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We retired to the southwest Florida Gulf Coast a year ago...Before that we considered Hawaii innumerable times but the expense or other issues always made us hesitate...We have no serious health concerns, at 66 and 47, and are actually both in excellent health...Could afford to buy on Big Island (in the less expensive areas) and have a decent income...We have no mainland family to need to go back to, my wife goes back to China annually for a few months...All in all we just don't spend a heck of a lot of money...Go out to eat infrequently...Have all the clothes we'll ever need, etc...
Florida is "quite acceptable"...Fresh fruit and vegetables (most of what we eat) are readily available and inexpensive...The air is very clean, something I worry about with the vog in Hawaii...I am able to bicycle every day for exercise...
But Florida has serious drawbacks...It is flat as all get out...The winter can get chilly if never cold...The summer is really too hot..."In season" it is crowded and hard to get around...In the senior community where we live there is no privacy...
What are the pluses of Hawaii??? Ideal weather year round...Interesting and varied landscapes...A real ocean and the marine life that goes along with it as opposed to the bathtub-like Gulf...
I don't think you can categorize people who moved to/from Hawaii into only two categories like "found their paradise and fell in love" or were "disappointed and continued searching elsewhere". There are so many factors that go into whether or not someone stays in Hawaii (or anywhere) or decides to move to another place. It's impossible to just categorized people into those two categories. Ex. what about someone who moved to Hawaii, has a good job, but has to move back to California to take care of their ill mother? Or someone who hates it in Hawaii but can't move back home for whatever reason? There are just so many variables. I do remember a recent article that stated that there are more people moving out of Hawaii to other states than vice versa. The reason for Hawaii's population growth is more births than deaths and foreign immigration (I'm guessing from the Philippines and Micronesia). So obviously Hawaii is not "paradise" for a lot of people, maybe even the majority of people, although that can be argued for a long time. It just get irritating when people say they "love" Hawaii but would never even consider living here, at least not for the long term. Ex. it's like me saying I love LA but I definitely wouldn't live there. If you love a place, you'd live there, not only vacation for 2 weeks a year.
Wherever you go, wherever you are, you cannot escape the person that is you.
Most people who move to Hawaii on a whim (I safely presume) do so to escape their bad situations or think they are going where the "grass is greener" only to find they brought their issues with them; and when the cost of living in Hawaii wears on them and their income or intellect cannot deal, they return back to where they came only to find the same problems there, but just a little cheaper.
A happy well adjusted person will be so anywhere they find themselves; especially in Hawaii.
I left... it was the right place for me when I was single in my 20's, it is the wrong place for me in my 30's with a wife and kid. Wasn't running from anything when I went there, just thought that year-round surf and exotic women sounded fun... and both were a lot of fun. I definitely like it, but I don't love it. I could take it or leave it depending on the job/housing/school situation and feel like we are much better off elsewhere right now.
I knew a lot of transplant dreamers having worked odd jobs in Waikiki for the better part of a decade. Lots of people with college degrees waiting tables or parking cars for a living just to get by. Most left within 5 years with cost of living, island fever, not fitting in culturally, limited career options, or missing family being the most common reasons. I have one buddy left whose been there 8 years now but is trying to move because he has 2 kids. I have another friend that will NEVER leave, he absolutely loves it. So I think 80% leaving within 5 years is probably about what I experienced. Of course the subset I dealt with may be different that the subset others deal with depending on career/island/social circles.
Wherever you go, wherever you are, you cannot escape the person that is you.
Most people who move to Hawaii on a whim (I safely presume) do so to escape their bad situations or think they are going where the "grass is greener" only to find they brought their issues with them; and when the cost of living in Hawaii wears on them and their income or intellect cannot deal, they return back to where they came only to find the same problems there, but just a little cheaper.
A happy well adjusted person will be so anywhere they find themselves; especially in Hawaii.
Very much agree. Eventually what they are "escaping" catches up with them. I moved here because I met my wife while doing some work out here. The "escaping" because of weather or whatever rarely make it. Retirees are different though.
I'm in HI now on vacation and I'm definitely not one of those types who drops everything and moves here. I've been here 7 days and I'm bored and ready to go home. To me it is a great getaway for a few days but I never would want to live here and this trip solidified that. I had thought of living here for a few months in winter (as I have a Internet job and can live anywhere and I can afford it and Seattle's weather can get old), but I just wouldn't like anywhere in HI as a place to be for more than say a week. I found Honolulu just kind of a weird place. It's a lot more run down than I thought, traffic is very bad, tons of dumpy apartments everywhere. A lot of it has a ghetto feel. It just seems like a lot of desperate, whacked out transient drugged out people end up there. Waikiki is OK but super touristy and gets old after a day. I thought Honolulu had potential as an interesting exotic city, but after a few days I just realized it isn't that interesting of a city. And I have traveled all around the world. Amazing location on the edge of the gorgeous beach, but not really a great place to hang as a educated white male IMO.
The North Shore is super beautiful but a heavy surfer vibe, I never really liked the surfer "dude" "bro" vibe and attitude (lived in SoCal and disliked the surf crowd there too). They are kind of whacked in the head. It is Hawaii, and therefore has gorgeous beaches, mtns and climate.
Many of the locals (especially on Oahu) kind of remind me of rednecks and crackers you find on the mainland. Many locals are like the Hawaii version of rednecks, with many similar " fine qualities".
The outer islands would bore me in a matter of days. Kauai is a unbelievably drop dead gorgeous place. But after about 3 days of the beach and hiking I'm done. I would miss the seasons and all the variety and access to things on the mainland. That's just me. You have to be a really strange person to want to live here 12 mos of the year (or even 3 or 4 mos)...kind of a bit of an escapist or hermit. Traffic is also very bad on Kauai as it is on Oahu.
