It CAN be done :) Only $12K, a hope and a prayer (airport, to move)

[KaraBenNemsi]

This board by its very nature attracts all kinds of people who want to relocate. Especially if you live in a desirable location like Hawaii, NYC, SF, or Florida. We know this.

I am curious of the motives of the ones telling them how it really is (I include myself here). Is it that we are just altruistic? To help folks avoiding pitfalls, mistakes?

Or is it protectionist behavior, closing the door behind us?

Or a certain pride of having made it against the odds and talking about it?

Or simply making 'cyber' friends and entertainment?

Or is it a kind of self reflecting behavior to reassure ourselves of how life is over here? I guess we learn a lot from each other by reading our varied stories, warnings, recommendations.

[hotzcatz]

Personally, I give advice to folks who want to move over here to try and weed out the misfits so we won't have to pick them up out of the hole they've dug for themselves and somehow get them back to where they can survive. It is an island, it's got limited resources. If we can keep fifty shouldn't be here's from showing up, that's fifty less people that we will have to take care of using the limited resources. On the flip side, if there's folks who we can attract to our island who will help the island thrive, then we should do everything possible to encourage them to appear. It can be hard to figure out which is which, though.

When we get someone who has an unrealistic idea of living in Hawaii, it's in their best interest as well as the island's interest if we can educate them in what to really expect. Big houses on white sand beaches with high paying jobs for unskilled workers? Not likely, no matter what the Hawaii Visitor's Bureau puts into their advertisements.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I sincerely hope that OP is really here and it is going to work for her.

OP says that it was $12,000 to relocate, not that her family only had $12,000.

Some people have job skills that are in demand and they can find jobs fairly easily. So, it is not totally impossible to get a job quickly.

My worry about OP's post is that it will encourage people who don't have any more than $12,000 and don't have any marketable job skills to decide that if OP could do it, so can they. Not to mention, 1 week is hardly enough time to prove that everything is all rainbows and unicorns.

It looks like we won't be getting any updates so won't learn whether or not the move worked. All we really have is what it cost to move the family, minus possessions, from one location to another.

[Robin Rossi]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Personally, I give advice to folks who want to move over here to try and weed out the misfits so we won't have to pick them up out of the hole they've dug for themselves and somehow get them back to where they can survive. It is an island, it's got limited resources. If we can keep fifty shouldn't be here's from showing up, that's fifty less people that we will have to take care of using the limited resources. On the flip side, if there's folks who we can attract to our island who will help the island thrive, then we should do everything possible to encourage them to appear. It can be hard to figure out which is which, though.

When we get someone who has an unrealistic idea of living in Hawaii, it's in their best interest as well as the island's interest if we can educate them in what to really expect. Big houses on white sand beaches with high paying jobs for unskilled workers? Not likely, no matter what the Hawaii Visitor's Bureau puts into their advertisements.

That's a big 10-4!!!

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

My goal is to share my experiences in packing, moving, settling in, and actually living in Hawaii. I have found so many things that are different from "where I came from" and I have learned so much about adjustments to live here, that I want to share with others that are considering the same. After all, when we were doing our research, we learned a lot from people who had already made the move. Now I am trying to pay it forward (to those who actually listen).

Additionally, when I see someone come on this forum who is on a trajectory to failure, I try to help give them a dose of reality. Granted, not everyone's experiences are going to be the same, and I'm sure there will be some people who will made it work no matter what, but like hotzcatz says, if we can keep some from making a big mistake then we have been successful.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

When we get someone who has an unrealistic idea of living in Hawaii, it's in their best interest as well as the island's interest if we can educate them in what to really expect.

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Additionally, when I see someone come on this forum who is on a trajectory to failure, I try to help give them a dose of reality.

Agreed, and agreed. I do the same. I own property here, I pay taxes here, I have a keen interest in the quality of life here on the Big Island and in all of Hawai'i now and in the future. I don't want to see people coming to Hawai'i who are just going to be a drain, or who have little chance of success, any more than anyone else here does.

But you don't have to be hostile or ugly to be honest, and simple kindness to strangers asking questions is never out of place. One can be frank without being mean. That's my point.

