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So...Maui is a beautiful, wonderful place. I love it. I think only the special people truly are offered a chance at a job and to make it work.
However, what I had prepared myself for re "concern" and what are my real concerns are so much different than I imagined.....
These were my concerns- I was not prepared for the later.....
Food: I spent roughly $75 a week mainland for food- I buy fresh veggies, fruit, tofu, fish etc....spend the same here.
Gas: I have bought an efficient 40 mpg car and get mileage reimbursement here so gas is essentially free!
Here is what I didn't expect AT ALL!!!! 1-Type A bosses that get to work at 6am and work 12 hour days!!!! Insane traffic to and from town that is horrendous and worse than the city I came from! Working long days under scrutiny..... 2- Noisy neighbors and the fact you can hear everything through the windows, including roosters. 3- the strange housing! Expensive YES expected...but the bizarre ads on CL....no smoking, drugs, visitors, pets and ooohhhh can you clean, do gardening, babysit, and still pay me 1200 rent each month????? It's just starting to get to me and I hope I can figure it all out.
Many people have told me that Maui is meant to be. I will either know in a month or be sorta kicked off the island. I do hope I'm in the first category!
All I need is decent housing for a quiet, drug free employed female....apparently not that easy to find
Congratulations on your new move to Maui. It sounds like you've had an interesting start.
Dunno if you can do anything about the boss, is that the standard work time or is there a project being done at the moment that makes for longer hours?
Look for housing close to work. That's about the only way to solve the traffic problem. Or find housing that comes to work from the direction the traffic isn't coming from although that doesn't always work.
Ah, well, yes. Houses are much closer than the ones on the mainland, the windows are always open and sounds do carry. Frequently local folks will talk a lot softer, although not always. Chicken soup cures crowing, in case the roosters get too crazy.
Well, Craig's List is not moderated and there are strange ads out there. The best houses go to friends and acquaintances and never get listed on Craig's List, so networking is your best way to get a good rental.
So...Maui is a beautiful, wonderful place. I love it. I think only the special people truly are offered a chance at a job and to make it work.
Many people have told me that Maui is meant to be. I will either know in a month or be sorta kicked off the island. I do hope I'm in the first category!(
If by "special" you mean "rich", or regular and willing to work 3 mediocre jobs, then yes, Maui is a place for "special" people. I have a long standing, 20+ year feud with the "Maui meant to be" philosophy and by coincidence, just wrote about in on another thread. The economic circumstances on Maui were created by mankind, not the island. Before european contact, most folks lived on Maui for next to nothing for hundreds and hundreds of years. Maui is not expensive, mankind is expensive. Maui is very kind and welcoming, mankind creates the exclusivity. The people who came and aren't "special enough" to live here, who gave up and went back to the mainland, left not because of a lack of "specialness" or because the island kicked them out, they left because of insufficient funds, squeezed out by the presence of overwhelming capital possessed by others - and were worn out by the struggle. Working poor people are special too. Man does the kicking, not beautiful and dear Maui.
In Keokea, the juxtaposition is evident. On one side of the road you have a billionaire, Oprah Winfrey, with her 1500 acre ranch. Literally on the other side of the road you have a 75 year old Hawaiian woman living on homestead land. Her only dwelling is a shack that's really no more than a tent, no running water, no plumbing, takes a dump behind the bushes. She has lived like that for 15+ years. On her way home, Oprah drives right by Paul Finger's property (almost 80 years old?), who has also lived in a shack for years and years, no running water, can't afford anything more. In a way its funny as Paul paints these huge signs denouncing inequality for Oprah to read as she passes by (Thompson Road). Maui did not create the moral calamity of how we as a society treat poor old people, mankind did. The Hawaiian culture that existed before europeans arrived, would never allow elders to be treated in such a manner. It is my firm belief, based on decades of observation, that traditional Hawaiian culture is far more in keeping with the inherent spirit of the island than the, quite often, modern morally compromised prevailing notions.
Are Hawaiians inherently superior? Of course not. They are a part of mankind. The difference is traditional Hawaiians, the few who are left, listen to the island, to the aina, to Maui and hear her benevolent song. Haole ears became deaf to such songs many generations ago. Pre-contact, was Maui passing judgment on who could or could not stay on the island? Sweeping in and decrying a person to be not special enough to remain, putting them in a canoe, and setting the adrift at sea? Maui has been around for millions of years, maintaing a special pulse of spirituality for eons. She hasn't all of a sudden adopted a philosophy of exclusivity, preferring rich folks to poor. Native Hawaiians were very poor, yet they remained. Some may say thank God Maui is exclusive so it does not get overrun. And that's a fair point, population restraints would be required if Maui had Bangladesh's cost of living. It's unfortunate that the restraints currently revolve around who has the biggest financial stick, a way that has made Maui, extremely un-Hawaiian.
Both of these elders remain on Maui, among other reasons, because their land is free and the climate gentle on a homeless existence. For complicated reasons to do with state and church trusts, they cannot reasonably sell. For them, a return to the mainland would be worse. So many of the other non-special people do not have their land advantage. And thus the Maui revolving door continues to spin. Each and every one who passes through that door, is inherently special, no matter the direction they move.
We were all born by a river, in a little tent. Rich or poor, we all struggle with poverty of spirit.
