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FYI, here on Kauai we only have Macy's, Walmart, KMart and Costco. No other major stores, so all shopping would occur online or on Oahu.
Just because you like the outdoors and beaches, doesn't necessarily mean you will love Hawaii. You have to love Hawaiian culture to love life in Hawaii.
Also, calling Hanalei a city is laughable. It is a small neighborhood with a shopping center. It is no doubt a very beautiful area, but it is one of the most rural areas on Kauai.
From your description, I think you would like Oahu better than Kauai. Kauai is very rural, with Lihue (and Kapaa to an extent) being the only real built up area. Everything else is just small towns and neighborhoods.
FYI, here on Kauai we only have Macy's, Walmart, KMart and Costco. No other major stores, so all shopping would occur online or on Oahu.
Just because you like the outdoors and beaches, doesn't necessarily mean you will love Hawaii. You have to love Hawaiian culture to love life in Hawaii.
Also, calling Hanalei a city is laughable. It is a small neighborhood with a shopping center. It is no doubt a very beautiful area, but it is one of the most rural areas on Kauai.
From your description, I think you would like Oahu better than Kauai. Kauai is very rural, with Lihue (and Kapaa to an extent) being the only real built up area. Everything else is just small towns and neighborhoods.
Plus, if her job takes her to Europe often....I cannot imagine the immense amount of connections and probably 24-hour plane journeys you'd have to regularly take to get from Kauai to Europe.
Actually, I am in a very well-paying industry, so travel cost is really no problem. And the travel isn't just to the mainland, it's worldwide. My career literally doesn't care where I live. My only issue with that may be the super long flight from Hawaii to Europe.
One of the things that I dislike about the mainland is the huge focus on having high-tech everything. I don't spend my whole day in front of my cell phone or computer. I prefer seeing nature and doing things outside. I prefer farmers markets and organic foods to factory items that come in a box on the shelf. I am totally uncomfortable with nuclear power (and I read somewhere that Hawaii has no nuclear plants?). I prefer surfing the waves to surfing the internet. I do like shopping at small little shops and designer stores, since places like Kohls, JCPenny, and most chain stores have - quite frankly - really crappy "clothing" that gets holes in it after you wash it twice! I prefer boardshorts and a rashguard/tank top/tee shirt to jeans and a sweater. I prefer palm trees and beaches to pine trees and snow.
I think as long as there are some good organic/raw health food stores nearby, and plenty of local produce and seafood, and a normal supermarket (a Wal-Mart or Sams Club or something) nearby, I should be fine when it comes to food.
And no, I have not visited both of the islands. Just Oahu.
And I like a nice mix of rural and urban. I prefer to actually in a more rural area, but be within 10 or 20 minutes of a larger city. I'm not sure how big cities like Hanalei are on Kauai, but I do know that I don't want to live in downtown Honolulu.
You'd be better off living in Philadelphia or the North Shore. Probably the North Shore if you can actually surf. Even if you can't, you could eat all you want for free at Cholo's if you were able to fill out a tight tank top. Yeah, forget Philadelphia. Come to the North Shore. I'll be at Cholo's.
I have never been to Kauai, so I have no idea how large any neighborhoods/towns/cities there are. I just know that it looks very pretty from the pictures I've seen, and it sounds like a great island.
As for trips to Europe; it's in spurts. I don't go there every month - or anywhere, for that matter. I travel to random places at random times during the year, which include longer flights to Australia and farther away places like that. My industry is very high-strung, and one reason I'd love to live on an island is to get away from that and relax when I'm not traveling/working.
I will honestly say that I don't know a whole lot about Hawaiian culture, but I love other cultures, and I'm sure that of Hawaii would be just as amazing as other cultures.
And, no offense to anyone from Philly, but I would NEVER consider living in Philadelphia. No thank you.
Oh, and how rural is Kauai compared to other cities in the US?
