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Aloha! I've been lurking in these forums for some time now and I hope you wouldn't mind very much that I'd open yet another thread - despite the numerous posts of this nature - as a way to introduce myself.
I'm in the tech industry and have experienced working in Asia, Europe and of course the Continental US including around Silicon Valley with 20 years experience and counting. I have convinced myself in the last few years - after visiting Hawaii several times and comparing it to everywhere else I've been - that Hawaii has the closest to my ideal blend of lifestyle, culture and values that I wish for me and my family. I realize the big challenges involved especially the high cost of living, over-crowding, and limited job opportunities, so I've been building up a slush fund(admittedly still less than $100K cash) to cover relocating a family with 1 school-aged dependent. I'm hoping that if landing a job in my field proves challenging, I might be able to start a small tech service provider venture catering to small and medium sized businesses. I also see some benefits in Hawaii from a small venture perspective in that it is closer to contacts, suppliers and resources in Asia. Who knows if I'm lucky it might even lead to bigger opportunities by being half-way between Asia and the mainland. For these reasons, we think Oahu might be our best option. I've also researched other ventures where tech is applied to a different area like food production - ex. I'm thinking that a process automation background might be an advantage in aquaponics - but so far, the risk/reward ratio seems to be too high for me.
We've not pulled the trigger yet as I'm still balancing the benefits of a stable job and being able to grow further my disposable savings vs the itch to finally move forward with our long term dream but we're really hoping the right time would come sooner rather than later.
Thank you for reading this far and looking forward to your thoughts.
Exactly, I saw somewhere that Tokyo is as close to Honolulu as Washington, DC. Plus the social and cultural connections are perhaps even less than the geographic (non-)proximity. Yes, there are tons of Japanese visiting and investing in Hawaii, but for real trade, I bet most Asian countries are dealing with port cities on the West Coast--eg garments in LA, electronics in the Bay Area, etc. The Asian communities in Hawaii are small and long branched off from their home countries, unlike the Chinese in San Francisco or the Koreans in LA, where the immigration continues (I think).
As for the OP's plans, you have more than enough savings to make it work (for once on these types of threads). The thing to consider is what kind of life do you (and your family) want in Hawaii, and whether you will really find it. Your post was all in the first person and had very little consideration for your family. Is your significant other hoping to work or persue other interests? Is your child (did you call him a dependent?) adaptable and open-minded, and are you still willing to pay for private school if necessary? How do they feel about being far from friends and family?
I'm sure there's place on Oahu for an ambitious tech-service provider for businesses, but not sure if someone without contacts can do it quickly. Seems like you're much better off finding work in the field, developing a network, and then branching out into your venture after 1-2 years (or maybe 5). The other question is whether those career plans coincide with the lifestyle you imagine? Developing and running a business is just as time-consuming and stressful in Hawaii as on the mainland. You will have less time with your family compared to where you are now (salaried on the mainland).
Consider all scenarios and their benefits and drawbacks. whtviper1 suggested waiting until your child is in college. What about starting your venture on the mainland, getting it established, then opening a Honolulu branch--at least then you have your business model tested.
Thank you all for taking time to reply. Really appreciate the insights. I based my half-way comment on my own family's strategy of making our west coast to Asia flights more pleasant by stopping a couple of days in Hawaii, before continuing with the next leg although I can see how pleasure trips would be different from business trips or trading. It also seems to help in the time-zone adjustments.
