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Some of you old timers might remember me as HonuMan. My wife and I have lived in Portland, Oregon for the past 20 years, but she's from Hilo, and I'm a Mainlander who has had a love for Hawaii since I was a kid. I've made numerous visits with her, and we've wanted to move there at least three times, but jobs, children, and finances prevented us. My last trip to Hawaii was in 2010. Priorities changed, and I dropped off the C-D forums. We thought we'd stay in Portland for the rest of our lives. Portland, however, has grown to the point where its population has outstripped the infrastructure's ability to handle it. Traffic is terrible; drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians have become increasingly rude; and the homeless situation has gotten way out of hand. For newcomers from big, expensive cities like San Francisco, Lost Angeles, and New York City, the area is a bargain, and they don't mind the drawbacks. Most people we know who have been here longer than five years, however, have become disenchanted with what used to be a nearly ideal city in most ways, climate excepted.
One of my stepsons got married and moved to the South last year. A benefit of Portland's popularity for my wife and me is that home values here have been skyrocketing. We were amazed by what kind of home we could get in the South if we sold our modest home here and moved -- not to mention the overall lower cost of living. I lived in Atlanta for 25 years, and I've been away long enough that I thought I could live in the South again and be happy. My wife likes what she's seen of it, especially the friendly people. She will retire in two years. I have a job that allows me to telecommute from anywhere. I got back on C-D, discovered that my HonuMan ID no longer existed, became Lapaki (we have pet rabbits), and started doing research. We settled on the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, thanks in large part to the fact that several friends of ours have moved there over the years and love it.
We just got back from three weeks on the Big Island, though -- in part to show around some Portland friends who had never been there, in part to reconnect with friends and family, and in part to see if, just maybe, it would be possible for us to move there. NC would be the more practical choice, to be sure, but Hilo wouldn't be as impractical as we'd expected. We could afford a house that's comparable to what we have now, if not our dream house. We compared the cost of grocery items we buy, and were surprised to find that prices are comparable to what we pay in Portland (my parents, when they visited from Atlanta, found Portland's prices to be high) -- even at KTA and Safeway. Of course, there's also Costco in Kailua-Kona and Cost-U-Less in Hilo, as well as the farmer's market for produce. (Is Cost-U-Less owned by Costco? We saw some familiar Kirkland products.) The two main drawbacks we determined are the cost of electricity and the sorry state of healthcare, although neither of us has any serious medical issues, and we got some tips from our friends and relatives on how they deal with that aspect. My wife will have her retirement income, and I'll have my high Mainland salary, along with the blessing of my company's leaders (whom I've known for years) to telecommute. They were shocked that we were considering NC instead of Hawaii.
The most important factor, though, is how much we both love Hawaii -- for the lifestyle, culture, people, and of course the climate, scenery, ocean, and beaches. My wife is a "local girl" through and through, and has been homesick for the past 20 years. I've seen myself someday living in Hawaii since I was 11. We'd have a huge support network of family and friends, who are thrilled that we're thinking of moving there. We're aware of the bad aspects as well as the good, so wouldn't be going into this with rose-colored glasses.
It was interesting to see how Hilo has grown since 2010. The traffic is worse, but nothing compared to Portland or Atlanta. (You can still get just about anywhere in 15 minutes, as long as it's not rush hour on the road to Pahoa.) There are a lot of new stores. It has all the amenities we need. I'm originally from California, so my comfort food is Mexican, so I was pleased to find that it's now widely available, especially in Kailua. Saddle Road makes for an easy trip. Cafe Pesto still has great Italian food. KTA still has great poke. The coqui frogs didn't bother us. And, to our surprise, we encountered no mosquitoes, only a couple of houseflies, and one "B-52" (apparently thanks to the dry summer).
Anyway, I have no advice to ask for, but I just wanted to share our great trip and the likelihood that our long-time dream to live in Hawaii might actually come true!
Well, given your wife's twenty years of homesickness and your premonition that someday you'll live in Hawaii, it seems Research Triangle will have to get along without you.
And you can bring your pet rabbits over to Hawaii with no quarantine whatsoever! Woot! And they can all fly in one airline kennel, too.
Do you have a time frame for your wife's homecoming?
Congratulations! Cost-U-less is NOT owned by Costco, just buys things from them, (Kirtland brand) as do local businesses, like our local feed store in Pahoa and the farmers markets, items like potatoes, onions, etc.
