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I don't think I have enough vacation time to go everywhere next year....but maybe I need to try and make that my 2012 New Years Resolution, travel to Hawaii this summer and island hop, and then spend Christmas in New Zealand when it's summer there. Hmmm....sounds expensive.
I don't think I have enough vacation time to go everywhere next year....but maybe I need to try and make that my 2012 New Years Resolution, travel to Hawaii this summer and island hop, and then spend Christmas in New Zealand when it's summer there. Hmmm....sounds expensive.
not so expensive if you're making US$
although I haven't checked the exchange rate lately
The best time to visit is Nov through to March imo.
Being a minority with the undertone of prejudice because we are white.
Its quite interesting to see from the perspective of those who took for granted their social hierarchical position and thrown into the reverse position and try to explain their newly experienced social education. Please note this isn't an attack on you particularly D, just my general observation of the consistency of point of view to the culture shock by mainlanders.
Here's a hint (and also in regards to other posters who comment with parallel like point of views), it has nothing to do with Asians or Polynesians. It happens everywhere to everybody, only you see it differently, because you are at the other end of the stick.
Last edited by lost_traveler1; 12-28-2011 at 07:27 PM..
I will have to price out these trips and see what makes the most sense time wise. Travelling with a family of 4 is not the cheapest way to travel.
Also, how are the crime rates in Hawaii or New Zealand? I keep hearing mixed reviews from people. I'm not too worried about small petty crime as annoying as it may be, I'm more concerned with the more violent crime rates such as rape, murder, assault, etc...
I don't think I have enough vacation time to go everywhere next year....but maybe I need to try and make that my 2012 New Years Resolution, travel to Hawaii this summer and island hop, and then spend Christmas in New Zealand when it's summer there. Hmmm....sounds expensive.
I'm willing to bet that if you create multiple checklists and crossing off different things on each list that doesn't apply for each place, you come out with equal amounts of things but all different for each island (And I mean not just the Hawaiian Islands).
If you reduce your list to 2 or 3 things that are essential, that had the most meaning for you to make a crazy relocation effort whether it be Kauai or fricken' Tasmania, then I think you will be satisfied in finding your place. A lot of people, tired of where they currently live, open up google and start plugging away searching for some ideal place to live, all with a list of qualities they think would make an ideal lifestyle, stumble and bumble to the Hawaii forum asking "is this the place?"
Understand that if there was a place that even met 75% of the things on your list I guarantee that by the time you find that place, it has been ruined by others seeking, like you, who have already been there and done that.
THATS why Oahu has 900,000 of the 1.1 million population of the entire Hawaiian Islands. Oahu WAS the ideal place, then after everyone came, everyone thereafter "SETTLED" for the neighbor islands. Settled, meaning that they had to cross off more and more things on their list and end up with living in Hilo, Puna, Lahaina, etc....and ironically has more going for it ideally than of Oahu, because Honolulu became so overcrowded.
Determine what are the 2 maybe 3 main things you want for your family then find the place that meets those, move there, then adjust to the things that did not make your extended list....You want good beaches, good healthcare, good jobs - then Oahu. You want good beaches lower density neighborhoods, ok jobs - Maui (except the beaches are hella' windy come afternoon, which is only great if you love windsailing). You want beaches and rural - Lanai. You want low density and close proximity to water - BI (Understand that BI beaches suck with the rough large pebble like lava sand).
Last edited by lost_traveler1; 12-28-2011 at 08:50 PM..
I will have to price out these trips and see what makes the most sense time wise. Travelling with a family of 4 is not the cheapest way to travel.
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I would hope, for your wife and kids sake, that you use the money and the time instead for a great ski vacation somewhere in N. CA or Canada. Even CO is very close. If you live in Houston, mountains, snow, trees ladden with icecles, frozen lakes, snow-men, dog-sled rides.... will be a great hit! OR an Alaska cruise in the middle of summer. (I plan on doing this next year). A trip to N.Z. would be exhausting for young kids, and I am not sure they will appreciate sightseeing N.Z. ????
