Telecommuting and home schooling -- Will I buck the trend? (Kihei: rent, chapel)

[jgriffi1]

Hi everyone,

First post here. My wife and I are heading to Maui next month to scope it out. We've been thinking about moving to Hawaii, but probably just for a year or two. We'd like to live there, but both our families are here in VA so we couldn't do a permanent move. I've read tons of posts about lack of work and poor schools, but I can take my job with me and make decent money (130K ish) and my kids would be homeschooled while we were there. We would just rent a house and live as simply as possible for a year or two. For all of you don't-move-here doomsayers, does this sound like a recipe that would work?

[Balad1]

With $130K you'll be good to go; as far as homeschooling goes that I don't know.

[arodrigues88]

Yeah of course $130K would definitely be good. I'm not too sure about homeschooling so I cannot help you there. I'm not too sure why you would only stay in Hawaii for two years though. I mean, you're going to be moving all the way from VA to Hawaii, moving your family, moving your things, and only stay here for a couple years. Not too sure if it would even be worth it. Sounds more like a vacation rather than a living experience - If you get what I'm saying.

[jgriffi1]

One additional question. My wife is a labor and delivery nurse. I know there's only one hospital on the island, so does anyone know if the lack of jobs extends to nursing as well?

As to why we'd only stay for a year or so, like I said in the original post, we have too many ties to this area to stay permanently. But we both scuba dive and the kids love the beach, so we don't want to just come for a week or two of vacation either. We figure a year or two would be the sweet spot.

[mdand3boys]

Since you have a decent income stream and will be homeschooling, there really isn't a down side. Your children will gain from the move in ways that you probably have not even thought of. The diversity of the population will help them to learn about other peoples and cultures that could not be learned anywhere on the mainland. They will carry this knowledge and understanding with them the rest of their lives.
The only downside is that by not being in "regular school" they will have a tougher time in making new friends. For this reason, I would try to get them into a charter school, or go ahead and get them into one of the private schools. (What grades are they in?)

[Ebanks]

Originally Posted by jgriffi1

One additional question. My wife is a labor and delivery nurse. I know there's only one hospital on the island, so does anyone know if the lack of jobs extends to nursing as well?

As to why we'd only stay for a year or so, like I said in the original post, we have too many ties to this area to stay permanently. But we both scuba dive and the kids love the beach, so we don't want to just come for a week or two of vacation either. We figure a year or two would be the sweet spot.

Have you looked through the jobs listings on the hospitals website? There is a constant supply of at least 15-20 RN openings there. She may have to work in something other than Labor and Delivery, but she shouldn't have trouble finding work as an RN as far as I can tell.

My wife and I are in a similar situation, but without kids. I can move there with my work but will take a pay cut from about $115k to about $80k. I will have to travel back about 6-7 times a year (paid for) for 10 days to 2 weeks at a time, which shouldn't be too bad. My wife is a pediatric burn nurse, which is a very small specialty, but can work in other areas without issue. From what we have seen nursing salaries, depending on education and experience, will be between $60k-$70k/yr in Maui. We have our home on the market here and are in the process of selling it and getting all of our dogs paperwork in order for direct release in Maui.

Good luck with the move!

[hotzcatz]

It seems like it would be a good "vacation" for you to live on Maui for a couple of years. You will probably have a hard time making true friends but the folks will probably be friendly. Folks who live on these islands are pretty picky about becoming friends with folks that have just moved over from the mainland because it hurts too much when they leave. So, since you are going to be transient from the get go, folks will be pleasant to you and all, but you probably won't get to the tight level of friendship.

[jgriffi1]

By the time I get there, the kids will be in 6th, 5th and 2nd grades. As for cultures, they're already color blind. We lived in Alexandria VA for a while and were the only white people in our apt complex. Where we are now is not quite like that, but very mixed. I'm excited about the science and nature educational opportunities the most.

[jayteefoster]

I hate to be the devil's advocate here, but really? Why would you ever move anywhere for no real reason and the expectation of moving away in two years or less? It seems like way more time, money and effort than it is really worth.
You'll be putting a lot of stress on your children, moving them away from everything they know, only to move them again just as they begin to settle down.
I can't tell what you do for a living, but a 2 year relocation seems like it would put a pretty big dent in anyone's career advancement strategies.
You'll be taking a pay cut the size of which could support a small family.

