups," people who share my interests in music, gardening, and the like who get together to talk. I've also met a lot of people through my community association, and at Farmers Markets. It is sooooo easy to strike up conversations at Farmers Markets.

Originally Posted by presley29

which cities in ohau are the safest and are up and coming?

Ummmm.... there is only one city on Oahu. Honolulu.

The entire island falls within the government of "The city and county of Honolulu," and the entire population of the island is less than a million.

"Such a big busy city"? Where you comin' from?

[kadea36]

My bf and I moved from cali to Hilo ( big island) he had hes car shipped and motorcycle , cost of the car is around 1+k and motorcycle is close to 900 , we shopped around who would take the best deal to get our car shipped maybe u should do that , but that is much it cost to have it shipped. As far as selling your things like your couch , i wouldnt do that , just because it is pricey here in hawaii, unless money is not an issue to you , then i would say just sell it , and buy , but if u think about it tho, i would cost the same , so it is totally up to up if u want to keep it or not, to answere your question regarding the license u have 30 days to get hawaiin state license . and to answere your questions about having to mail your clothes in boxes , try to eliminate what clothes u want to keep because prices of airmailing it would cost a lot, dont get fed ex it cost us for 6 boxes about 4 hundred plus dollars , and it would take about 2 weeks to get your car to hawaii from mainland depending where from in mainland, were from california ..so u really have plan when your leaving and so that way u know how soon to have your car shipped here so that way u wont have to go long with out a car.... FYI.. i would do tons of research bfr moving here i know u have your heart set to move here , but i would really really think 2x or more , cost of living is high, gas is close to 5/ gallon, rent is high , not a lot of places to go and see , once u see it all , thats about all u can see u cant really go far, no nitelife, places closes too early here..thank goodness were only here for more year and off we go back to california ...

[kadea36]

My bf and I moved from cali to Hilo ( big island) he had hes car shipped and motorcycle , cost of the car is around 1+k and motorcycle is close to 900 , we shopped around who would take the best deal to get our car shipped maybe u should do that , but that is much it cost to have it shipped. As far as selling your things like your couch , i wouldnt do that , just because it is pricey here in hawaii, unless money is not an issue to you , then i would say just sell it , and buy , but if u think about it tho, i would cost the same , so it is totally up to up if u want to keep it or not, to answere your question regarding the license u have 30 days to get hawaiin state license . and to answere your questions about having to mail your clothes in boxes , try to eliminate what clothes u want to keep because prices of airmailing it would cost a lot, dont get fed ex it cost us for 6 boxes about 4 hundred plus dollars , and it would take about 2 weeks to get your car to hawaii from mainland depending where from in mainland, were from california ..so u really have plan when your leaving and so that way u know how soon to have your car shipped here so that way u wont have to go long with out a car.... FYI.. i would do tons of research bfr moving here i know u have your heart set to move here , but i would really really think 2x or more , cost of living is high, gas is close to 5/ gallon, rent is high , not a lot of places to go and see , once u see it all , thats about all u can see u cant really go far, no nitelife, places closes too early here..thank goodness were only here for one year and off we go back to california ... its culture shock for me and not to mention island fever

[kadea36]

oh and when we moved here total cost was 7k , so really try to eliminate the clothes u dont need , such as ,,, heavey jacket, or leather stuff , they mold here trust me.. try to just post office deliver your boxes cost cheaper , and be ready to pay at least 1+k for a 1 bedroom house or 2 bed , and trust me for that price ,,, not so decent.. and be ready for a high costly living situation here and price of gas is oh close to 5 bucks now. and be ready for some culture shock ,, this is definantly not like mainland , things here are much smaller , and oh did i mention ,,,only place to shop is walmart , ross and target, and one sucky mall .. so if u want to come and live here , this is what you will get a RAINY RAINY everyday of the week .. if i were you i wouldnt move here ...

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by kadea36

and to answere your questions about having to mail your clothes in boxes , try to eliminate what clothes u want to keep because prices of airmailing it would cost a lot, dont get fed ex it cost us for 6 boxes about 4 hundred plus dollars , and it would take about 2 weeks to get your car to hawaii from mainland depending where from in mainland, were from california ..so u really have plan when your leaving and so that way u know how soon to have your car shipped here so that way u wont have to go long with out a car.... FYI.. i would do tons of research bfr moving here i know u have your heart set to move here , but i would really really think 2x or more , cost of living is high, gas is close to 5/ gallon, rent is high , not a lot of places to go and see , once u see it all , thats about all u can see u cant really go far, no nitelife, places closes too early here..thank goodness were only here for one year and off we go back to california ... its culture shock for me and not to mention island fever

Last edited by kadea36; Today at 11:04 PM.. Reason: run on sentence

[HiloDiver]

Nice how she keeps finding old threads to re-open and whine whine whine whine whine.

Giving advice to someone who asked it 1-1/2 years ago.

All of that energy should be redirected into taking classes in remedial English.

Does anyone else suspect "posting under the influence"?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by DebbyDiver

All of that energy should be redirected into taking classes in remedial English.

Originally Posted by DebbyDiver

Does anyone else suspect "posting under the influence"?

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by kadea36

oh and when we moved here total cost was 7k , so really try to eliminate the clothes u dont need , such as ,,, heavey jacket, or leather stuff , they mold here trust me.. try to just post office deliver your boxes cost cheaper , and be ready to pay at least 1+k for a 1 bedroom house or 2 bed , and trust me for that price ,,, not so decent.. and be ready for a high costly living situation here and price of gas is oh close to 5 bucks now. and be ready for some culture shock ,, this is definantly not like mainland , things here are much smaller , and oh did i mention ,,,only place to shop is walmart , ross and target, and one sucky mall .. so if u want to come and live here , this is what you will get a RAINY RAINY everyday of the week .. if i were you i wouldnt move here ...

That's crazy. Spending $7,000 to ship over heavy jackets and such. I thought it was strange you expected shopping and nightlife, but it sounds like you were also expecting a need for heavy jackets too?

I've moved all over internationally, and I have a general rule. If I can't get it on the plane with me, it's not coming with me.