I somehow assumed, as a father myself, that your kids happiness was on top of your list. But, ultimately, after re-reading your posts, it sounds like you are looking for this very elusive feeling of being "home". This utopian place where all your desires and wants are fulfilled.
This simply comes from being raised in a military family, where you were never "home". Wherever you went, it was temporary, so you knew it was not "home". You have a wandering syndrome, and you should consider treating it, because it hampers your ability to enjoy whatever you have, wherever you are.
A lot of answers you got in this blog, from real smart people, kept saying: if you have x you want y, and once you have y you want z, and as soon as you get w you lose x..... In other words, the morality of the story is "Enjoy what you have". There is no harm trying to better your position, but also, you should feel happy and content if your family is in good health, you live in a nice house, have a decent job, and live in one of the most wonderful country in the world. I would seek a counselor advice, if I was you, to talk about your "wanting to feel home" needs.
I do not mean that moving to different places is a bad thing. It makes kids very adaptable and they learn many lessons. But at least, every time the parents move, the child think: this is my new home. In the military, it is very different. At the time you move in, you also know you will move out soon. And you don't just change house or city or school, but countries too. So you hold off any feeling of "being home". It feels like when you go to an hotel.
Try to give your kids this "home" feeling you lack in your childhood. And "home" in the U.S. is what will give them the greatest opportunities and CHOICES. N.Z. will severely limit their choices in the future, and most probably, they will return any way. Of course, they will come back! And be like strangers in their own country.
Last edited by SurferCocoa; 12-29-2011 at 09:43 AM..
Wow, you took this all to a pretty deep level. I have already seen everything in the US. Even my kids at their young ages have been to Aspen to go skiing (tubing in their situation), we have been to Florida with our oldest, San Diego with both, the Midwest with both, etc...we travel a lot. Of course I am looking for a more permanent place to reside for myself because I don't want my children to have the "wandering syndrome" that you mentioned. I will not move my children around for the sheer fun of it....we have not moved since having them and don't intend to move more than once, and preferably we would like to do that while they are young enough to more easily adapt to their new environment.
Sorry that you had think that I need counseling because I think that Houston is a dirty ugly city with bad air quality, poor sight seeing, muddy water, etc....but that is what it is. Anyone who has been to Houston can attest to the nature of this city...it's a place to make good money, plain and simple. Since my wife works in healthcare, we are here...because the Texas Medical Center is the largest healthcare facility in the United States. Houston is also insulated from the economy due to the petro-chem companies here that keep our economy moving even when other places post high unemployment, decreasing property values, etc... but it's simply not our version of a family city. We have made our money and now would like to live a slightly simpler life for both ourselves and for our children. I am trying to not get too defensive as I am sure you are simply trying to offer a protagonist point of view, but I don't need therapy because I am looking to move. We can still vacation as we see fit, whether it is Hawaii, New Zealand, Alaska, Japan, etc...who cares what site we go see. Between my wife and I, we have been to Europe, Alaska, the Middle East, Japan, South Africa, India, Hawaii, and all over the CONUS.
The point is that making generalized statements about public school makeup is misleading. It varies a lot from town to town. My haole kids went to school in Kailua, where they were almost in the majority. It says Maunawili, but it's really the 96734 zip, and that's all of Kailua.
Sorry that you had think that I need counseling because I think that Houston is a dirty ugly city with bad air quality, poor sight seeing, muddy water, etc....but that is what it is. Anyone who has been to Houston can attest to the nature of this city...it's a place to make good money, plain and simple.
I command you greatly to want to get out of Houston. I will not live there myself, not accept a job for better money.
What I am puzzled about is you ready to spend $10K to visit a small island with 4 million habitants, with a 5yo and 2yo in tow, at the end of the world, just to see if it is better than Houston.
I am a child counselor as my profession, and I am simply thinking of the kids. Maybe this is why I might seem more involved than I should.
And I also know that parents problems often affect their children too.
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