It seems like an awful lot of cons, especially when you consider that you'll have to give up on all the pros as soon as you move away again. The beauty of a vacation is that you come back home and pick up exactly where you left off. Seems like a 2 year "vacation" to Hawaii would put you way behind where you started once you move back.

That said, don't let me stop you. Moving to Hawaii is a laudable dream.
It just seems that you might be happier/better off moving somewhere warm and coastal on the mainland, given that staying with your family is important and the only real reason you've given for wanting to move is that "the kids love the beach." Florida perhaps? Or even California?

[thyroid_gal]

Gee, some folks on here sure seem to be unreasonably negative, don't they.

My husband and I are seriously considering and researching a move to Maui that sounds like it would be similar to yours. He already works from home and has a virtual staff all over the country - so location isn't an issue for his job. I currently homeschool our 3 children (ages 8, 5 and 3) and we would probably continue to do so on Maui. We have friends (the Pastor of Kihei Baptist Chapel for all you locals) who have children in the local elementary school and charter middle & highschools and have so far been pleased with their experiences there.

Not sure if you found this yet, but this gives a list of homeschooling groups: Homeschool World: Hawaii Homeschool Organizations and Support Groups It looks like they are all religiously affiliated - not sure if that floats your boat or not.

You might also consider the Virtual Academy if you're new to homeschooling. You are technically enrolled in the public school, but do all coursework at home and meet with a teacher quarterly for field trips and slightly more often for progress reviews. Kihei Charter School You can also read a lot of reviews of the curriculum here: HomeSchoolReviews.com K12 Curriculum Reviews As with all curricula, the question is usually "does this fit us?" not if it's good or bad.

We were in Maui last week and did quite a bit of snooping around. Prices at the Farmers Market (retail healthfood type store) in Lahaina were pretty out-of-this-world. However, we went to Costco and found that things are really not that much more than the mainland. I know my Costco prices pretty well since I shop there for groceries nearly every week here in Austin. Here's somethings I noticed:

Clothing = exact same prices at my costco yesterday
Electronics = within $10-30 on big ticket items, same price on small ticket items
Household goods = generally the same or 5-10% more
metal wrought iron bench $39.99 vs $29.99 here in Austin
large ceramic posts $29 in both places
Groceries
ground beef $2.99 (same as here)
organic ground beef $12.99 (for 3 lbs, same as Austin)
tortilla chips $4.39 here they are $3.29
sliced ham sandwich meat, costco packaged $3.29lb same as Austin
Columbus pack sandwich meat $12.99 vs $9.99 in Austin
party tray sliced cheese $9.99 vs $7.99 here
organic milk, 1.5 gallons $8.69 CHEAPER than Austin at $9.59
organic salad mix and/or spinach mix, large box $6.99 almost TWICE as much as $3.99 here (obviously this is a highly perishable item flown in from CA)
2lb clamshell of strawberries $7.99 vs. $5.99 here in Austin
organic apples $8.99 vs $7.99 here
cheerios $6.99 a box, same as here
coffee, hawaii brands $9.99 2lbs vs $12.99 for Austin packaged brand here
3 pack of mellons $8.99 (not sure of Austin price on this)

Now obviously that list is not exhaustive, but we wanted to check out the normal stuff we buy and see what the 'reality' of prices were. There very well may be some items that are way more expensive that I missed at costco, but the things I saw were really very reasonable. I don't shop exclusively at Costco here in Austin, and I do expect that our overall food bill will be higher once we're on Maui. That being said, it was comforting to see how reasonable Costco was - still cheaper than shopping at Walmart or a chain grocery here on the mainland.

As far as the 2 year plan - I say go for it! Maybe you will just stay for 2 years and have wonderful memories of those years with your kids. Maybe you'll be hooked and make it permanent. Either way, isn't so much of life flavored by our attitudes and expectations? Sounds like a grand adventure and a perfect age for your kids to embark on it. I'll be curious to see how your decision process goes!