Welcome back HonuMan--I've tried to quit the forums myself but keep coming back. As west coast prices keep going up, Hawaii keeps getting relatively cheaper, but shhhh. You keep talking about having a dream home, but I'd rather have (and do have) a modest bungalow in a dream location, easier to clean, and anyway, life is mostly outdoors here, as you know. For a couple with retiree and remote work income, you can do just fine on da cheap island. Once here with all your connections, you'll probably find even more savings: neighborhood fruit, gardening, uncle's fishing, and share your own too. Cost of electricity can be dealt with solar panels if you have a bit of cash to invest--and gives you a nice tax savings on your last year of high income. For cheap transportation, I recommend a used electric car, probably in addition to a Kailua-Costco-run gas car. So it seems like a good fit for you, I hope you can make it work.
Cost-u-less is owned by a company that runs stores in remote places: Hawaii, USVI, and Canadian Arctic of all places, and somehow descended from the Hudson Bay company--weird but cool. I don't believe they are affiliated with Costco, other than sometimes stocking up over there, maybe they get wholesaler deals on excess inventory. We like the random selection of fairly good quality products, including organics and some local ones. Hawaiian shampoo for $3 instead of $10 tourist price, time to stock up.
Well, given your wife's twenty years of homesickness and your premonition that someday you'll live in Hawaii, it seems Research Triangle will have to get along without you.
And you can bring your pet rabbits over to Hawaii with no quarantine whatsoever! Woot! And they can all fly in one airline kennel, too.
Do you have a time frame for your wife's homecoming?
That's good to know about the rabbits, Hotzcatz! If I recall correctly, don't you raise angoras? We have an English spot rabbit and an American dwarf lionhead, both rescue bunnies.
The plan has been for my wife to wait to retire when she turns 70 in early 2020, so she can start collecting her maximum Social Security benefit and bank two more years of income, but we might move it a year or so earlier. Her retired friends urge her to do so and start enjoying her golden years. She has very stressful job. (I'm younger and have a few more working years, but I'm fortunate to have a low-stress job in a company that's relatively devoid of corporate politics.)
Congratulations! Cost-U-less is NOT owned by Costco, just buys things from them, (Kirtland brand) as do local businesses, like our local feed store in Pahoa and the farmers markets, items like potatoes, onions, etc.
Welcome back HonuMan--I've tried to quit the forums myself but keep coming back. As west coast prices keep going up, Hawaii keeps getting relatively cheaper, but shhhh. You keep talking about having a dream home, but I'd rather have (and do have) a modest bungalow in a dream location, easier to clean, and anyway, life is mostly outdoors here, as you know.
For a couple with retiree and remote work income, you can do just fine on da cheap island. Once here with all your connections, you'll probably find even more savings: neighborhood fruit, gardening, uncle's fishing, and share your own too. Cost of electricity can be dealt with solar panels if you have a bit of cash to invest--and gives you a nice tax savings on your last year of high income. For cheap transportation, I recommend a used electric car, probably in addition to a Kailua-Costco-run gas car. So it seems like a good fit for you, I hope you can make it work.
Thanks, KauaiHiker! The dream home was to be a consolation prize for not being able to live in Hawaii. We didn't want something big, just something tailored to our lifestyle: modern, energy efficient, with a nice-size kitchen (my wife loves to cook), and a yard that's big enough to have a garden and give us a little privacy from neighbors. The PNW climate provides only two or three months of weather when we can sit out on the back deck, so most living is done indoors. In any case, we want to get rid of a lot of stuff we no longer need and thus simplify our lives, so this will be a good incentive. One of our Hilo friends is a recently retired realtor, and he has plenty of good advice for us. We're thinking of a place on the mauka side of Hilo, maybe in Waiakea or Kaumana, where it's tad cooler.
We noticed a lot of houses with solar panels and figure we'll invest in those. I'm curious about the new Tesla solar shingles. Elon's aim is to get them to a point where they don't cost much more than a regular roof, so in a couple years, who knows?
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Cost-u-less is owned by a company that runs stores in remote places: Hawaii, USVI, and Canadian Arctic of all places, and somehow descended from the Hudson Bay company--weird but cool. I don't believe they are affiliated with Costco, other than sometimes stocking up over there, maybe they get wholesaler deals on excess inventory. We like the random selection of fairly good quality products, including organics and some local ones. Hawaiian shampoo for $3 instead of $10 tourist price, time to stock up.
