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My move is still a while off but I'm wondering for those who have already made the leap if you are sorry you sold/gave away all your household furnishings and goods? Or did you ship everything in a container and after the fact did you wish you hadn't?
Yep. Wish we would have shipped our things instead of selling. We moved from a 3 bedroom house to a 3 bedroom house so it would have made sense to keep our things. We thought we would just use the $ we got from selling everything to buy new things and save the shipping fee. Big mistake!
It is extremely difficult to find quality furniture on the island. And things are very expensive even on Craigslist. I'm always amazed at what people are asking for furniture that looks like I would see it for free in San Diego. We really liked our furniture too and it was good quality. Now we have spent more $ than we sold our things for and not to mention the hours on Craigslist looking for things, driving around to see them, having to rent the Home Depot truck to move things. It's been a huge hassel. It would have been way better to spend the money and get everything done at one time, and to have the furniture we actually liked.
Seems like every situation is different. One family moves from a 3-bed on the West Coast, while a retired couple moves from a large house on the East Coast to a 2 bed condo. What makes sense for the first family (i.e., shipping instead of selling) does not make sense for the retired couple (old, heavy, East Coast furniture does not work well in Paradise). You have to evaluate what you have versus what you'll need. That evaluation will help you to decide whether to ship or sell.
Consider that a 20' container shipped from Long Beach is about $5,000, and a 40' container is about $6,700. So ask yourself are you better off using that $5,000-$6,700, plus money from selling off whatever you have, and just starting fresh and buying new stuff at Costco, etc. Or you could Craigslist hunt but that is a pain in the arse and probably very frustrating, unless you happen to come across the family moving back to the Mainland and is selling everything.
You may decide that spending $5,000-$6,700 just to ship your old beaten down crap (lol) isn't worth it after all.
Somebody was asking why there are so many garages full of crap in Hawai'i? I believe it's because, on average, people ship too much crap to Hawai'i, then they really don't know what to do with it all when they find that on average Hawaiian houses and apartments are smaller, rooms are smaller, and that honestly, they just really don't need all that stuff.
Of course, people are different, and not everybody enjoys prowling yard sales and thrift shops for bargains, and some have an expensive piece or two from Elder Allen that they just don't want to part with because there's nothing comparable for sale in the islands, or their grandmother left them a trundle bed that crossed the prairie, or whatever. So if you really like something, and are willing to pay the high cost of moving it to Hawai'i, go ahead, with all the usual caveats about size, and effects of humidity and so on.
But don't miss the chance to declutter your life, either. If you haven't worn it, or used it, or seen it for a year, do you really need it? Probably not. Look and see if you aren't still hanging on to things that are no longer meaningful. And don't miss the chance to create a fresh start for yourself, no matter what your age, by getting rid of memories you don't really need to be toting around with you.
Somebody was asking why there are so many garages full of crap in Hawai'i? I believe it's because, on average, people ship too much crap to Hawai'i, then they really don't know what to do with it all when they find that on average Hawaiian houses and apartments are smaller, rooms are smaller, and that honestly, they just really don't need all that stuff.
Now that is super funny - I've yet to ever see a transplant throw what most would agree is junk in a carport. Local, Local, Local, Local.
And if living an apartment - breaking news - you don't have a place to put that junk in a garage space. They don't allow that.
{in my Joe Pesci voice} Funny how...I'm funny to you...You think I'm funny?!
Actually, I've found the furnishings at Costco to be quite decent, and considering Ethan Allen, Thomasville, etc. haven't opened up a Kauai location yet, I'm not sure where else you would go. As far as I know the Macy's on the Island doesn't have a Macy's Home Store either.
Thanks. My tongue-in-cheek jokes go over people's heads sometimes...
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