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I live in St. Albans about 30 miles from Burlington. I'm basicly wanting Hilo to be my new Burlington. I'd like to keep my housing costs as low as reasonably possible simply because I don't want to pay for more than what I need. I'd like to keep it at 200 grand or less. My husband and I both have experience in island living (not in Hawaii however) and I think we have less real estate expectations than the average main lander. We know we're probably not going to get a house in Hawaii that's as nice as the one we live in now and that's fine with us. We're wanting to go to Hawaii for the out doors and the fact that it's going to cut travel time to Japan and New Zealand. Burlington to Tokyo or Auckland is a big process and takes a very longtime.
Last edited by emeraldl22; 04-09-2014 at 02:12 AM..
Seattle has plenty of islands - no state income tax - cheap property - great outdoor life - and only 2 more hours or less of flight time to Tokyo than Honolulu.
Seattle has plenty of islands - no state income tax - cheap property - great outdoor life - and only 2 more hours or less of flight time to Tokyo than Honolulu.
And, Seattle rains less than Hilo by quite a lot.
That's kind of funny about comparing Hilo to Seattle! Seattle gets less rain than Hilo, but it is different type of rain! We weren't in Hilo very long, but we did experience a downpour of rain. Then the rain stopped and the sun came out. In Seattle, it drizzles for days or weeks, cold, clammy drizzle blowing around with overcast skies. Half the year are overcast skies in Seattle. There are islands near Seattle, but Seattle has a long winter with cold clammy nasty drizzle that makes you feel cold right down to the bone. I think it gets pretty depressing for much of the year there. I've visited Seattle several times in the summer and it is absolutely beautiful. I bet the islands around Seattle are beautiful for the few short months of summer, until another long winter comes.
The winters in Minnesota aren't a walk in the park either. They are nasty cold and snowy. But I think winters are worse in Seattle because you trade the snow and extreme cold in Minnesota for the endless cold clammy drizzle with continuous overcast skies in Seattle.
I think the cost of flights to Asia need to be checked, not just travel time. I was surprised to discover that the cost to fly from Honolulu to Vietnam is about the same as flying from Minneapolis to Vietnam, even though Honolulu should be much closer to Vietnam. Maybe it has something to do with the volume of travelers.
No state income tax is nice, especially if you have a lot of income to be taxed. However, usually no state income tax states have much higher taxes and fees that make up for the lost income tax revenue. Someone has to pay for government costs, it isn't free! It's just collected in a different way.
I think the cost of flights to Asia need to be checked, not just travel time. I was surprised to discover that the cost to fly from Honolulu to Vietnam is about the same as flying from Minneapolis to Vietnam, even though Honolulu should be much closer to Vietnam. Maybe it has something to do with the volume of travelers.
When I look at mid-May, you can go HNL-SGN roundtrip for about $1,150 dollars and MSP-SGN for about $1,470 - so, not a huge difference.
In terms of distance, while closer, HNL is not much closer to SGN than MSP as you would think.
If you could go nonstop, 6,300 miles to SGN from HNL, and 8,400 miles to SGN from MSP. HNL-MSP is about 4,000 miles. Seattle to SGN is 7,400 miles, from HNL you only save 1,100 miles.
When I look at mid-May, you can go HNL-SGN roundtrip for about $1,150 dollars and MSP-SGN for about $1,470 - so, not a huge difference.
In terms of distance, while closer, HNL is not much closer to SGN than MSP as you would think.
If you could go nonstop, 6,300 miles to SGN from HNL, and 8,400 miles to SGN from MSP. HNL-MSP is about 4,000 miles. Seattle to SGN is 7,400 miles, from HNL you only save 1,100 miles.
Actually, there aren't any flights directly from MSP to SGN. We have to fly from Minneapolis to Chicago, Chicago to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong to Saigon on United. Later, we flew from Minneapolis to Japan at NRT, then from Japan to Saigon on Delta. The two flights were much less hassle, especially when returning to the US. We land in the US on the return flight in Minneapolis at the end of our flights. In Chicago, it's a big hassle to uncheck the luggage, go through customs, then drag the luggage all the way across O'Hare to the Chicago to Minneapolis flight.
I don't know if there are any direct flights from HLN to SGN. The more flights, the more hassle, more chances for problems and delays.
No direct flights HNL-SGN, flying via TPE likely the fastest way.
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