That's good to know about the rabbits, Hotzcatz! If I recall correctly, don't you raise angoras? We have an English spot rabbit and an American dwarf lionhead, both rescue bunnies.
The plan has been for my wife to wait to retire when she turns 70 in early 2020, so she can start collecting her maximum Social Security benefit and bank two more years of income, but we might move it a year or so earlier. Her retired friends urge her to do so and start enjoying her golden years. She has very stressful job. (I'm younger and have a few more working years, but I'm fortunate to have a low-stress job in a company that's relatively devoid of corporate politics.)
Yup, angora rabbits are our 'livestock'. Micro-farming is so much easier than 'real' farming. Farming for luxury items - in this case bunny fluff - works well when one doesn't have a lot of land. The bunny manure is also excellent for the garden so there's a double benefit to having them.
There's the occasional rabbit show on the island if you wanted to take your bunnies to a rabbit show. Very low key and not a whole lot of competition. I don't think I've seen either an English Spot or an American Dwarf Lionhead at any of the shows. If you brought over a breeding pair of a new breed, you'd be able to breed and sell rabbits. Not a whole lot of income, but good for an extra bit now and then. They can be almost entirely forage fed so maintenance costs aren't much with rabbits. Once you get over twenty of them, then it's rather a bit more work, though.
Retiring and when to start collecting benefits don't have to be at the same time. If you live off of savings or reduced income for a couple of years, then you'll be able to delay signing up for Social Security benefits until the higher amount kicks in and still retire earlier. That would allow your wife to start enjoying her retirement now instead of waiting. I'm a big fan of having fun when ever possible.
We're about out of 2017 and it can take a year to find a new house, sell your old house and get ready to move, so even if you started now, it'd still be close to 2019 before you were moved to Hilo.
Welcome back. I grew up in Portland Oregon before getting sidetracked to Alaska for 15 years and finally winding up here.
We get visitors from Portland at least annually and they have all commented on how "cheap" it is to live here. No sticker shock on groceries, restaurants, or gas, some things like liquors are actually cheaper here. And on much of the island real estate is a bargain by comparison. Looks like Californication has taken it's toll on my old stomping grounds. The last time I visited the few green spaces that were left in the suburbs had been consumed by more strip malls. I'll never go back there.
Yup, angora rabbits are our 'livestock'. Micro-farming is so much easier than 'real' farming. Farming for luxury items - in this case bunny fluff - works well when one doesn't have a lot of land. The bunny manure is also excellent for the garden so there's a double benefit to having them.
There's the occasional rabbit show on the island if you wanted to take your bunnies to a rabbit show. Very low key and not a whole lot of competition. I don't think I've seen either an English Spot or an American Dwarf Lionhead at any of the shows. If you brought over a breeding pair of a new breed, you'd be able to breed and sell rabbits. Not a whole lot of income, but good for an extra bit now and then. They can be almost entirely forage fed so maintenance costs aren't much with rabbits. Once you get over twenty of them, then it's rather a bit more work, though.
I joke that the "dust bunnies" that roll around our floors are made from genuine rabbit fur. The amount they shed is truly amazing. We started years ago with two young Belgian lionheads that we thought were both males (it's hard to tell when they're only four months old, but we didn't know that at the time). That turned out to be half right, and they soon had three babies. We were going to give them away, but then we named them, so of course it was too late. The last of that family passed away in 2016, and we acquired the two we have now. The year before, we lost our dog, who lived to be almost 18. In addition to our rabbits, we have two rescue cats. When these guys pass, we think that will be it for pets for us. We become very attached to them, and it's very hard when they die. In addition, the vet bills add up, which is a consideration on a retirement income.
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Retiring and when to start collecting benefits don't have to be at the same time. If you live off of savings or reduced income for a couple of years, then you'll be able to delay signing up for Social Security benefits until the higher amount kicks in and still retire earlier. That would allow your wife to start enjoying her retirement now instead of waiting. I'm a big fan of having fun when ever possible.
We're about out of 2017 and it can take a year to find a new house, sell your old house and get ready to move, so even if you started now, it'd still be close to 2019 before you were moved to Hilo.
Thanks. We're going to talk with our financial adviser and weigh our various options. Having fun is good.
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