Hawaii to Europe is OK, as long as you get the least # of connections. For example Kaua'i-Los Angeles-Frankfurt-Milan.
Kaua'i, without being all sprawled out, doesn't have much of any town center to boast about. There is the government center in Lihue, but that's not lively outside of office hours. Puhi has the mall, with Home Depot, Costco, and Kmart, but that's just shopping. Kapaa, the largest residential area at around 15-20K people (about 1/4 of the island population), has a nice little downtown, but it's mostly touristy. Most Kapaa folks meet up at one of the 4 grocery stores nearby--so again, more commercial than anything else. All the other towns, Waimea, Hanapepe, Koloa, Kilauea, and Hanalei are centered around a single street with banks, stores, and tourist shops. There are a few theaters here and there, and plenty of other things to do, just not all in one town, and not really in any town center.
A lot of activities are focused outdoors. Most people go out to the beach parks on the weekends. People surf or go fishing after work. There is still ranching and recreational horse ownership. Kids play little league in the neighborhood parks. There is also a lot of focus on family life: schools, sports, family get-togethers.
The fact that you mention so many chain stores and franchises might be a downer. People shop mostly out of necessity here, clip coupons and follow the sales to avoid the highest of the cost of living. Beyond the major stores and fast food, we don't have any chains. Walmart and Kmart, but no Target. Safeway but no Trader Joes or Whole Foods (Oahu and Maui do have Whole Foods, and I'd hate to see the prices there). Other than the younger crowd at the malls, shopping is not a prime activity.
Oh, and how rural is Kauai compared to other cities in the US?
I own a vacation rental on Kauai, where my son lives. I live half the year on Oahu (in Kailua), and the other half in San Diego, so I think I have the background to answer your questions.
Kauai is VERY rural compared to San Diego. Kauai is pretty rural compared to Oahu, but there are rural areas on Oahu that are just as beautiful and remote as those on Kauai.
If you really want to live in a rural area, yet be within a half hour of a cosmopolitan city, you should probably live in Kailua on Oahu, as I do, or on the North Shore of Oahu (lots more than a half hour). Kailua is not remote - it is a suburban community with a Macy's, a Mcdonalds, a world class beach, but no Wal-Mart or Costco. We have to drive to Honolulu (half hour) for Costco, or Home Depot or Lowes, or the theater. The North Shore is more rural, but a much longer drive.
If you live on Kauai, there is a Costco, and a Home Depot, but no real city. No Ruth Chris steakhouse. No Dave and Busters. No Chart House. No Red Lobster. No Jimmy Buffets. No Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall showing Phantom of the Opera. Not much karaoke. No Hawaii Opera Theater.
All the "No" items ARE on Oahu.
I love Kauai for its beauty, its beaches, its snorkeling, but I choose to live on Oahu.
Some links to Kauai information:
Princeville Information (http://www.visitprinceville.info/Princeville_Information.html - broken link)
I own a vacation rental on Kauai, where my son lives. I live half the year on Oahu (in Kailua), and the other half in San Diego, so I think I have the background to answer your questions.
Kauai is VERY rural compared to San Diego. Kauai is pretty rural compared to Oahu, but there are rural areas on Oahu that are just as beautiful and remote as those on Kauai.
If you really want to live in a rural area, yet be within a half hour of a cosmopolitan city, you should probably live in Kailua on Oahu, as I do, or on the North Shore of Oahu (lots more than a half hour). Kailua is not remote - it is a suburban community with a Macy's, a Mcdonalds, a world class beach, but no Wal-Mart or Costco. We have to drive to Honolulu (half hour) for Costco, or Home Depot or Lowes, or the theater. The North Shore is more rural, but a much longer drive.
If you live on Kauai, there is a Costco, and a Home Depot, but no real city. No Ruth Chris steakhouse. No Dave and Busters. No Chart House. No Red Lobster. No Jimmy Buffets. No Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall showing Phantom of the Opera. Not much karaoke. No Hawaii Opera Theater.
