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A couple of random, curiosity questions for you:
What's it like living in Hawaii if you have family on the mainland or travel frequently to the mainland?
Is it a pain flying back and forth all the time, or is not really a big deal?
How often do you get to travel to the other islands?
If you had the choice, would you live in Hawaii or the mainland US?
living in the islands is wonderful. if you are retired or have enough money to enjoy. if you are a regular working person. you will have to work either two jobs, have roommates or work longer hours to afford to live here and enjoy your weekends. just like on the mainland you work 5 days a week or more, spend one day off catching up with your chores and the next day relaxing.
people go to the mainland as often as they have time off or can afford the airfare. again unless you have money probably most people don't go but once a year. traveling to the other islands is great but that too cost a good chunk of money as once you get there unless you have family, you will need a car and a hotel.
if reality never entered into it I would never leave the islands
We can't afford to travel to the mainland very often. Cost of airfare to the mainland determined that we wouldn't go on a mainland vacation this year, I'm sure it's the same way for folks who want to vacation in Hawaii, as well. It is also a pain to travel to the mainland since at minimum it's a five hour flight. Also, once you get there, you have to rent a car or borrow one from whoever you are staying with if you are staying with someone.
Travelling to the other islands is similar to going to the mainland except the flight is a lot shorter. Many of the airports do have an "inter-island" terminal, though, so that's easier than going through the terminals to the mainland, but it's still an airport terminal. Same parking issues and costs, same TSA screenings, etc. Also, once you get to the other islands, unless you have family or friends there to stay with you are booking a hotel and rental car just like all other tourists. There is limited ferry service between Maui, Molokai and Lanai but that is a passenger only ferry, I believe.
Most folks who live here long term who have family on the mainland aren't real tight with their mainland family. Also, you can get a new family here, it's called a "hanai" family and it's the one you choose - or who chooses you - instead of the one you were issued at birth. Otherwise, "missing mainland family" is one of the biggest reasons folks move back to the mainland after they've been here a year. If folks are intending to live in Hawaii, it is a lot easier if they don't have all that many ties to the mainland.
As far as choice, I choose Hawaii, although there are drawbacks there are also compensations. However what works for one person may not work for the next person. You have to see if it suits you.
There was one period of time, about eleven years, where I didn't go to the mainland at all. Currently, I'll go to Oahu about once every other year and the mainland about every two or three years. It's sort of a split between no reason to go and cost, but cost is a huge factor.
From this perspective, I just can't imagine wanting to go home often with the cost of airfare. Especially after having children. It just costs too much.
Fortunately I'm not that close to family, so its okay for me. But if that were an issue, it would be very very very hard, I think.
Japan is further from Hawaii, but I think the same thing would apply.
I travel to the mainland a lot (5x per year or more, maybe) for conferences and such... usually one vacation trip in there. I will say: I don't travel to the mainland to see family; they come see me here. The only time I travel to see them is when a conference is being held nearby. (But like someone else said, I'm not that close to my family. I wasn't living very near any immediate family member before moving here, so it's not a big change for me.)
I think the first few times I did the trip it was tough, but I'm getting used to it. I wasn't able to sleep on planes before, but I'm getting better at that out of necessity. I really like flying in and out of HNL (as opposed to Boston, where I lived before). The airport is very quick & easy to get to. It has a small airport feel... few long lines, not much difficulty getting through security, etc. That makes frequent trips more palatable.
I will say that travel to Europe is daunting. I have been invited to some conferences there, but I always turn them down. It's too far to go and too long of a trip. I do get a little jealous of my East Coast friends who are currently touring around Italy and Spain. But I did Europe trips when I lived on the East Coast... it's just something I'm not likely to do again for a while.
I travel to other islands 2 or 3 times per year, usually for work. I try to do one outer-island vacation per year (though I've done two trips to Big Island so far this year).
I am definitely choosing to live here over living on the mainland. I had several job offers (and could probably get several again if I tried). I chose the job here, and I'd choose it again. Living in Hawaii is not for everyone. If you want a big house with a big yard, it's not for you. But I had a big house with a big yard... I hated yard work, and cleaning the house was a pain. Two people don't need that much space. If you want a lot of "stuff," it's not for you. But I like accumulating experiences more than accumulating "stuff".
A couple of random, curiosity questions for you:
What's it like living in Hawaii if you have family on the mainland or travel frequently to the mainland?
Is it a pain flying back and forth all the time, or is not really a big deal?
How often do you get to travel to the other islands?
If you had the choice, would you live in Hawaii or the mainland US?
We never travel to the mainland to visit family. Usually the airfare to the mainland is more expensive than flying to Hawaii since there always seem to be specials to fly to Hawaii, so our family comes here to visit instead.