@KauaiHiker: Good point about developing a network first. Please dont read anything about the use of first person. Like I said, we havent pulled the trigger yet despite years of dreaming, precisely because we want to make sure each family member's needs and interests are considered - i.e. both my wife and daughter have (very loud) voices in our decision-making processes - and the word dependent was used to acknowledge the implied extra costs like private schooling as frequently recommended in the forums. So we've visited Hawaii during different times of the year - from a few days to 2 weeks at a time - over the last few years and asked each other everytime whether we're still all on board. We've also relocated for work a few times already(we're again outside of the U.S. and expecting another relocation back) and since my wife left her own work to raise our daughter full-time you might say the bigger part of our decisions to move were based on my job prospects. In fact we are looking at Hawaii more as a final stop where we would like to take roots again and give our daughter the chance to stay put in one place before she enters her crucial teenage years. It was a fully considered decision on our part to expose our daughter to the world at an early age and it's been very educational and lots of fun for all(although admittedly still stressful during the actual moves) specially the exotic vacations part. Our daughter goes to american schools whenever I got assigned overseas to minimize disruptions and she has become unbelievably flexible, open-minded and culturally-sensitive. She totally enjoys her current school but being among fellow transients like us, she understands she and/or her friends would move on eventually and they keep in touch electronically. We take her inputs as much as ours in considering where the next move will be.
@whtviper1: I'm currently a software dev but I've done IT operations and hardware work before so I was hoping that would widen the opportunities a bit. We're not expecting to match my current salary but our daughter is now getting old enough when my wife can think again of going back to work so hopefully that would cover for the drop. Also, even though we're currently living in a tropical location, we're still spending a good chunk of our holiday/vacation time(on average around every 2 or 3 months) and thus, disposable income traveling to tropical islands nearby to get to cleaner waters and fresher air so we wouldnt have to spend so much for that in Hawaii. In fact, we so enjoy warm waters, Hawaii waters are already a tad cooler by our standards .
Given all that, I think Hawaii looks closest (compared to our other options in the west coast) to our current lifestyle and environment with economics being the major consideration, don't you think?
Oh just do it. From the looks of it, you'll never forgive yourself if you don't. I'm reading between the massive attempts at rationalizing and trying to hedge all your bets here. Frankly, it's getting to be a bit painful to watch.
Sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet and give it up to God.
For heavens sakes, it's not as if you'll die if you don't make a go of it here. You'll live, learn a lesson and, if you find out Hawaii is not for you, you'll move on.
JMHO, of course. YMMV.
@PaliPatty: You're so right. But it's hard to give up the security of working for the same company for over 10 years. We also want to hedge our move to be for the long term this time for our daughter's sake.
Totally understood.
So, weigh the negatives and the positives.
Problem is, many of the negatives may not be apparent until you are here.
Look...you can not guarantee success, nor predict failure, in any aspect of life. Your daughter may flourish here and, conversely, she may hate this place, fail to make friends, fall into the wrong crowd, and become a meth addict. Worst case scenario, of course.
Life is a gamble and you have to weigh the odds and take your chances.
Last edited by PaliPatty; 01-19-2012 at 01:58 AM..
Thank you all for taking time to reply. Really appreciate the insights. I based my half-way comment on my own family's strategy of making our west coast to Asia flights more pleasant by stopping a couple of days in Hawaii, before continuing with the next leg although I can see how pleasure trips would be different from business trips or trading. It also seems to help in the time-zone adjustments.
@KauaiHiker: Good point about developing a network first. Please dont read anything about the use of first person. Like I said, we havent pulled the trigger yet despite years of dreaming, precisely because we want to make sure each family member's needs and interests are considered - i.e. both my wife and daughter have (very loud) voices in our decision-making processes - and the word dependent was used to acknowledge the implied extra costs like private schooling as frequently recommended in the forums. So we've visited Hawaii during different times of the year - from a few days to 2 weeks at a time - over the last few years and asked each other everytime whether we're still all on board. We've also relocated for work a few times already(we're again outside of the U.S. and expecting another relocation back) and since my wife left her own work to raise our daughter full-time you might say the bigger part of our decisions to move were based on my job prospects. In fact we are looking at Hawaii more as a final stop where we would like to take roots again and give our daughter the chance to stay put in one place before she enters her crucial teenage years. It was a fully considered decision on our part to expose our daughter to the world at an early age and it's been very educational and lots of fun for all(although admittedly still stressful during the actual moves) specially the exotic vacations part. Our daughter goes to american schools whenever I got assigned overseas to minimize disruptions and she has become unbelievably flexible, open-minded and culturally-sensitive. She totally enjoys her current school but being among fellow transients like us, she understands she and/or her friends would move on eventually and they keep in touch electronically. We take her inputs as much as ours in considering where the next move will be.
