This is my plan. What's the verdict? (Wailua: student loan, hotel)

[Calico Salsa]

Some truly excellent advice and feedback here, I've tried to rep them all but can't on some because I've repped them so recently already.

I agree that now is a good time of life, when you are young and healthy and full of future, to try out what draws you. Just don't let too many years slip by before you have a longer term plan for the future.

I don't regret my choices exactly, but I do wish I'd listened to some of the advice from my past. Save your money as you can, and while it may be hard to believe now, it will get more difficult to save in the future, when you have more bills, possible healthcare costs, and fewer choices in what you can do.

Very, very excellent advice to talk to older folks about their choices and what they might do differently.

You would be very welcome on Maui! Your positive outlook and energy would fit right in.

[Norwegiangiant]

In my life I have lived in Michigan, California, Colorado, and now Hawaii. If I stay in one place too long I get antsy and spend hours and days researching other places I NEED to go too. I'm 28, 6'2", single, have a piddly bank account, and really own nothing to my name.

My last boyfriend asked me what my passion was once and at the time I couldn't answer the question since I didn't know. He's also the one who said I was going nowhere. Since that time, I have thought about it constantly and it came to me that my passion is actually NOT having a career but really just doing precisely what I want in life. For me that includes a lot of moving, traveling and outdoor adventures. I really could care less if all I have is $2 in the bank and literally only own clothes. I'm happy and personally I think that's more than a lot of people have. Don't get me wrong. People who have true passion and determination in their pursuit of a career and money are sometimes very admirable. I however think too few people actually take the time to relax and smell the roses so to say. If I ever have grandkids I want to have tons of stories of my explorations and travels, not stories of how I spent my life at a job I hate to make more money.

There is no reason why going to college first and then starting a career has to be the norm. Actually I think having someone travel first and then possibly going to college will have them starting out in college much more mature and responsible than their younger "party-hungry" peers. The people in this thread telling you not to pursue your goals and dreams aren't looking at the bigger picture. You don't need a career to be happy and you don't need money and education to live your life to the fullest. I am doing precisely what you are considering right now and I urge you to follow your heart and do it as well. I have never been more stress free, made so many friends, and been so happy in my life. College has done nothing for me except put me in debt and I'm not even using my degree. My college friends also don't exist anymore except for a few who stepped outside the norm.

Kudos and good luck David.

[Dthraco]

Wow. DavidAMIs, you are someone I would like to know. Completely agree with your motivations, and I do think you are one of the few who has something and to not let it go. That something is knowing that being happy is more important than any material item, and that you can't get lasting happyness from anything external.

After reading your posts, I get stoked. It's like a breath of fresh air.

Without making any assumptions on your frugal intelligence, I'll mirror Hotcatz advice on your saved funds - keep those cards close to your chest.

[Hp1167]

OP, you sound a lot like I was when I was your age.

I think you should do it, but heed the advice of the wiser here. At some point reality sets in. You can fight it and try to delay it all you want, but it hits home.

People that tell you to save money at your age and begin investing in a retirement account have it right on. Compounding interest is insanely beneficial to the young person. Plan right and you can retire at 45 or 50.

Think it sound stupid to "give up" 25 years of your prime life to be able to retire early? You won't think so when you hit 35 or 40, and realize you have another 40 years of work left instead of retiring in 5 or 10. This reality hits all of us.

Only the lucky few manage to side step the realities of life. For the rest of us it's making the best we can out of the opportunities presented to us and taken. There are a lot of choices you can make, but every choice involves giving something else up.

For instance:

My best friend lives in Maui. He loves it there. He has a pretty amazing job, too, though it doesn't pay great. He has a wife and a kid, and generally is pretty happy. However, they will never be able to buy a house, and will never have nice things, and will never be able to send their son to good schools or colleges. They struggle financially, have had to go bankrupt already, and will always live in small, poorly built housing that will never be theirs. They hate that, but figure the trade off is worth it to live in Maui. But it's still a struggle for them.

On the other hand, I live in Boise, and make far less than my friend. But I have a nice little house I just bought, a nice truck, 3 kayaks, a dirt bike, a mountain bike, a dog, nice furniture, a hot tub, and generally live a very comfortable life. Boise is great - it's cheap to live, world class mountains and whitewater every where, and I have the opportunity to pursue a number of hobbies when I have the free time. I can also save for retirement.

But Boise is not Maui, no matter how much I love it here. It's beautiful but its cold and dark six months of the year. People aren't as friendly, and the vibe isn't quite as pleasant. So again, there are trade-offs.

I think you should take this time now when you're young, but realize you'll change your opinions about what you want in life a number of times. You don't have to be so absolute or Holden Caufield.

And save every cent you can into retirement. Trust me.

[tonesdef]

Me and the wife are going to be doing the same thing once we finish up in Asia. Gonna head to the island do some wwoofing to get experience s she eventually wants to do some farming(or see if she can) and use the experience as a foot in the door so we aren't just some mainlander floundering around in hawaii.

Your young and you already did it once, Save up some cash and go at it.

BTW waiting for eventual retirement is a joke, All those people in their 50's that are now jobless and their 401k is junk prob wished they didn't spend their whole lives slaving away at a desk so they could work at a MickyD's when they are 60 so they can go to a movie once in a while.

Just a heads up on Portland i know a lot of folks that head there and never find a job. At least in HI you can bum it on the beaches.

