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I'm a divorced single mom of one little girl. I've traveled all over the world with and without my daughter. We are Californians living in Texas temporarily, I am planning on leaving Texas very soon, my original plan is Los Angeles, but lately I've been getting so many signs to move to Hawaii. I even did one of those Best City for Me quizzes and Hawaii was #1. I've also been mistaken for Hawaiian many times due to my mixed ethnicity, too bad I've never been there!
I'm a pretty bold fearless person, I've jumped up and headed off to Europe by myself with hardly any money and ended up making life long friends and wonderful experiences. Hawaii somehow intimidates me because it seems to be more expensive than L.A which is INSANE!!
Hawaii is very appealing to me though because I'm a spiritual person that is very into personal development, positive surroundings, beautiful nature and want a super place to raise my daughter and put some roots down.
So Anyways, I LOVE CALIFORNIA but Hawaii is calling my name. I am looking into taking a trip out there but it would take a chunk out of my moving budget. Can anyone give me the deal on this gorgeous place?
Do you get "tired" or use to the Gorgeous Environment? (Believe it or not, I've heard that from someone!)
I freelance as a writer, but would need a part time job, how hard is it to find a general office job or at least retail?
Which part of Hawaii do you think would fit someone like me best? (Single, Mom, 34, I don't want busy Honolulu, but don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere either, shy but eager to get out and make friends and eventually date, Good Schools for my daughter)
My customized advice is for you is to start by reading the wealth of info posted here that has already answered your very general and very common questions. The Sticky Thread on Relocation at the top of the threads list is a good place to start. You need to do some homework before you'll even know the right questions to ask. (i.e. jobs are hard to find, wages are low, cost of living is high, schools are bad, etc.)
As AlohaHuey says here, moving to Hawai'i is like moving to a different country, and I think he's right on. There's a book called "So you think you want to move to Hawai'i?" that will get your feet on the ground fast.
Mahalo OpenD! As a new arrival, that seemed the closest analogy that seemed appropriate.
Zenwave, I'd visit before you come after narrowing down your search and do the basic research OpenD recommends. His book recommendation is a good one; it's the best place to start. Each island has a very different personality and experience, so visit first, even if it takes you longer to re-bank money for a move. This kind of move should not be done in haste and without research and visiting. There are ways to keep costs down...saving energy at home, shopping at Costco and local farmer's markets, buying on special at the various grocers...
Hawaii is nothing like Cali. I never got sick of the scenery. I miss it. If I didn't have kids, I would move back there. I'd rather be poor in HI, than be well off in most other places.
It's hard to give you precise answers, since we don't know you, but I would say, go first. Moving to a place that you have never been to, is a bad idea.
Zenwave, you mentioned "I even did one of those Best City for Me quizzes and Hawaii was #1" and that is not a valid quiz. Any quiz which gives the entire state of Hawaii as the "Best City" for you to live in is trash and shouldn't be used to make any life choices with. You may as well interpret coffee grounds.
If you are looking for spiritual and personal development, probably any island other than Oahu would be good. Oahu is pretty much for pretty exteriors and they don't pay as much attention to the interior. It's also busy and hectic and there's too many people competing for too few resources. On the other islands, there is less competition, but also less resources.
People don't really get tired of the gorgeous environment but we do take it for granted after awhile. Sometimes we really get tired of mowing that gorgeous environment, too. Eternal summer means eternal yardwork so there are costs.
For schooling, if you take a personal interest in your child's schooling and do a lot of after school tutoring, then your child will learn everything they should learn. School is good for learning inter-personal skills and you can supply the ABC's and other book learning yourself if you are willing to invest the time it takes to tutor your child. While you are tutoring your child, you may be able to tutor some others after school for money, too.
I wanted to Thank everyone who has replied so far.
I wanted to point out especially to OpenD, that I have actually moved to a different country (two in fact) I've lived in 6 different major U.S cities, most of them being expensive such as Los Angeles and New York City.
So I am not being totally naieve about this. The majority of the places I've moved to I did not visit before hand. I definitely take the road less traveled and don't over plan which for me would have kept me in the midwest forever. I like to research a lot and then make a move if I feel comfortable, I've never had a bad experience.
I am clearly more of a risk taker and my way of doing things make other people nervous, but that doesn't mean what I'm doing is foolish.
The tips are very helpful, tutoring is something I never thought of.
Waianaegirl- I feel like you about California, I'd rather be poor there than well off anywhere else. Many people couldn't understand why, but I love the ocean, palm trees, the golden coasts, driving to Big Sur, Santa Barbara etc.
Hawaii is a place quite a few people told me I would like though.
It's wonderful to hear you guys have not gotten tired of Hawaii, that was one of my concerns because it is like an "International" move and I would hate to put that effort in just to succumb to novelty.
Hotcatz- The quiz (I can't remember which one) it said Honolulu actually;-) But I'm looking for something a little less "city".
Thanks again to all of you. I plan on picking up the book recommendation and doing more research online!
I have two friends, one who has lived here for several years and one which just moved over here last year. Both are presentable educated folks and they have been looking for jobs in the retail and office fields. One of them found a part time job working with a tax preparer, although that job will end on April 15th. The other one found a job for a little while with someone who does bookkeeping for small businesses, but due to the quantity of small businesses going out of business, she lost her job about three months ago. She won't say which businesses folded, but she said they were "dropping like flies".
Creating your own job or bringing one with you may be the only viable option until the economy picks up again. Tourism seems up a little bit, so perhaps we have hit a turning point? But most of the tourism money goes to the mainland and foreign owners of the hotels and such, not to the folks who work in them.
As AlohaHuey says here, moving to Hawai'i is like moving to a different country, and I think he's right on. There's a book called "So you think you want to move to Hawai'i?" that will get your feet on the ground fast.
Good luck!
I read through that book a bit and, personally, I learned everything that book talked about from posters on this forum. The only thing it may have mentioned in more detail was the bug and drug problems, even then its not like I hadn't heard anything about it already from scouring this forum.
These posters and their straightforward advice is invaluable and I realized that anything I could ever want to know about Oahu, I can find it here, or just ask
I read through that book a bit and, personally, I learned everything that book talked about from posters on this forum. The only thing it may have mentioned in more detail was the bug and drug problems, even then its not like I hadn't heard anything about it already from scouring this forum.
These posters and their straightforward advice is invaluable and I realized that anything I could ever want to know about Oahu, I can find it here, or just ask
Thanks, I agree it's all here, and in more detail, but look at how many people don't bother to take the time to read through the back posts here before posting the same vague and general questions 100s of others have already asked.
At least by recommending one of those "Living in Hawai'i" books they get a useful start on the homework they need to do before they will even know what questions to ask.
Nice to meet you jenocide22 and hotzcatz, Thanks for the feedback. I definitely want to expand my freelancing and work for myself 100%.
These boards are becoming helpful as you suggested, glad I found this site!
It's so important for a newbie to feel free to ask questions with out being barked at if it ends up being vague questions that have been asked before.
Friendliness goes a long way! THANKS SO MUCH GUYS!
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As a new arrival, that seemed the closest analogy that seemed appropriate.
