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I've been reading back posts and current posts, just absorbing all the info I can about moving to Oahu. Now I've decided to make a check list.
After arriving on the island, what would you suggest I do to help settle in?
I've got:
- set up a bank acct
- get a hawaiian drivers license/ID
- find a good vet for my cat
- find a good dentist & physician
Is there anything else you can think of? This all assuming I will be in a vacation rental for a month while searching for a more permanent living situation and I have a rental car for the beginning.
The cat vet and dentist/physician can probably wait for several weeks because that may change depending on where your final rental area will be.
Set up a local bank account and select one which has branches in the areas you plan to look for housing.
Get local ID such as the driver's license, that's a good plan. Get a local phone number while you are at it, too. Local calls using land lines are free on each island but long distance cell phone numbers will cost money to call and some folks still use land lines as their primary phones.
There is a map available at bookstores and places called "Bryant's Sectional Map of Oahu", that will be really handy to have unless you have a GPS available. Also depending on the lifestyle you hope to eventually have, a bus pass might be a good thing. Skip the rental car and just use The Bus initially so you'll be able to arrange your life to not have a car. That will save tons of money.
before you arrive, make a list of all the food and products you buy on a regular basis. When you arrive, take that list to all the big markets around where you live and find out what those items cost on a regular basis. Dont do the sale prices because when you need the thing it may not be on sale so best to get the regualr cost. That will let you know whuich market is usually cheapest to buy from and which usually has the items you want. You may buy on sale, but at least you wont get caught like many with their pants down when all they did was plan based on sale prices. Go to any market and watch the deer int he headlight look of the recent transplants when the $3.25 item is not on sale and they need it and it's regular at $4.50. had they gone to another store the non sale regular price would be $4. If you have the idea of regular prices, you won't be shocked.
Figure out where you will be working (if you will be working) and find out what parking is available and cost. You donlt want to fight for parking when you could already have an idea of what is what.
Learn where everything is you will need on a regular basis. Where is the bus stops? Where is the hospital? What drug store is iopen latre? Which gas stations have what?
Something i did wrong was initally spend too much time trying to enjoy Hawaii when i first move there (I'll find out where the hardware store is later, today I'll drive to the beach) and not enough time trying to know how to live there so I can enjoy the rest later. I needed a hardware store the 2nd week and had no idea where it was, but I knew where the snorkle spots were.
Thank you so much for the advice hotzcatz and PacificFlights!
@hotzcatz: I agree, I shouldn't worry too much about a vet or doctor right off the bat. That can be put on the backburner till I'm completely settled. I was very adamant about using the Bus, I can't remember why I thought of using a rental car now...
@PacificFlights: I've already started the list of food+prices! I can see online the weekly ads for Times Supermarket and Safeway and Foodland (those are two different stores, right?). Well, I plan on re-evaluating the list right before I leave and then doing exactly what you said. That's how I'm coming up with an estimate budget for things other than rent. I also plan on having a job by the time I get there.
I have another question... Having a job upon arrival is crucial. I have it in my head that I will not make this jump until I know I have secured a good job. See, I work part-time (my 2nd job) at Best Buy so I was planning on transferring to the Best Buy in Honolulu. I have already spoken to the manager at that store about this and it is possible. I have that saved in my back pocket for now. But as for my full-time, bring-home-the-bacon job, I'm still working on it. The thing is, I have this horrible feeling that even if I'm qualified for the job, employers will overlook me because my address is in San Antonio, TX. I know someone on this forum mentioned somewhere that getting a PO Box there and just fwd all the mail to my address here might be useful in that aspect. However, when I brought this up to one of my coworkers, they thought it might give employers the wrong impression, and when/if they call for an interview, and I tell them I'm actually in San Antonio, they won't want to hire me then or in the future.
Unless you have some sort of fairly rare skillset when the employers see a mainland address they aren't likely to call for an interview so you won't have to worry about what to say to them anyway.
Can you move over on the BestBuy job and do that full time to get started with and then go back down to part time when you find a job in your other area of employment?
If you have to wait until all your ducks are in a row before moving, it won't happen, but if you don't line up at least a few ducks, you won't make it, so moving to Hawaii is kinda a cross between a balancing act and a compromise.
AlohaHuey says moving to Hawai'i is like moving to a different country. In terms of banking, I think it is like moving to a third world country.
I suggest you open a checking account now. Bank of Hawai'i will open an account for you over the internet. It takes about a month before your account will have full privileges, you'll get a debit card, etc. You might as well get that month over with before you come.
@hotzcatz: you're right about needing to compromise. I can try my hardest from here, but I have to remember that relocation takes time and whoever's hiring probably won't wait. I will work on the full time at Best Buy thing. Hopefully I won't have to rely on that job for too long. I don't think it'll pay enough.
@OpenD: I'm hoping for about a month's notice before moving so I will keep that advice tucked away until the time comes
Thanks for the info! I'm sure I'll think of more questions soon :P
I enjoy eating out and trying new places (possibly more than the next person), but I have a big passion for cooking, seafood especially. I read in another post how you shouldn't eat ocean fish more than once a week. What constitutes an ocean fish versus... shellfish or any other fish? Does it mean fish caught in the ocean vs. fish farms?
Back to the cooking... what meat would you say is cheapest? Beef vs chicken vs pork vs fish vs shellfish? I believe in promoting local farmers so I will definitely be frequenting farmers markets. Are there seafood markets too? Are these all fisherman that fish off-coast?
Cheapest meat on Oahu is probably what you can buy in Chinatown. They have primarily pork, chicken and fish. Heaps of chicken feet, should you want to make soup! Chinatown is always a great place to get vegetables and Asian spices and things. Yumm, especially some of the Chinese bakeries. I didn't shop much for meat in Chinatown, but mostly that was because I didn't have much refrigeration at the time.
Almost all the fish in Hawaii are caught in the ocean. We have very few freshwater fishponds. There is a catfish pond over near Hilo and the shrimp farms on Northshore Oahu and some lobster farms over in the Kona district, I'm not sure of any other "farmed" fishes.
There's loads of places to eat on Oahu. Tons and tons of eateries everywhere. I know a lot of folks who don't ever really cook anything, they just eat out when ever they are hungry.
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