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I've heard about "Island Fever" and figured I'd be immune to it. I already keep a very small "footprint" and rarely stray more than 10 mi. from home. I've lived in Denver for 3 years now and the furthest I've driven is to the airport! Some people seem to need that feeling that they can get in their car and drive to somewhere else. I'm happy at home.
I personally think that an "island fever" diagnosis is too simplistic! There must be some root causes that make someone feel like they need to leave...if we can get at those...we can start taking some precautions to help prevent island fever as opposed to reacting to it once it hits!
I personally think that an "island fever" diagnosis is too simplistic! There must be some root causes that make someone feel like they need to leave...if we can get at those...we can start taking some precautions to help prevent island fever as opposed to reacting to it once it hits!
Agreed. Most people don't get in their cars and drive hundreds of miles just because they can. Most people spend most of their lives within a 10 mile radius of home, give or take some depending on their work commute.
One thing I noticed... I moved here alone and was joined by my husband a few weeks later. In those few weeks, I knew very few people on the island and wasn't really close friends with anyone. I found myself really really lonely after dinner each night. Just about everyone I knew in the world was asleep, and there I was awake, by myself, and with nothing to do.
I can see how if you never quite connect with the community that this would really wear on you after a while, and might be the feeling that some call island fever.
But then again maybe some people are genuinely freaked out about living on a smallish rock in the middle of the ocean. I kind of love that feeling. But the fact that it so strongly appeals to me means there must be people who feel exactly the opposite. (But then why did they come here in the first place?)
I used to really enjoy "road trips", and living in Las Vegas I could easily in one day be in California, Arizona, Utah, or in 2 days be back w/ family in Missouri. However I do not get island fever. The Big Island is big, that helps. I might not be so content on Maui, Oahu or Kauai although I love Kauai and Oahu for little trips. That's enough to get me thru too, a trip or 2 a year to one of the other islands. In 5 years I have only been back to the mainland twice; once for 4 days to CA to a wedding, and once for 2 weeks we travelled to Las Vegas, OK, MO and CA to see family and friends.
Its funny to me sometimes when you see Hawaii on the weather map.......holy crap, we ARE out in the middle of nowhere! It's kind of cool, really.
As a soon to be transplant, I can tell you that the number one worry that I have is distance to my family & friends. I believe that if I don't make it, that would be the reason. Personally, I am looking for paradise, for a year or so, but realize that at some point -more or less than a year- the realization sets in that one has to establish a life for the long haul & then just enjoy the surroundings as time permits. If I am not able to establish that sustaible life after this time, that would be my number two reason for returning. I also have to believe that there are hundreds of other factors, all different reasons for different people, on a personal level that effect these decisions.
I personally think that an "island fever" diagnosis is too simplistic! There must be some root causes that make someone feel like they need to leave...if we can get at those...we can start taking some precautions to help prevent island fever as opposed to reacting to it once it hits!
I really don't know the answer, but I think you're right. I would suspect that ,for some, they go there on vacation and imagine daily life would be the same. You're having the time of your life in one of the most beautiful places on earth and you just don't want to leave and go home to work and the routine again. You are sad when you get on that plane and swear you will move there one day. My wife and I got all caught up with the imagined world of Hawaii when we went to Oahu and the Big Island in February for our honeymoon. I mean we were ready to pack it all up, came up with the five-year plan (move there once the last of the children were on their own), and just know that as I work in the defense contracting industry finding work will be no prob! Fortunately, after almost four months back in my beloved Colorado, we came back to our senses and remembered why we love it here so much. Hawaii will always be a vacation destination though. We're going to Maui next year.
It also depends a lot on where you're moving from, and where you're moving to. If you move from San Francisco or San Diego - the prices are higher, but not entirely shocking and you learn to adjust and to shop a little wiser. That being said I think the sticker shock may surprise people moving from the mid west or other areas.
Jobs are scarce, and low paying. I am a nurse, and have lived in Hawaii and California - and going from almost $60 an hour in Cali to around $40 in Hawaii is a big shock.
People need to prepare themselves for island fever. If you can, take a "working" trip. Find a job, stay there for a few months and "live local". Don't go to restaurants, go to the grocery store. Learn to enjoy the same activities as locals. People who have a problem with island fever are the ones who never get out of "tourist" mode. They go there thinking that living in a place is a permanent vacation. But people in the islands get up every day and go to work, and fight traffic (on O'ahu anyway), and have bills to pay and kids to get to school and band practice and every other thing that everyone else does.
Life is good here!
Our day to day life is not a Waikiki vacation or a bungalo at the Hilton. You can be happy in Hawaii, if you are not unrealistic. The one thing that people take with them where ever they go is themselves.
The one thing you can't do anything about is missing family and friends. For some of us it's easier because many of our family and friends are here. There are a lot of factors to consider, people just have to give it a lot of thought first.
We were flying to the mainland for vacation several years ago and had to change planes in Honolulu. We managed to get bumped by the airlines since they were overbooked. They gave us a taxi ride to Waikiki, they put us up at the Marriot Waikiki Beach hotel, they gave us vouchers for breakfast lunch and dinner with a taxi ride back to the airport AND $200 per person in plane fare vouchers. We liked it so much we managed to get bumped a second time the next day. Had we not had to have been somewhere, we could have probably been bumped for a third day, too. It is REALLY GOOD to be a tourist! We go visit friends on Oahu, we see the tourist sites around here occasionally, but we don't stay in fancy hotels and eat fancy hotel food. Tourists have it really nice, there is almost no comparison between being a tourist here (especially if you are staying at a fancy hotel in Waikiki) and living here. If the experience we had of being a valid tourist is what folks are using to base their move to Hawaii feelings on, then no wonder they get disillusioned when living here.
We were flying to the mainland for vacation several years ago and had to change planes in Honolulu. We managed to get bumped by the airlines since they were overbooked. They gave us a taxi ride to Waikiki, they put us up at the Marriot Waikiki Beach hotel, they gave us vouchers for breakfast lunch and dinner with a taxi ride back to the airport AND $200 per person in plane fare vouchers. We liked it so much we managed to get bumped a second time the next day. Had we not had to have been somewhere, we could have probably been bumped for a third day, too. It is REALLY GOOD to be a tourist! We go visit friends on Oahu, we see the tourist sites around here occasionally, but we don't stay in fancy hotels and eat fancy hotel food. Tourists have it really nice, there is almost no comparison between being a tourist here (especially if you are staying at a fancy hotel in Waikiki) and living here. If the experience we had of being a valid tourist is what folks are using to base their move to Hawaii feelings on, then no wonder they get disillusioned when living here.
Well said! But is there a loneliness factor that takes over once you realize that you now have your family and friends thousands of miles away?
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