Aloha All,
So many have said to us how lucky we are to live in paradise. I guess I feel the need to clarify that it wasn't pure luck that brought us here. It was a deliberate CHOICE we made and executed. While it helped that we encountered some good luck here and there during the process, the decision we made to move here was totally owned by us. It wasn't an easy decision for many reasons. We made several sacrifices and compromises. We have faced challenges both in leaving Kelowna and in being here. But at the end of the day it's part of our unique family journey. So anyone out there who is thinking to themselves 'I wish I could move to Hawaii'...guess what? YOU CAN! I'm a firm believer that people have the choice to make their lives what they want whether it be living in Hawaii or anything else.
Enough about that...the next thing I want to talk about in this blog is the realities or "pet peeves" that can come with living in Hawaii. If you have never been to Hawaii or only ever on vacation it very well may seem like true paradise. It is! There's the ocean and stunning beaches, endless water sports and activities, incredible food from all corners of the world, beautiful sunshine and breezes almost 365 days a year. So I had thought twice before saying anything negative about Hawaii because who am I to wreck the fantasy by bringing up unpleasant topics when it comes to Hawaii. Yet, alas I am a realist! So here is my list (many items you will find consistently reported by others who have lived or do live here). For some people these can be minor nuisances and for others they can be deal breakers...here they are:
1) Being far from family and friends and it's expensive and you must fly over a large body of water to visit.
2) Rock Fever aka Island Fever: Hear this a lot and I have also read about it. I personally feel it from time to time - a sense of feeling trapped or vulnerable on an island - not easy to leave.
3) Risk of natural disasters. We are surrounded by water - help in or out of the island not quick or easy.
4) Bugs! The cockroaches are huge and gross. We have been averaging at least 1 or 2 a week inside, many more outside. They make a snap if you happen to step on one and you hope this only happens when you have on shoes! There are also lots of little tiny bugs I don't even know what they are maybe little ants and such. Geckos - everywhere and we live with one. He nibbled on our Gingerbread house (don't worry we didn''t eat it too).
5) Cost of Living: the average family could not afford to buy or even rent an entire house here by our standards. Food and housing are by far the big expenses here, gas probably next. Most people shop for groceries at Costco and we do too with getting a few things at Whole Foods here and there as a treat. $8 for a very small amount of broccoli is just too steep! Yes it might be local and organic but who can afford to buy it!!! Farmers markets are great but I have noticed you find a lot of the same prices and produce there as Whole Foods.
6) Traffic. We've been lucky to live close to town on the side that's less crazy, Paul bikes to work and I generally avoid going into Honolulu as much as possible for this reason. Most of our activities are the east side (where we live) and traffic is not a big problem once you are over here so only about 10 min. drive or less to most things Natalie and I do on weekdays.
7) Education: you don't hear great things particularly about public schools, but also with many of the private schools. Issues such as very poor quality of teaching, Caucasian children may also face teasing for being Haole ("Howlie") - and have trouble making friends. I have met parents who commute clear across the island in horrible traffic just to have one of their children in a public school with a better reputation. The public schools with better reputations generally reside in the higher socioeconomic areas. I have also talked to many parents with 2 or more children and their kids all go to different schools depending on their needs and abilities and where they simply 'tend to do best'. That's a lot of driving around and changing schools.
8) Health Care: if you have it can be really quite good but the fundamental differences between here and Canada are a tough pill to swallow. Hawaii is better than mainland states in terms of having a much higher percentage who at least have health care coverage and supposedly is considered one of the healthiest of all of the states on average (as well as the happiest!). So it depends on your beliefs and whether or not you have coverage here how you might feel about it and also which insurer you have chosen. Some people say HMSA is much better than Kaiser, others say the reverse. We have been healthy so not much we can comment on.
9) Racism: I touched on this in #7 but being Caucasian here you run the risk of not be wanted or liked by some individuals. Some natives to Hawaii and even some who aren't native at all think white man came here and tried to wreck things many many years ago which there is a lot of truth to actually. For the most part though if you treat people respectfully no matter where you live or what your ethnicity is, I believe we can all live together and people really do here. You will see every possible part of the world represented here which is absolutely an enrichment to our lives.
10) If you never experience the Aloha Spirit then numbers 1 thru 9 may send you packing. Luckily for us we have felt it a lot.
And then if anything ever gets you down...you look out from your lanai every morning and see that gorgeous ocean, palm trees, feel the breeze and the scent of plumeria trees and know that sand, sun and fun are about to occur and the rest doesn't seem so bad!
Pictures coming soon...
Mahalo
Lisa
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