Last edited by Maui Moving Source; 08-06-2013 at 07:52 AM..
Congratulations on your move so far. The quality of your life is largely controlled by your boss. Some people have a miserable boss, some people have a good or great boss. I've had both, good and bad working conditions. Once you have a good or great boss, it's very risky to change jobs and end up with a horrible boss and bad working conditions. Maybe you can use your free time to check out other employment. Depending on your field of employment and location, you might be stuck with a rotten employer if there aren't enough other options. It does not look good on your resume to have jobs lasting less than about 3 - 4 years. I've seen some resumes with a string of a year or less employments. Those people almost never get hired. But if your working conditions and boss are horrible, sometimes you have to make a change before the ideal employment length. Does the boss expect all their employees to also work 12 hours a day? That's 60 hoiurs a week, assuming there isn't Saturday or Sunday work. Do you get overtime pay if you go over 40 hours?
If you can telecommute, then that will reduce the hassle with the traffic. Maybe you can start in the morning at home and drive in later in the morning. That's what I do. Is traffic bad even before 6 AM? The telecommuting would also reduce the annoyance of having a boss stand behind you can watch you work, to make sure you are working every single second. Some bosses don't like telecommuting though. Some people have to 'act' like they are busy just to make it look good.
The landlords that want rent plus a free servant are being ridiculous. I suppose a landlord could try to put almost anything on their 'wish list'. Maybe some people actually rent from them and become their free servant too. So, it might work for them. For you, and most others, that's just another advertisement you can ignore.
Are you making enough to save up for retirement? You have to think about your long term future too.
I hope your working conditions can be improved one way or another, especially if you are younger and have a long way to go before you can retire.
Regarding rentals, I recommend you allocate as large a portion of your budget as possible. I found the nicer (more expensive) places I rented while there were the quietest. What area of the island are your looking to rent?
My commute is generally Kihei to Wailuku daily. Leave around 7:30, return home around 5pm. (if lucky) getting me back to Kihei by 5:30, however, several days were as late as 6 or 7 pm. I also have to do visits all over the island for work, but primarily Kahului, Wailuku, and Kihei. Now they are throwing in Lahaina as well. It's not the gas cost, as they will reimburse, or even if it were a nice leisurely drive..... It's getting stuck all day in Kahului traffic or at lights. I guess I never noticed it on vacations.....
Also, many of the residences have so much junk in their yard! More than in their home??? Overall the homes aren't excessively dirty, but they literally keep years and years worth of stuff all outside or in the yard. To me that's crazy. These are both work related stops as well as some of the rentals I have looked at!
I'm not trying to be a complainer, as I work with very nice co-workers, and feel fortunate to have work, but I'm more exhausted here than on the mainland.
I'm trying to get a system down right now. I'm too fearful I'd lose my job which I need if I stand up for myself being a newbie. Seems it's a revolving door though.....
As far as what I thought would be the issues clothing, food, and gas costs those are manageable. Seeing as it's only me, I don't mind renting a small studio as long as it's quiet and clean. I'm even thinking of renting in napili on the west side as I've seen several nice places and commuting to Wailuku! I know that is crazy, but south area is very pricey and a lot of dumps if you go below 1200, and Wailuku and Kahului seem to local/crowded for me. Upcountry is also an idea, but so far away from everything....
Well, OP, I really hope that the dreamers out there are reading this thread!! Especially your statement about not noticing traffic or lights when you were on vacations.... Isn't that what we preach here over and over? Living in Hawaii is different than vacationing in Hawaii!
Also, many of the residences have so much junk in their yard! More than in their home??? Overall the homes aren't excessively dirty, but they literally keep years and years worth of stuff all outside or in the yard. To me that's crazy. These are both work related stops as well as some of the rentals I have looked at! This comment should be added to OpenD's list of 1001 things that are different about living in Hawaii, and is one of the reasons that I chose to live in a covenant controlled community. I have talked on several occasions with the zoning enforcement people on the Big Island (of which there are four for the entire island!). They have told me things like: it's ok to have a car (or several cars) torn apart in someone's front yard because people here are poor and do their own car repair work and they need a car to take parts off of. Seriously! The County Code says that you can have as many as fifteen junk cars in your yard before it is classified as a junkyard.
Good luck with the job and I really do hope that you find a good place to live and can enjoy being in Maui.
Can relate....the first 3 months for me was very difficult here on Oahu. The first apartment and job did not end up being right for me. It took time, but I found the right job and place to live and got in a groove.
One of the biggest things I had to learn those first few months was to have a longer fuse. Try wait 2 minutes before getting irritated at a situation, seemingly ignorant person or a slow driver. Usually things resolve themselves within that time frame, and there's no stress to carry with you.
We were all born by a river, in a little tent. Rich or poor, we all struggle with poverty of spirit.
Interesting post. The fact is, things change; always have always will. Countless cultures have been plowed under by the forces of time and progress. That will never change. You cannot sit and cry about lost innocence and lost grandeur of what once was or you risk being another complainer stuck in the past. Get over it. At this point in time, Maui is a place defined more by location and weather than by culture and any remaining Aloha spirit. That is wilting away with every new box store and every new chain hotel. The final nail in the coffin will be when the cane fields are replaced with housing developments. It is what it is.
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