[CyberCity]

A lot has to do with the response of the inquirer to a poster who is bothering to make an attempt at giving useful advice. If the inquirer is defensive ("MY way is the right way, and I'm bringing the right way to Hawaii"), then the tone often heads towards unfriendly ground. But if the inquirer uses the advice as a springboard to asking more questions, trying to understand the "why" of the advice, then things often stay quite friendly.

In other words, the inquirer has some responsibility in the game too.

[This in not referring to the OP of this thread, or even this thread, but in general.]

[willowkim]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Ok, I'll say it - maybe she's not really here? Seems like when you can really use CD the most is when you get to a place you've never even been to before. This final post I just arrived thing seems really odd - as if she knows detailed questions would be coming she can't answer.

She is really here, we met her and her family at the airport when they arrived. We've been corresponding via email and phone since she started posting at CD and it was super cool to meet her and her family! We had a picnic at Kahalu'u a few days after they got here and the turtles showed up, it was very cool.

I think that the reason she's not sticking around and posting is that they are seriously crazy busy with the transition and trying to enjoy the island as much as possible before school and work starts; after that, she will be crazy busy working and running the side businesses she already is working on to support her family (she did the same thing where they used to live). I won't share their professions since she didn't. But they are professionals and did do extensive research on income levels before moving, and how much of a hit they would take in their respective professions.

She is one of the most hard-working people I have ever met. There is not a lazy bone in her body. This is the kind of family you really want to move here -- they will work hard, support the economy, take part in the community, and all the rest.

It remains to be seen whether Hawaii will be forever. No one can really know how attached they are to the "old mainland ways" and the support systems and the way things work until they give it all up. Maybe she'll pop back in and give an update anyway, even if she did say it was her last post.

[willowkim]

Originally Posted by davephan

I think it is very likely that you are right, I don't think she is there at all. That would explain the generic 'final' post. Not much in specifics at all. The general information could easily come from other posts, pricing etc. The airfare seems high for one-way tickets, unless they were round trip.

I think it would be very easy to come to the conclusion that it was a charade from the beginning. It's too implausible that a person would be continuously too busy in Hawaii to ever have time to get back on the Internet and give an updates or ask more questions. A job that could support a battalion of kids would require a serious income level. The higher income level jobs can take weeks to go through the hiring process. It's also my understanding that high income jobs are very rare on the Big Island, unless you work remotely. If OpenD ever meets MommyofManyKids in person then we will know, but I don't think that will ever happen because she isn't there.

And this, folks, this is why people complain about the rampant negativity in this forum. It makes me want to spit. Anyone reading her old posts, seeing her deal with the negative comments, and push on through the objections with very detailed questions about neighborhoods and streets and activities for the kids could tell she wasn't a troll.

Her husband did indeed get a job here. Quickly. A real, honest-to-goodness, professional level job with benefits. Sometimes things really do work out for people who work hard and stay positive. Shocking, I know.

Of course no one knows if they will fall in love with the real Hawaii after things settle. You can research a place and even live there for years and still decide it's not where you want to be forever. But good grief, ease up on the cynicism, or at least save it for the people who want to pitch a tent on the beach and live the simple life.

[Robin Rossi]

Originally Posted by willowkim

She is really here, we met her and her family at the airport when they arrived. We've been corresponding via email and phone since she started posting at CD and it was super cool to meet her and her family! We had a picnic at Kahalu'u a few days after they got here and the turtles showed up, it was very cool.

I think that the reason she's not sticking around and posting is that they are seriously crazy busy with the transition and trying to enjoy the island as much as possible before school and work starts; after that, she will be crazy busy working and running the side businesses she already is working on to support her family (she did the same thing where they used to live). I won't share their professions since she didn't. But they are professionals and did do extensive research on income levels before moving, and how much of a hit they would take in their respective professions.

She is one of the most hard-working people I have ever met. There is not a lazy bone in her body. This is the kind of family you really want to move here -- they will work hard, support the economy, take part in the community, and all the rest.

It remains to be seen whether Hawaii will be forever. No one can really know how attached they are to the "old mainland ways" and the support systems and the way things work until they give it all up. Maybe she'll pop back in and give an update anyway, even if she did say it was her last post.

Sounds like a Win - Win!!