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here is a classic example of why it is so important to have an exit strategy when considering a move to Hawaii ... such a wonderful place ... yet often so hard on new arrivals in so many ways ... the issues of separation from family and support is real:
The Bellingham Herald / Wire - State & Regional / Hawaii hairdresser buys plane ticket for homeless (http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/07/01/1507347/hawaii-hairdresser-buys-plane.html - broken link)
We figured it would cost us at least $7,000 to move back to the Big Island. Then another $7,000 if, for whatever reason, it didn't work out. It do make one pause!
New Mexico is looking better and better, given these financial facts, and they are facts. Pity the poor person who gets all caught up in the initial enthusiasm and says "I'm going to do it no matter what" and it doesn't work out. Always have a Plan B.
I moved to Denver and now my dad is sick and dying in New York.
That's not true, but it could happen just as easliy as it did to the man in that story.
Ah, well, what you write is perfectly true -- but that was not the point of my posting the story-link. I should have explained more. The news story notes that the man stuck in Hawaii is a 39-year-old who finds himself homeless in Honolulu after two (2) job opportunities fell through. This also could happen anywhere -- but seems to be a moderately (at the least) common recurring nightmare for folks seeking a new life in Hawaii. Especially in this economy, job opportunities and security are in particularly short supply -- and it is not an option to catch a Greyhound bus back home on the cheap ticket.
There is also a psychology to finding one's self seriously compromised when 2,500+ miles from the mainland -- a psychology that somehow often feels particularly dark and overwhelming when on an island in the middle of such distance over water. Many people stuck in California, 3000 miles from a home on the east coast, will feel far less anxiety even though the miles are the same.
I did not offer this trying to be negatively influencing people's decision to move to Hawaii. I offered it as my subject line states: "a cautionary tale". Simply food for (deep) thought.
My mother did just die a couple weeks ago. True. I was 3000 miles away. I have the resources and security to take the trip. I am a confirmed island person with many many years of this lifestyle. No stress for me. But for those many reading and writing to this Forum to get ideas and information, who are not yet proven islanders, who have not yet gained a secure position in the islands, who have not committed to an exit / emergency fund -- may I offer, once again, as has been said repeatedly by so many others here, do not overlook this reality.
I've heard tales of folks who have uprooted themselves and moved over to the islands because of a job offer just to find the job offer didn't exist when they got here.
We are so far away from most folk's safety nets with no way back except an expensive plane ticket. The price of airfare can change at any moment, too. Wish they still had the ocean liner passenger service between Hawaii and the mainland, then folks who had no money could at least hope to work for their passage back to the mainland.
Sorry to hear of the passing of your mom, Nullgeo. May you still have many bright happy memories of her to sustain you.
When I talk to folks coming here for a job, I always try to work into the conversation "do you have this offer in writing? Or have they sent you an employment contract?" I would never move here (or maybe anywhere else) for a job that wasn't nailed down in writing unless I had tons of money if it fell through.
How often do the folks reply that their job offer is only verbal? Or they "will find a job" when they get here? Have you known many of them to show up anyway?
Well, if they're calling because they want a rental, I usually don't hear back from those because we require proof of income (ability to pay rent - no matter what the vehicle). Some have a lot of savings so we're able to show ability from a bank account but the ones on a shoestring, no we don't hear much.
Yeah, since I draw blueprints, most of the mainland clients I get are the ones wanting to build a house so they are usually better funded than the shoestring folks.
Most of the "interesting" stories come from the mainland folks I meet through the gardening forums or the sustainability forums. Lots of folks want to move to Hawaii since they think they can live off the land or grow enough to feed themselves year 'round. If they can do it on the mainland, then I'd reckon they could do it over here, too, but loads of them are city folks who haven't ever even grown a radish before. Generally the learning curve is higher than their shoestring can reach.
... Generally the learning curve is higher than their shoestring can reach.
... ah, but if one throws one's shoestring high enough, over the peak of that learning curve, then one can fashion a nifty noose for hanging one's self ... which, in turn, eliminates the problem of getting back to the mainland ...
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