Moving to Hawaii, What do you wish you Brought with you from the Mainland? What are You Glad You Took with You? :) (Hilo: for sale, condos)

[kaileio]

Hello All,
I have been following this forum for months now, and I love it!
Thank you for being so kind, informative and responsive!

We are moving to Hawaii in 2 months and we are starting to pack and downsize.
I was just wondering knowing what you know now,
What you would have brought with you from the Mainland that is expensive or difficult to replace in Hawaii.
I would love to know everything from Sunscreen to Pool Toys to Laundry Detergent to business attire and shipping your car!
Just what do you wish you had taken with you that you didn't take, or what did you take that you were glad that you brought with you.
We are moving to the Big Island, so I know the resources there are even less than Oahu.
So ANY thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
-Kai

[whynot?]

I think it really depends upon what your habits are and what you are most particular about. For us it was cooking gear, dishes (practical but multipurpose), workshop tools, and books. You can get "almost anything" here on Maui, but even on Oahu you won't have as many brands or models to choose from, and getting something specific shipped is often expensive.

Best of luck.

[PaliPatty]

Originally Posted by whynot?

I think it really depends upon what your habits are and what you are most particular about. For us it was cooking gear, dishes (practical but multipurpose), workshop tools, and books. You can get "almost anything" here on Maui, but even on Oahu you won't have as many brands or models to choose from, and getting something specific shipped is often expensive.

Best of luck.

Exactly.
We brought books, tools, and of course clothes. Some cooking gadgets and small appliances that I loved and that wouldn't cost more to ship than to replace. Bought dishes, silverware, and cookware when we got here.
Brought way too much cold-weather clothing (thinking oh what would happen if we had to go back to the mainland in the winter??) when really, if we had to rush into cold weather unexpectedly, a pair of jeans and some layers and a light jacket would suffice until we could pick up something else at our cold destination. I kept it for about ten years and finally ended up giving it to the Salvation Army. No room in this little house for such silliness, LOL.
No furniture, no cars. We came with ten suitcases/garment bags/carry-ons (at that time you could bring three big suitcases on a plane, no charge---we paid, IIRC, $25 each for two more big ones and the carry-ons were free) and we had friends ship boxes of stuff from the mainland when we had a permanent address.
We took valuables and important papers with us on the plane.
Looking back, I don't think we'd do anything differently.
Beyond the practical, bring what you couldn't bear to leave behind. Precious Christmas ornaments, mementos from your childhood, anything that would make you sad if you left it behind. Within reason, of course. As mentioned often on this forum, condos and houses tend to have smaller rooms here and not much storage space.

[hotzcatz]

Pack several suitcases full of whatever you would grab first if your house was burning (slowly) down. Then look at what's left and see if it's worth shipping.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

We shipped our old high clearance 4-wheel drive to the BI and glad we did. We do a lot of off-roading, and you need both high clearance and 4-wheel drive. We also brought a small gas-efficient car for the long trips to Kona or Hilo.

Hoping that you've spent time here and are familiar with what your lifestyle will be like and what kinds of stores we have. Based on that information, you can decide what you need to bring. If you use a particular brand of shampoo that you can only buy at a salon, for example, then bring lots of it with you because you probably won't find it here. We do a lot of shopping on-line, but then you have to pay extra for shipping to Hawaii. Don't depend on Target and WalMart to have the same inventory as they would on the mainland.

Our lifestyle here is sooooo much more casual than on the mainland. Dressing up is putting on a clean aloha shirt and shorts. I guess you must be working since you mentioned business attire, but you may want to check with your employer to see what people wear to work. It's really casual here (did I mention that already?), more so than I was expecting.

[Spammasubi]

A small, fuel efficernt car. Roads in the older, urban areas of Oahu can be narrow and crowded with traffic. Street parking can be problematic in neighborhoods that are densely populated....i.e. lots of condos. Gas
is expensive if you are frequently on the road. I think new and used cars are generally more expensive to purchase in Hawai'i than on the west coast of the mainland even if one takes into consideration the cost of shipping and licensing. Of course this runs contrary to what one seems to generally see tooling the streets
of Oahu. Seems like everyone is driving a large SUV or p/up truck. I tend to wonder about the SUV's. I
imagine the only 4-wheeling going on around here is when someone backs over their garden while pulling out of their driveway.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Spammasubi

A small, fuel efficernt car. Roads in the older, urban areas of Oahu can be narrow and crowded with traffic. Street parking can be problematic in neighborhoods that are densely populated....i.e. lots of condos. Gas
is expensive if you are frequently on the road. I think new and used cars are generally more expensive to purchase in Hawai'i than on the west coast of the mainland even if one takes into consideration the cost of shipping and licensing. Of course this runs contrary to what one seems to generally see tooling the streets
of Oahu. Seems like everyone is driving a large SUV or p/up truck. I tend to wonder about the SUV's. I
imagine the only 4-wheeling going on around here is when someone backs over their garden while pulling out of their driveway.

If one is in the market for a new car - the luxury brands (Lexus, BMW, Mercedes) are definitely cheaper to purchase in the LA area. Servco Lexus wouldn't budge on the sticker price on the car I wanted and I picked up the same exact car in LA for $9K under sticker. So even with shipping it was a much better deal.

[Spammasubi]

WhtViper1 Wrote:
"If one is in the market for a new car - the luxury brands (Lexus, BMW, Mercedes) are definitely cheaper to purchase in the LA area. Servco Lexus wouldn't budge on the sticker price on the car I wanted and I picked up the same exact car in LA for $9K under sticker. So even with shipping it was a much better deal."

I think it is true for less expesnive models too. One of the kids found a used 2011 Toyota Tacoma for sale in California that was cheaper by about $3200 than what he could buy on Oahu. He flew to LA; inspected and purchased the truck and shipped it back to Hono for less than he could purchased on the island. He even
worked a side trip to visit the second love of his life-----Vegas. However I never did learn how much she
might have took from him. It could very possibly been better if he stayed on island and purchased locally,
however that is a story I will likely never hear.......

[OpenD]

Just as important to know, I think, is what NOT to bring...

And the top of that list, for me, is anything made of leather. Leather clothes, furniture, handbags, even shoes... it mildews and rots in our climate. Minimize what you bring that's leather.

Why, I've even switched over to synthetic gun holsters.

[PaliPatty]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Just as important to know, I think, is what NOT to bring...

And the top of that list, for me, is anything made of leather. Leather clothes, furniture, handbags, even shoes... it mildews and rots in our climate. Minimize what you bring that's leather.

Why, I've even switched over to synthetic gun holsters.

I've found that leather furniture does just fine here and I have plenty of leather handbags that have also survived well, with a little vigilance. Smooth leather, that is. Suede quickly succumbs to a white spotty mildew that destroys it. I had a nice pair of suede hiking boots that got totally moldy after sitting in my closet for a year or two and I tossed them. Same for a suede handbag.
If you catch the white mildew on smooth leather when it's just in the small spot stage you can wipe it off with a leather cleaner but if you let it go it will take over.