All the "No" items ARE on Oahu.
I love Kauai for its beauty, its beaches, its snorkeling, but I choose to live on Oahu.
Some links to Kauai information:
Princeville Information (http://www.visitprinceville.info/Princeville_Information.html - broken link)
Awesome, thank you! Obviously I would have to visit Kauai to decide for sure, but I like to live in rural and drive to urban... not sure where that would put me. If you live on the north shore of Oahu, do you know how long of a drive it would be to the nearest supermarket or Whole Foods type of store?
And also, do you know if there are many health/organic food stores on Kauai and Oahu other than a Whole Foods? I definitely don't need a big, fancy grocery store if there's an organic/health food store. We really don't buy much pre-packaged stuff other than the organic pastas and that sort of thing. Definitely don't buy Pepsi, Twinkies, or Lucky Charms. And I refuse to eat at McDonalds and similar places. So no problems there.
And as for listing off a bunch of chain stores... just examples of what's around here. I have no idea what stores are in Hawaii. I order most of my clothes online, so as long as there's a surf shop or 2 and a mall or something, I'd be totally fine.
Awesome, thank you! Obviously I would have to visit Kauai to decide for sure, but I like to live in rural and drive to urban... not sure where that would put me. If you live on the north shore of Oahu, do you know how long of a drive it would be to the nearest supermarket or Whole Foods type of store?
And also, do you know if there are many health/organic food stores on Kauai and Oahu other than a Whole Foods? I definitely don't need a big, fancy grocery store if there's an organic/health food store.
I don't live on the North shore - I live in Kailua, which is normally refereed to as on the "Windward Side", but it's probably better if you answer your own question. Here's how to do it:
When the map of Oahu comes up, clear the box and type
Organic Food Store
or
Whole Foods Market
in the box and click the search button.
For the lettered items, you can click on them and get lots of information - maybe even reviews. For the little red circles (note there are three in Kailua) there is less info.
Do the same thing for Kauai.
If you spend some time reading reviews, or maybe even calling some of the telephone numbers and asking questions, you will probably get much more info that is meaningful to you than you will by taking one or two people's opinions here.
And if you want to know how long it takes to get from one spot on the map to another, click
Get Directions.
You can learn an awful lot about almost any subject if you learn to use Google well.
There is no Whole Foods in Kauai. There are a few small natural food stores here and there. I think one in Hanalei, Kilauea, Kapaa, Lihue and Koloa...but all different stores.
If you crave an urban setting that you can go to frequently, Kauai is definitely not for you. Lihue is the county seat and where Walmart, Costco, KMart and many other stores and restaurants are located. I feel like Kauai was developed as a small town, then a 10-20 minute stretch of road, then another small town and then another stretch of road. Some of the towns/neighborhoods have a small town center area that would consist of a grocery store and a post office, but not all of them. We have a lot of ag and ranch lands. My favorite story from Kauai was in the Garden Island paper that described a time when a man went to go visit his uncle in the hospital. The man rode his horse to the hospital and rather than tying him up outside, he rode the horse into the hospital and up the elevator. It seems so Kauai to me...not that we all ride horses everywhere!
Basically in my life, I go to work, come home to my boyfriend and sometimes we go fishing/diving or sometimes we go out to eat or visit his family. I go to bed around 10p and on my days off I run errands and go beach. That;s basically life in Kauai. You could sub fishing for surfing and that would be your life...
I really think you would be much happier on Oahu. You can have the perfect mix of urban and rural on Oahu. Kauai is to Oahu as Portland (OR) is to Los Angeles. You should visit Kauai to make up your own mind, but I really think Oahu will fit you better. You can even find some lovely places above Honolulu that are rural with only a 10-15 minute drive into downtown. Tantalus drive winds through the hills and there is some hiking trails in the area to satisfy your outdoorsy nature
Whichever island you end up on, I envy you the ability to make your move there. I am working on that plan myself and hope to make it happen soon.
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