[salegoi1]

DavidAMI, you should go for it! Most people who just get a 4-year degree end up as waiters, etc. especially in this economy. Why get all those loans for that? If anything you could do better financially by getting a 2 year degree in plumbing, welding, etc. and then have the job skills to move around in style! They are in much higher demand because they're actually useful, rather than just being able to analyze Shakespeare.

I actually have an interesting perspective.... I've done a lot of traveling and want to do a lot more, but I ended up going to pharmacy school (graduated last May) as part of the plan (and yes, I did want to be a pharmacist as well). I am in SC now (also because of a relationship that is now over) but am going to transfer to a pharmacy to HI.

It is possible for all those people who replied to have that outlook on life and still have an awesome career! I love my job and how much I get to help people as well as the challenge of the career but I spent my summers in pharmacy school living in Roatan, Honduras to become a PADI Assistant Instructor (and dive every day!) and paying for it by working as a Marine Biology teaching assistant for an academic camp on the beach of Eastern NC, while everyone else in my class spent time in a pharmacy It is tough to balance those things sometimes but it is totally worth it! Plus now I have the certification to work one or two days out of the week leading dives, and the rest of the time taking care of my patients

And Norwegian, if you keep talking like that you're going to get yourself a date

[nwcountrygal]

DavidAMI
You have the rest of your life ahead of you. Yes try to be responsible and find a way early as everyone is saying - Roth as Hotzcatz said! or lot in Puna. something. You don't have to follow the path of the past - and present. Just because. Things have changed. I followed what I thought - kinda was the way I was supposed to be when I was your age. You know what it too many years of not doing what I wanted to finally get to past 40 to try and do it. Live cheaply, love many.. find a passion and follow it.

Now the con- A vacation on islands isn't the answer to find life. Sounds like you did it cheaply - had some reprecussions from what you thought your course is. Yes going home to a cold city from Hawaii does give lots of depression. Look into what kinda of experiences you really want. Do you want to move ahead or hang with ..trying to find right word. Talking is all good. Finding out who you are is all good. It is a decision that you need to make. A Passion is a motivation! Is it life altering - maybe but it isn't a decision that you can't change at any point in time your young enough!

Although when I was your age I wish I would have listened to my uncle to get a Roth with little investment and just leave it. Now - again con Wall Street? but little investment might be a big payoff in the future. If not it was a little investment in life. Again listen to Hotzcatz.

[DavidAMIs]

Thank you again everyone for this advice.

To be honest, I haven't even tried to comprehend 401k's and investing in my future. To me, all I see is the government and money and I don't like the sight of that. What if someone worked their whole life just putting away into a bank account and then when it came time to retire they had a nice sum of money to sit on while also collecting Social Security or something. I don't know... someone care to explain to me how it all works?

Yes, I'm young and I haven't experienced much but I seem to have a lot of things figured out from what I HAVE experienced and what I know is that I want to be happy, healthy and feel alive. Yes, this was one trip to Hawaii, but how many do you think I need to know what I want? I felt something and I was in tune with that and I know what I want. Coming back home after that trip, nothing else made sense than to go back to Hawaii. But it took 2 months to figure that out. When I got back, my girlfriend was working and getting ready to start Community College for Spring. I was looking for work and applying to colleges, but everything was slowgoing.

My breakup was the catalyst for my transformation. That's not to say that I'm running away because of negative emotions. My girlfriend was in denial about our relationship so I took things into my own hands and broke it off. I was also in a very bad place since returning and I couldn't expose myself the way I was to anyone else. I had to figure out my life before I could share it with anyone. At the time, I was jobless, 21, and had no idea what I was going to do next with my life. I was broke spiritually, financially, and emotionally. A few weeks after the breakup, I got a call back for a job at the local Whole Foods. I got the job and I'm on the fast track to being promoted after only a month of working there (they see a lot of potential in me). It helps that I'm working in the produce department as I'm a vegetarian and so helping people with produce and their health is something I'm actually passionate about. The people are great and the work is easy. I don't want to be here forever but it's a great opportunity and I've started putting money into my 401k at this job. They also allow me to invest in the companies stock if I so wanted to. I was considering trying to move to the Whole Foods on Maui in a year as the pay is pretty good as well. That's always an option.

On top of getting the job, I was admitted to a school in North Carolina that I had my eye on since graduating high school, but I decided to withdraw my admission. I want to study philosophy and music but I'm not about to spend 30,000 a year when I can do that on my own by experiencing life. After everything that's happened Hawaii has been on my mind everyday since. It's actually motivated me quite a bit and it's become something I'm passionate about attaining. My girlfriend was always talking about going back in a few years when school is done and taking small little weekend trips in the meantime. I'm sorry but that doesn't sound like something I want to do. I'm freer than she is at the moment so I'm gonna continue to travel and not go to school just to "get it over with". If I go back, I want it to mean something.

Everything you do in this life should have purpose and hold deep meaning for yourself. We have control over every decision we make whether or not you believe in something higher. Inevitably, we all have the same fate as well. I choose to be happy and content in the moment, because everything is essentially momentary and things will get better if you want them too.

Blah blah... I'm getting too cerebral/spiritual. Anyway, thanks again everyone.

[Dthraco]

Keep us in the loop. Alwyas exciting to see how others are making progress in their move.

[Hp1167]

I was a philosophy major in college.

Don't pay to get that degree unless you supplement it with something practical. I'm serious.

You can be happy in Hawaii. That's what is important. Just know what you are giving up to do it. For many it's a fine tradeoff.