We have yet to do any interisland travel as the fares are too expensive for us not too mention the cost of the hotel and car once we get there. However, we have been content at the moment to just explore our own island. Been on the Big Island 3 years and still plenty we haven't seen.
We intend to stay in Hawaii. I don't see us ever moving back to the mainland.
[quote=hotzcatz;20029305]Most folks who live here long term who have family on the mainland aren't real tight with their mainland family. Also, you can get a new family here, it's called a "hanai" family and it's the one you choose - or who chooses you - instead of the one you were issued at birth. Otherwise, "missing mainland family" is one of the biggest reasons folks move back to the mainland after they've been here a year. If folks are intending to live in Hawaii, it is a lot easier if they don't have all that many ties to the mainland.quote]
That statement is pretty true about your family on the island .i was chosen by one group of people as there wayward son from the another mother as one of the lady's in the family call's me ..
To them i was allowed into there family was the night the Quake hit Japan and i was on the phone calling everyone and asking if they where all right ..
So i do have family back in the mainland but i do not really talk to them because of them not haveing alot contact with them so my choice was Hawaii ..My mother & father are dead my kids are all over the world because of the military and so it just me liveing there
I don't mind flying to the west coast, but to fly to the east coast which I do about every other year is torture!
My mother's younger sister lives in Virginia and decided to host my whole family this past June for a family reunion at these luxury townhouse timeshares that she has in Williamsburg.
I stupidly didn't want to take the bus then transfer to a train to get from Dulles Airport in D.C. to get to Richmond, VA. So I got a flight through Priceline which would take me from Dulles to Richmond.
The catch was the plane leaving Dulles would 1st go to Logan in Boston, then I would transfer to another plane to go to La Guardia, N.Y. and finally board another plane to Richmond.
By the time my brother picked me up in Richmond, I was without any sleep for 24 hours! I resisted the urge to sleep once I got to Williamsburg, and instead waited until it was 11pm local time to finally go to sleep. That way my internal clock would be adjusted, and it did work.
The whole trip to get there was a Nightmare! It started here in Honolulu after my friend dropped me off at the airport 2 hours before my scheduled departure. The 1st thing a United Airline's employee told me was that all United flights were running 2 HOURS LATE. I had to get in a long, long line full of irate fellow passengers to rebook. The agent re-booked me on a Hawaiian Airlines flight that would supposedly leave on time for me to make my connecting flights in San Francisco and D.C.
Well, Hawaiian left late and landed at one end of San Francisco Airport (which is shaped like a L) and I had to run all the way to the opposite end to make my connecting flight. Then that plane boarded on time, but taxied endlessly on the runway because as the pilot explained, due to thunderstorms in the Midwest all planes heading east were running late, therefore our plane had to wait its turn in the queue. I barely got to Dulles in time to make another connecting flight.
I was so irritated!!
I'm familiar with San Francisco Airport having flown there countless times and I always liked how compact it seemed in comparison to other airports and never in the past did I have to walk far. Not this time! LOL
Also, does anyone else notice that the different TSAs at various airports seem to not have standardized procedures??
Some of the TSAs aren't as stringent as others. I normally have tissue, napkin or a handkerchief in my pant pocket because I have allergies and never know when I might need to blow my nose.
At one of the TSA line I had to take the tissue out of my pocket, whereas at other TSA lines it didn't matter?!
I have to travel to the east coast because my brother and other family members live there. And unfortunately, I've never been able to sleep on planes. I tried drinking multiple cocktails and just ended up drunk and not sleepy. Even if I take prescription sleeping pills which work at home, I'm still not able to sleep on planes.
I love to travel to the outer islands (I go once to twice a year), and the longest flight is only 50 minutes from Oahu to the Big Island. The prices have certainly gone up though! I remembered getting a round trip ticket to Molokai for only 40 dollars in the past. Nowadays it costs me about $150 for a round trip ticket to the B.I.. But I love going to the neighbor islands and staying and visiting with the friends I have who live there too much, so I just cough up the dough. LOL
It is a pain to travel from one end of the country (Hawaii) to the other end like Virginia, but it's always so nice to come back home to Hawaii!
Last edited by Honolulu21; 07-16-2011 at 02:36 AM..
I don't mind flying to the west coast, but to fly to the east coast which I do about every other year is torture!
It certainly sounds like you had a tortuous day but it has nothing to with flying to the east coast. Your day was affected by a Priceline flight that had two stops, the weather in the midwest that delayed your San Francisco departure, and a United Airlines delay that forced you to stand in line to rebook your flight. Did I miss anything? This could also happen if you wanted to go to Dallas or Albuquerque.
Next time look into a direct flight from Honolulu to Newark, New Jersey, and then to Richmond.
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It's a pain to fly to east coast
