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Why is it that so many people spend all this time, money, energy, sell every ting, then within a few month go back to where they came from? Moving to Hawaii is both expensive, exhausting and should require lots of thought and preparation....why is then that so many people fail at making it work here? Almost every day there is a new post in this forum regarding someone moving here....Where do they go wrong?
Number One reason, missing family back on the mainland. Probably now tied with financial problems in having a similar standard of living here. Frustration that Hawaii is not just like any other state in the Union. ( ya really gotta deal with that one, folks) And, high on the list is lack of quality medical care. If you have a serious or chronic health issue, medical care is not on the par that the mainland offers.
I would suspect folks find a huge difference between what they expect and what they experience once they arrive. Other than the obvious of folks who expect "paradise" and find out that, well, it ain't here, there are a lot of other less obvious differences which they may not be prepared for.
Number One reason, missing family back on the mainland. Probably now tied with financial problems in having a similar standard of living here. Frustration that Hawaii is not just like any other state in the Union. ( ya really gotta deal with that one, folks) And, high on the list is lack of quality medical care. If you have a serious or chronic health issue, medical care is not on the par that the mainland offers.
The reasons KonaKat state are why we didn't make the move (expensive, lack of quality medical care, family). In addition, we did get "island fever" after a trial visit of several months. So we limit ourselves to a few weeks visit almost every year.
And, high on the list is lack of quality medical care. If you have a serious or chronic health issue, medical care is not on the par that the mainland offers.
In what way is the quality lower? Is it decreased access to care?
not as many doctors and not enough hospitals. we have one hopspital on maui. so if you live on the other side of the island have heart attack during rush hour, it gets scary. I went to big island with friends. my gal pal had to go to emergency as her heart was racing. there was one heart doctor for all of big island at the time. some things you must fly to oahu to get fixed. the flight is covered in some insurance policies.
It's also very expensive to live in Hawaii, and in most cases, proffesional pay is quite a bit lower than comparably high cost areas on the mainland. For a lot of people, the beauty and splendor cannot make up for the fact that they have taken a huge cut in pay and have far less spending power. I have tons of friends who would like to move back, but can't take 50% drops in pay combined with an increase in cost of living.
On the flip side, people who don't do their homework move out to hawaii thinking that they'll find work, housing, etc and get to live the 'lifestyle of their dreams', only to find that they're working just as hard, if not harder than before, and that the life of their dreams doesn't exist between the work, traffic, smaller yet more expensive housing, five dollar a gallon milk, and all the other typical day to day headaches that you'd experience anywhere else in America....that's the quintessential 'price of paradise'. For most people it comes down to, are you willing to accept a little (or a lot) less in terms of physical possesions and disposable income, to get access to the awesome weather, beautiful scenery, and friendly people....some people just can't accept the tradeoff....
In what way is the quality lower? Is it decreased access to [health]care?
Here's a good synopsis of what's happening in Hawaii with healthcare:
Hawaii Reporter: Hawaii Reporter (http://www.hawaiireporter.com/list.aspx?s=tort+reform - broken link)
A long standing Hawaii problem is short-sightedness and the overriding selfish interests of a few in power. I'm not anti-union, but the unions there are too strong and have too much power over the hearts and minds of the people. When you have a LAW that says all govt employees are required to join a union, you begin to see the problem. Even when one of the union bosses was in jail, he was called 'the 26th senator.'
So - cost of living + cost of healthcare + cost of union wages without comparable productivity or results + drop in tourism (#1 industry) + poorly educated legislators (who have never had to meet a payroll and don't understand it's the small businesses who prop up the state.) +++++
I LOVE Hawaii. I would be there if it weren't for the above paragraph. The people are absolutely the best in the world. The beauty of the islands is breathtaking. I lived there 30 years. Had to leave for economic reasons. Looking at the problems from a distance has been eye-opening. It's sometimes a helpless feeling, since my kids are still there.
If you want the real skinny on Hawaii - two books come to mind:
"Land and Power in Hawaii"
and "Broken Trust"
Michener's book "Hawaii" is pretty good, too, although he takes a lot of poetic license.
Why is it that so many people spend all this time, money, energy, sell every ting, then within a few month go back to where they came from? Moving to Hawaii is both expensive, exhausting and should require lots of thought and preparation....why is then that so many people fail at making it work here? Almost every day there is a new post in this forum regarding someone moving here....Where do they go wrong?
I think it's very obvious
You can do all proper research and preparation but then get hit with Island Fever.
You can tell and warn people about it but unless you experience it, you don't really know if you can take it.
You can do all proper research and preparation but then get hit with Island Fever.
You can tell and warn people about it but unless you experience it, you don't really know if you can take it.
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 lived in coastal Orange County for 10 years, and I've seen the same with people moving there because they thought it was "paradise", seeing it on TV. Mountains, palm trees, sandy beaches - what more could you want? Then when you live there you soon realize that it's not paradise because you still have to get up every morning and haul your butt to work, deal with bills, life's issues, etc. And then the high cost of living and horrible traffic can make life truly miserable. I wasn't personally miserable there (except for the traffic) but was ready to get out for a few reasons. Hawai'i is paradise when you're there on vacation, but then so is Colorado! If I ever get the chance to move there, it will be because it's my favorite type of climate and I love the culture, not because I expect paradise.
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