@whtviper1: I'm currently a software dev but I've done IT operations and hardware work before so I was hoping that would widen the opportunities a bit. We're not expecting to match my current salary but our daughter is now getting old enough when my wife can think again of going back to work so hopefully that would cover for the drop. Also, even though we're currently living in a tropical location, we're still spending a good chunk of our holiday/vacation time(on average around every 2 or 3 months) and thus, disposable income traveling to tropical islands nearby to get to cleaner waters and fresher air so we wouldnt have to spend so much for that in Hawaii. In fact, we so enjoy warm waters, Hawaii waters are already a tad cooler by our standards .
Given all that, I think Hawaii looks closest (compared to our other options in the west coast) to our current lifestyle and environment with economics being the major consideration, don't you think?
Sounds like you are in Florida - land of cheap real estate and no state income tax. Hawaii is the land of the most expensive real estate and has the highest top tier income tax. (11% for those curious).
I'll be blunt - you'd want your daughtor in private school - figure $20K per year - if your wife hasn't been working or has no work history, it is probably a minimum wage tourist like job - and the salary for software developers (or programmers) is a median around $50K or about half of the San Francisco bay area which has a similar cost of living.
I recommend vacations to Hawaii - wait until your daughter is in college - and if still inclined - take a chance.
Sounds like you are in Florida - land of cheap real estate and no state income tax. Hawaii is the land of the most expensive real estate and has the highest top tier income tax. (11% for those curious).
I'll be blunt - you'd want your daughtor in private school - figure $20K per year - if your wife hasn't been working or has no work history, it is probably a minimum wage tourist like job - and the salary for software developers (or programmers) is a median around $50K or about half of the San Francisco bay area which has a similar cost of living.
I recommend vacations to Hawaii - wait until your daughter is in college - and if still inclined - take a chance.
No, we're in Asia where we're already paying $3K/mo for housing and $20K+ for private school. We probably pay more in taxes too considering we pay local taxes for working here and U.S. taxes as U.S. citizens. I do realize getting the same salary level would be very difficult in Hawaii unless I can bring my work with me which is not likely at this time.
Waiting for college is definitely the safe approach but we wanted to re-establish ourselves back in the U.S. before then and going directly to Hawaii seems to be an attractive option if we are looking at moving there eventually. I guess another approach would be to wait till she's in junior high(assuming she would want to go to college in HI by then) while continuing to build the relo fund but we were hoping she can start making friends in the U.S. at least during middle school.
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- and the word dependent was used to acknowledge the implied extra costs like private schooling as frequently recommended in the forums. So we've visited Hawaii during different times of the year - from a few days to 2 weeks at a time - over the last few years and asked each other everytime whether we're still all on board. We've also relocated for work a few times already(we're again outside of the U.S. and expecting another relocation back) and since my wife left her own work to raise our daughter full-time you might say the bigger part of our decisions to move were based on my job prospects. In fact we are looking at Hawaii more as a final stop where we would like to take roots again and give our daughter the chance to stay put in one place before she enters her crucial teenage years. It was a fully considered decision on our part to expose our daughter to the world at an early age and it's been very educational and lots of fun for all(although admittedly still stressful during the actual moves) specially the exotic vacations part. Our daughter goes to american schools whenever I got assigned overseas to minimize disruptions and she has become unbelievably flexible, open-minded and culturally-sensitive. She totally enjoys her current school but being among fellow transients like us, she understands she and/or her friends would move on eventually and they keep in touch electronically. We take her inputs as much as ours in considering where the next move will be. 
.
