Is Relocating to Hawaii Doable . . . - General Tiki

T tikiyaki Tiki Socialite The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA Joined: May 18, 2004 Posts: 2725	T tikiyaki Posted posted on Thu, Sep 14, 2006 8:52 AM On 2006-09-13 12:39, AquaZombie wrote: Moving to Hawaii and spending my golden years there has become my Big Goal in Life. I have a good job and life here in the Bay Area but there's just something about Hawaii (spec. Oahu) that pulls me like crazy. I was depressed for a month when we returned from our 5th anniversary trip there earlier this summer. I'd weep watching reruns of "Hawaii 5-0" because the location scenery brought back the memory so vividly. Okay, not weep, but maybe get a tad misty. I want to make it over there, for good, in about 10 years. I'll be 53, more than ready to slow down and retire from the rat race.My ace in the hole is also my biggest obstacle - my wife, who, unlike me, is actually close to her family. She wants to get a PHD in Theater here and then begin teaching. They do have Theater programs - which include Research potential - at U of H, so I am nudging her ever so gently but relentlessly to apply there. And keep applying till they say yes...then at least one of us will have a job before we make the move. Otherwise, a simple life is all I dream of. I have a great job here (film programmer for the Parkway and upcoming Cerrito) and it's the only job I've ever enjoyed or been good at, so that's the biggest sacrifice. I'd do it anyway - especially if Monica has a prof. gig and I can just be the house hubbie while I scout around for odd jobs. I like to write so that may be an option though even fewer people will be reading in 2016 than now, I'm sure. Oh well - I say put the dream out there and sometimes Life will provide the opportunities to make it happen, you just gotta have the guts to make the leap when that door opens. AquaZombie...Funny, you and I are both the same age :) I feel "the pull" all the time. I think it could be the age we are, growing up with the Polynesian craze being in it's last laps in the late 60's, and watching those awesome Brady Bunch episodes...Being a kid in NY, Hawaii was as far away as it gets, and only the rich kids got to go there for vacation. I have my next visit set up for December. I will spend most of it in Kailua (Oahu) and some of it in Kona(Big Island). Living in LA is great, I love it, but those islands are something beyond description, something spiritual, I don't know. Ultimately, Kailua or the North Shore of Oahu would be ideal, but prices make it almost impossible if you're not loaded, even by California standards. Funny, When I moved to LA in 95', it was SO affordable...now it's almost as bad as NY. I know about the rain in Puna, and that's a factor for me, because rain depresses the sh*t out of me. But a rainy day in Hawaii could be a different experience than the ones I used to get in NY. I know there is a big hippie contingent there in Puna, but I also know that there is an almost Utopian-like community growing there, like America in the 1950's, where neighbors bring each other fresh baked goods, and fruit from the tees in their yards, and the huge expanses of undeveloped land, with neighborhood tracts in the middle of it all. Small town Pahoa with it's old Hawaiian charm. No clubs or Starbucks (I'd miss Starbucks!) but I also know that things won't stay like that forever. Eventually, places like that get built up, and the big chains move in....not necessarily a bad thing....I still love convenience and lots of shopping possibilities. But, I think alot of folks in here are retro geeks, and would love living in a place that's like America in the 50's...I think I'd like it. Build an Eichler neighborhood there, and its perfect ! Then there is the other stuff....Like having an active volcano miutes away....scary to some, but not as bad as it sounds. Being able to go see the lava flow less than an hour away. Awesome.The outdoor activities are endless. So I think of it on the investment side too...you know...buy a piece of land there for under 100K and in 10 years it's with 5 or 6 times that. It happened in California, it probably will happen there too. Either way, I still feel the pull, and am making small steps towards making it, at least, a second home to California, and eventually, the place to retire. [ Edited by: tikiyaki 2006-09-14 08:53 ]

On 2006-09-13 12:39, AquaZombie wrote:
Moving to Hawaii and spending my golden years there has become my Big Goal in Life. I have a good job and life here in the Bay Area but there's just something about Hawaii (spec. Oahu) that pulls me like crazy. I was depressed for a month when we returned from our 5th anniversary trip there earlier this summer. I'd weep watching reruns of "Hawaii 5-0" because the location scenery brought back the memory so vividly. Okay, not weep, but maybe get a tad misty. I want to make it over there, for good, in about 10 years. I'll be 53, more than ready to slow down and retire from the rat race.My ace in the hole is also my biggest obstacle - my wife, who, unlike me, is actually close to her family. She wants to get a PHD in Theater here and then begin teaching. They do have Theater programs - which include Research potential - at U of H, so I am nudging her ever so gently but relentlessly to apply there. And keep applying till they say yes...then at least one of us will have a job before we make the move. Otherwise, a simple life is all I dream of. I have a great job here (film programmer for the Parkway and upcoming Cerrito) and it's the only job I've ever enjoyed or been good at, so that's the biggest sacrifice. I'd do it anyway - especially if Monica has a prof. gig and I can just be the house hubbie while I scout around for odd jobs. I like to write so that may be an option though even fewer people will be reading in 2016 than now, I'm sure. Oh well - I say put the dream out there and sometimes Life will provide the opportunities to make it happen, you just gotta have the guts to make the leap when that door opens.

AquaZombie...Funny, you and I are both the same age :) I feel "the pull" all the time. I think it could be the age we are, growing up with the Polynesian craze being in it's last laps in the late 60's, and watching those awesome Brady Bunch episodes...Being a kid in NY, Hawaii was as far away as it gets, and only the rich kids got to go there for vacation.

I have my next visit set up for December. I will spend most of it in Kailua (Oahu) and some of it in Kona(Big Island). Living in LA is great, I love it, but those islands are something beyond description, something spiritual, I don't know.
Ultimately, Kailua or the North Shore of Oahu would be ideal, but prices make it almost impossible if you're not loaded, even by California standards.

Funny, When I moved to LA in 95', it was SO affordable...now it's almost as bad as NY.
I know about the rain in Puna, and that's a factor for me, because rain depresses the sh*t out of me. But a rainy day in Hawaii could be a different experience than the ones I used to get in NY.

I know there is a big hippie contingent there in Puna, but I also know that there is an almost Utopian-like community growing there, like America in the 1950's, where neighbors bring each other fresh baked goods, and fruit from the tees in their yards, and the huge expanses of undeveloped land, with neighborhood tracts in the middle of it all. Small town Pahoa with it's old Hawaiian charm.

No clubs or Starbucks (I'd miss Starbucks!) but I also know that things won't stay like that forever. Eventually, places like that get built up, and the big chains move in....not necessarily a bad thing....I still love convenience and lots of shopping possibilities. But, I think alot of folks in here are retro geeks, and would love living in a place that's like America in the 50's...I think I'd like it. Build an Eichler neighborhood there, and its perfect !

Then there is the other stuff....Like having an active volcano miutes away....scary to some, but not as bad as it sounds.
Being able to go see the lava flow less than an hour away. Awesome.The outdoor activities are endless.

So I think of it on the investment side too...you know...buy a piece of land there for under 100K and in 10 years it's with 5 or 6 times that. It happened in California, it probably will happen there too.

Either way, I still feel the pull, and am making small steps towards making it, at least, a second home to California, and eventually, the place to retire.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2006-09-14 08:53 ]

Post #254368 by tikiyaki on Thu, Sep 14, 2006 8:52 AM