Also I'm reminded of my experience living here in my early 20's on Maui in the 90's. I just don't like the whole haole/local thing here. There is a weird undercurrent and vibe you get from locals as a haole here. I could never deal with that whole chip on the shoulder BS attitude you get from locals on a long term basis here. Just in one week here and I have had really rude & bad service in restaurants from local types that would be never tolerated on the mainland. And I remember last time I lived here the whole local/haole interaction thing was a big reason I couldn't wait to leave the islands & would never consider living here long term.
Generally I think the vast majority of people looking for paradise. And these are possibly the most beautiful islands in the world, with the most amazing climate in the world. But I think most find paradise was not really what they were looking for after all. Better to vacation to paradise not live in it.
I'm in HI now on vacation and I'm definitely not one of those types who drops everything and moves here. I've been here 7 days and I'm bored and ready to go home. To me it is a great getaway for a few days but I never would want to live here and this trip solidified that. I had thought of living here for a few months in winter (as I have a Internet job and can live anywhere and I can afford it and Seattle's weather can get old), but I just wouldn't like anywhere in HI as a place to be for more than say a week. I found Honolulu just kind of a weird place. It's a lot more run down than I thought, traffic is very bad, tons of dumpy apartments everywhere. A lot of it has a ghetto feel. It just seems like a lot of desperate, whacked out transient drugged out people end up there. Waikiki is OK but super touristy and gets old after a day. I thought Honolulu had potential as an interesting exotic city, but after a few days I just realized it isn't that interesting of a city. And I have traveled all around the world. Amazing location on the edge of the gorgeous beach, but not really a great place to hang as a educated white male IMO.
The North Shore is super beautiful but a heavy surfer vibe, I never really liked the surfer "dude" "bro" vibe and attitude (lived in SoCal and disliked the surf crowd there too). They are kind of whacked in the head. It is Hawaii, and therefore has gorgeous beaches, mtns and climate.
Many of the locals (especially on Oahu) kind of remind me of rednecks and crackers you find on the mainland. Many locals are like the Hawaii version of rednecks, with many similar " fine qualities".
The outer islands would bore me in a matter of days. Kauai is a unbelievably drop dead gorgeous place. But after about 3 days of the beach and hiking I'm done. I would miss the seasons and all the variety and access to things on the mainland. That's just me. You have to be a really strange person to want to live here 12 mos of the year (or even 3 or 4 mos)...kind of a bit of an escapist or hermit. Traffic is also very bad on Kauai as it is on Oahu.
Also I'm reminded of my experience living here in my early 20's on Maui in the 90's. I just don't like the whole haole/local thing here. There is a weird undercurrent and vibe you get from locals as a haole here. I could never deal with that whole chip on the shoulder BS attitude you get from locals on a long term basis here. Just in one week here and I have had really rude & bad service in restaurants from local types that would be never tolerated on the mainland. And I remember last time I lived here the whole local/haole interaction thing was a big reason I couldn't wait to leave the islands & would never consider living here long term.
Generally I think the vast majority of people looking for paradise. And these are possibly the most beautiful islands in the world, with the most amazing climate in the world. But I think most find paradise was not really what they were looking for after all. Better to vacation to paradise not live in it.
Many of the locals (especially on Oahu) kind of remind me of rednecks and crackers you find on the mainland. Many locals are like the Hawaii version of rednecks, with many similar " fine qualities".
As someone from Virginia that knows (and is friends with) a lot of rednecks this part made me actually laugh out loud... I've been saying this for years. Mokes in Hawaii = "don't tread on me" rednecks in Virginia. I actually just had a conversation about this with someone. They may look different and talk different but they have so much in common...
I left... it was the right place for me when I was single in my 20's, it is the wrong place for me in my 30's with a wife and kid. Wasn't running from anything when I went there, just thought that year-round surf and exotic women sounded fun... and both were a lot of fun. I definitely like it, but I don't love it. I could take it or leave it depending on the job/housing/school situation and feel like we are much better off elsewhere right now.
I knew a lot of transplant dreamers having worked odd jobs in Waikiki for the better part of a decade. Lots of people with college degrees waiting tables or parking cars for a living just to get by. Most left within 5 years with cost of living, island fever, not fitting in culturally, limited career options, or missing family being the most common reasons. I have one buddy left whose been there 8 years now but is trying to move because he has 2 kids. I have another friend that will NEVER leave, he absolutely loves it. So I think 80% leaving within 5 years is probably about what I experienced. Of course the subset I dealt with may be different that the subset others deal with depending on career/island/social circles.
It's decades away, but could you ever see yourself retiring in Hawaii, maybe on an outer island after you are done working an no longer need employment?
Or, do you think the "Mokes in Hawaii = "don't tread on me" rednecks in Virginia" thing and the lack of resources in Hawaii that are easily found on the mainland would cause you to not want to retire in Hawaii or spend the winter months there?
As someone from Virginia that knows (and is friends with) a lot of rednecks this part made me actually laugh out loud... I've been saying this for years. Mokes in Hawaii = "don't tread on me" rednecks in Virginia. I actually just had a conversation about this with someone. They may look different and talk different but they have so much in common...
Gee idk i kind of have a different opinion. I think mainlanders are more redneck then true hawaii residents. I mean what group always tries to get everybody to assimilate there way of life no matter where you go? locals on mainland? Or mainlanders who have moved to Hawai'i? Sorry if this ruffles some feathers but you have to look at the big picture.
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I definitely like it, but I don't love it. I could take it or leave it depending on the job/housing/school situation and feel like we are much better off elsewhere right now.
