Post #492415 by Mongoloid on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 3:01 PM

I moved over to Oahu when i was 21. Myself and 3 close buddies, 2 of them had never even been to Hawaii before but i convinced them of the endless summer lifestyle, and wahines and surf that awaited us. My dad had moved there after my parents divorced, so i would spend entire summers staying with him and exploring the island by bus and foot. The impact and the impression of the islands would stay with me after i returned to Southern California and by high school i knew without a doubt i would someday call Hawaii home. I was determined and there was nothing that would stand in my way, if i had to work at McDonalds and live in a shoebox, then so be it, because the trade off would be that im going to be able to surf Waikiki everyday. I met a girl 2 months before i was going to move and told her theres no reason to get serious because im moving to Hawaii so Aloooooha! There was no hesitation in my decision, i would have done it by myself if it came down to it, but knowing some of my buddies had my back made it that much easier. We had no jobs and barely a place to stay once we arrived. We dog piled into a 1 bedroom, along with 3 other guys that were friends with a friends friend type deal. I had a little bit of money saved up, but some of my buddies were kind of do or die. They had to get a job soon, or they would have to get a plane and head back to Cali defeated. We soon found a 2 bedroom in a building with a cross-dressing landlord and lived right across the street from Hamburger Marys a gay bar, that would close at 2 in the morning and all the guys would make some serious ruckus on their way out. But it was on Kuhio, 2 blocks from the beach. As you can see there is sort of a pattern, there is always some sort of trade off. Well i ended up getting a job at Tower Records, which was cool becuase i got to go to alot of the concerts for free, and get promotional cd's for wearing an aloha shirt on Fridays which i sometimes sold to pawn shops for a buck a piece, or go to Kapiolani park and get some free food plates from the Hari Krishnas in order to survive. I was pretty broke but stoked (another trade off) I did that for a year, some of my buddies moved North Shore, i stayed in town (townie) and had a decent job offer from my sisters boyfriend back in So Cal. Well i ended up moving back to California, after getting on the plane with a lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach, i wondered if i could re-apadpt to the manic pace of the mainland. At first everything seemed kind of foreign and i questioned if i had made the right choice. I felt like i moved back prematurely and that maybe i should have stayed in Hawaii, because that job i moved back for didnt even turn out like what i was promised, and i had no plan B lined up. But i ended up meeting my present wife and things turned out pretty good for me overall. But i moved back on my own terms and dont regret my choice to move there and scratch that itch. Being a little older now i would probably have to have most of the details worked out if i were to ever move back. I dont think i have it in me to just move back there half cocked like i did in my youth, but thats kinda half the adventure and you really will never know unless you find out.