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No, I'm very happy to hear realistic posts. Thank you. I don't think they are negative.
By a long vacation, I do not mean living like a vacation everyday. I rather mean...we know there will most likely be an ending to a hopefully wonderful experience. We have no desire to buy a home now. We are thinking in 10 years maybe. We do not want to settle down yet. I do not intend to travel to the other islands if it is that much...goodness. Those are shocking prices. We are ok saying goodbye to family and friends for a few years. We have lived the CA suburban life for 20 years now. We have visited Salt Lake City, Utah, Eugene, Oregon, WA, Boulder, CO...we have a good feel for these areas. In the long run, I suppose we do lean towards a mountain area. But we think we will love Maui for the time we are there, and think it may be worth the cost to experience the ocean life first.
"So yes, take a trip and look at housing, traffic, and grocery shopping. If you can put up with those and still have the vacation attitude, Maui might be for you. On the other hand, if you're looking for a small quiet homestead, you might make it to Washington state after 1-2-3 years on Maui, and then say "why didn't we just come here, we could've saved for our down payment and have our own place already."
Great point and definitely food for thought.
Off to WA tmrw...
Personally, I never pass up an opportunity for a good adventure, so I'd go. You'll have enough money to live if you are frugal and know how to work a budget. Nobody is going to chain you to a rock so that you can not leave.
However, some people can move to a location they've never seen before, figure out quickly how to fit themselves in, adapt to conditions, and are happy as stink.
Other people get upset over every little thing that is different, everything that they can no longer get that they used to buy "at home", can't tolerate being away from friends and family.
No one here knows how your family will adapt to a very huge change or how you will deal with things not being quite as you dreamed. No one knows whether you will get rock fever or be depressed because you miss family events.
So, I've got no advice for you about moving.
By the way, Washington state is a wonderful place to live, too.
So we are back from 5 days in WA...starting in Edmonds, WA (a suburb of Seattle) driving up to Newhalem...2 hours northeast, and Port Angeles, 2 hours west.
Washington definitely speaks to us....we found lake houses we could afford with lots of land. We felt really happy up there. More than we expected.
We have to give our answer to Maui today, so we are saying no. I really really appreciate all of you taking the time to respond. It helped us in our decision making.
Reading all these threads on Maui helped me realize a few negatives that I wasn't aware of: the difficulty of finding a rental with a dog, the seemingly "crazyish" landlords (so face to face sounds like a must), the lack of space around your home. Quiet is really important to me. I think the land/house I would like might be out of reach.
We decided it wouldn't be better choice for our family with the kids and the dog to sell practically everything, go for a few years and come back to buy everything again...I'm referring to much more than furniture. We have a nice trailer, with 3 quads and 2 dirt bikes. If it were just the two of us, I think we'd go.
But we really had to give Maui serious thought, as it was likely he would be hired.
For anyone thinking of moving to HI, I hope this thread helps a bit. The responses were extremely helpful.
Thank you!!!!!
On a side note, my husband's interview went really well in WA. He clicked with the guys he interviewed with and we will hear by mid-Sept. if he got the job. The Olympic National Park would be our backyard.
I forget how much we don't say on these posts, ha
I want to mention that we have visited Utah, Oregon and WA many times in both summer and winter months. So we know what is in store for us weather-wise.
Will let you guys know if he gets the job!
So we are back from 5 days in WA...starting in Edmonds, WA (a suburb of Seattle) driving up to Newhalem...2 hours northeast, and Port Angeles, 2 hours west.
Washington definitely speaks to us....we found lake houses we could afford with lots of land. We felt really happy up there. More than we expected.
We have to give our answer to Maui today, so we are saying no. I really really appreciate all of you taking the time to respond. It helped us in our decision making.
Reading all these threads on Maui helped me realize a few negatives that I wasn't aware of: the difficulty of finding a rental with a dog, the seemingly "crazyish" landlords (so face to face sounds like a must), the lack of space around your home. Quiet is really important to me. I think the land/house I would like might be out of reach.
We decided it wouldn't be better choice for our family with the kids and the dog to sell practically everything, go for a few years and come back to buy everything again...I'm referring to much more than furniture. We have a nice trailer, with 3 quads and 2 dirt bikes. If it were just the two of us, I think we'd go.
But we really had to give Maui serious thought, as it was likely he would be hired.
For anyone thinking of moving to HI, I hope this thread helps a bit. The responses were extremely helpful.
Thank you!!!!!
On a side note, my husband's interview went really well in WA. He clicked with the guys he interviewed with and we will hear by mid-Sept. if he got the job. The Olympic National Park would be our backyard.
Sounds like you made your decision, and based it on visiting the areas in person. I think you'll sleep better at night knowing you made a sound choice. As for Maui, we'll still be here for that family vacation plan in a few years.
That is if the sharks don't eat all of us by then anyways... lol
Thanks for coming back and sharing your decision and your reasoning. That's always helpful to others who read.
Your point about the trailer, quads, and dirt bikes is also spot on. There are places to enjoy those in HI, but they are fewer and the cost of shipping over the "toys" (or selling and buying again) doesn't make it worth it. Not to mention the added cost of needing somewhere to store them, either in dedicated storage or a larger rental property.
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