If you knew then what you know now, would you have moved to the island sooner?

[Joliefille]

Your BHA will increase depending on where you live, so if UH Hilo doesnt have the programs you're interested in, don't neglect schools on Oahu, like UH WEST.

[modogs2014]

Thanks Joliefille! I have looked at that, but I'm not sure the increase would be commensurate with the increase in COL of Oahu. Coming from San Antonio, I will actually lose about $200 on the BI. But.... housing prices (for what we want) are about the same, if not a little less bc of the property taxes being so much lower. I would absolutely love to live on Oahu, I will always have friends that get stationed there and of course it is beautiful. But I am a little more weary of the size of the mortgages on that island. (I have four huge dogs so rental is out of the question just about anywhere in the country lol) Like some people have already cautioned others, I don't want to move there just to be poor, bc then I can't experience all the good stuff.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by modogs2014

Thanks for relying DoH! We are no where near retirement, so for us it's more of, let's go before we have kids (if that even happens) and while we are still young and adventurous. My husband wants to go back to school (with the GI Bill) and I may use the rest of mine for a grad program. We wouldn't need jobs at this point with our VA money, of course as long as it's just us and our dogs. Once we finish, are established and get "real" jobs, maybe the kids and all that can come. I don't want to go unprepared, but to take years of planning and saving I think it's too much for us and we will find reasons not to go.
We were only going to wait a few months anyway, maybe about 6. We would have to live on Hilo for affordability and access to UofH, but eventually want to move closer to the beaches on the other side.
We do have an escape plan, and at least for the next 5 years we will have income, even if we do nothing, so it just seems like the only feasible time to just pick up and go. Also no health problems so if the VA care sucks no biggie, we would love to experience all the outdoors stuff but we gave up clubbing and partying a few years ago so no need for that.
Trust me with all the pets we have, the quarantine process alone will keep me put for a few months and we have to buy a new house, sell this one, ship our things... So the 6 months may be extended.
I just get a negative vibe from some people on here and some of the things they say. Not the advice given, bc sometimes I see posts and think- no way! bad idea! but it seems like the more I dig through here the more unpleasantness I find. Hopefully they are just bored people with nothing better to do, but I do enjoy reading opinions and experiences and I take a little bit of everything into consideration.

Well, that does make more sense. Do it now while you don't have kids. Then you can't look back and say "I wish we had lived in Hawaii........." People like you who do all the planning have a lot better chance of success.

Regarding the negative people -- you'll find them everywhere. Just understand that there may be more negative here because we've seen so many people spend a lot of money moving to Hawaii and then finding it's not the paradise they thought it was from their one or two vacations. And things operate WAY differently here than on the mainland, so we want to make sure that people move here with a full understanding of what they may encounter. If you read a particularly negative post, look at other posts from that person and that will give you an idea of their mindset.

We've loved our time in Hawaii, and we haven't experienced any "haole go home" attitudes.

[modogs2014]

That is a good idea, I can kind of tell already some of the people who have negative patterns.

I feel that as much as I've moved and lived in different countries, I am pretty open to something being very different. The worst culture shock I ever had was coming BACK to the US after 4 years on Okinawa. Everything was so big and people were so loud and drove so fast lol. And RUDE!!! hahaha I bawled my eyes out in LAX waiting for them to "find" my 100 lb dog in his XXL crate, after lots of ignoring me and yelling at me to check again with the oversized luggage. Like I could miss that, with a barking scared dog in it!! It took me a very long time to get over that move and if I could click my heels and go back to that island I would do it in a heartbeat!! (Still not ruled out, maybe i can get a DoD job out there one day!)

Sicily was amazing also and what I love about the BI is that they have the volcano that gets snow in winter, and the beaches that are nice and warm, all within an hour or 2 depending on where you live. Sicily was like that, every weekend we went to a different beach and in winter we went up Mt Etna, and within a few hours of being in the cold we were ready to get out of there! Mostly I just loved having the view of it, snow capped, on a clear day.

I know that after time any place can wear on you once the "honeymoon" fades, but I also know that the things I always missed about the States were never as great as I remembered them when I was gone. Except Mexican food!!! That is just hard to find anywhere, after living in TX, AZ and CA!! Fortunately we have learned some recipes from our friends and the ingredients are pretty basic, as long you have the right spices.

We were leaving San Antonio after this semester no matter what, now we are just going to hang out here a little longer to get everything in order for a bigger move than originally planned. The pets will be the hardest part and most expensive, I'm sure.