I hate reality shows, but this is different

Aloha Everyone...

Please DONATE, INVITE and SHARE the CROWDFUNDING LINK below to everyone you believe would support such an effort of bringing a DOCU-SERIES such as this to Hawai'i. The Cast and Film Crew are not going to sugarcoat or re-imagine who and what Hawai'i is, the same Hollywood has...Hawai'i Nei is a real place with real people from all over the world who are trying to make ends meet...It will be based on character driven inspirational real life stories about the changing face of Hawaii and its people who continue to struggle to live on the most beautiful islands on Earth. Hawai’i is considered HEAVEN by those who are succeeding and HELL by those who are struggling, but at the end of our day, struggle or success, when the sun rises or sets, we reflect and know how truly Lucky we are to Live Hawaii. This, for all of us here on these islands is…THE PRICE FOR PARADISE.

Please Join us and Support this Project on bringing Hawaii to a global audience where we not only show the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands, but the struggles and successes of the people who live and breathe Hawai’i every day.

From the Cast and Film Crew…mahalo nui loa for your friendship and support.

We have less than 90 DAYS to change the Face of Hawaii’s Future in a positive direction…Lets do this together!

CROWDFUNDING LINK: https://www.rockethub.com/projects/58805-price-for-paradise-the-struggles-successes-of-living-the-real-hawaii

PRICE FOR PARADISE -The Struggles & Successes of living the Real Hawaii

PRICE for PARADISE- A Docu-Series based on the Struggles and Successes of the Real People of Hawaii

rockethub.com

Hurricane Guillermo!

Let me see if I can describe storm coverage for you here in Hawaii. Have you ever had someone describe the most amazing pizza to you? Promising that you've never experienced pizza until you've tried [insert name of not so popular local pizza joint]. You arrive, sit down and someone serves you what is basically just a saltine cracker with ketchup on it? So far, that is exactly what hurricane coverage is like here in Hawaii. Granted, I've only been here a year and we have only had to deal with a few warnings, but that seems to be the general attitude of locals. A storm starts brewing somewhere in the pacific and all of the sudden there is a mad rush for water, rice and spam. The storm passes and now you have a closet full of snacks that your wife wont let you eat "Just in case".

Its actually kind of a joke here. Correction: The weather guy is kind of a joke here. Just do a quick google image search for Guy Hagi memes and you'll see what I'm talking about (apologies for all the pidgin you'll be forced to read) Guy gets no respect. And really it isn't his fault, because what if it actually does hit? Last year the entire island was on alert for Hurricane Iselle, school was cancelled for a day, announcements where made about emergency shelters and all along South Kihei road businesses were boarding up their windows. I was legitimately concerned. Well the big storm finally arrived and to be honest? It was probably one of my most relaxing days in Hawaii up to that point. I made some coffee, pulled up a new book on my iPad and just relaxed. It even sort of almost rained. I believe we actually had less rain during the storm then we did the week before.  I remember all of the texts I was getting from concerned friends in the mid-west, wanting to make sure that we survived. Then Julio came. Again promises of destruction then... nothing

Now, I should probably mention that the Island of Hawaii (Big Island for those of you who don't know better) did get hit with Iselle and over 25,000 people lost power along with some structural damage. So for a few residents, the promises of destruction did ring true. Thanks to the topography of the island, the storm broke apart and was downgraded to a tropical storm. The rest of the islands dealt with a bit of rain, some wind and tourists disappointed that they would have to stay out of the water for a few days.

I may joke that I would love to live through a real deal hurricane, but I probably shouldn't. In 1992 Hurricane Iniki hit Hawaii (Kauai getting the worst of it) and caused over a billion dollars in damage. So to all our friends and family whose ears perked up when they heard about a hurricane in the Pacific, rest easy. The only casualty is that bag of Cheetos in the emergency stash. It didn't stand a chance...

Hot Hawaiian Summer

It's funny, I never used to care about the weather.  Back in Omaha, I usually only checked the weather when the sky started turning different shades of green or when I when I was going to try and fit in a round of golf.  One of the most common statements I would hear prior to the big move was "I could never move to Hawaii, I enjoy all four of the seasons" or "Hawaii? Isn't it pretty much the same temperature every day?"  Well I can tell you with a certainty, Hawaii does have "weather" and it can change from day to day just like any other place. The thing is, I don't think you really notice until you've spent some time here because it will affect your routine. Windy and/or Cloudy? Your snorkeling buddies are totally going to cancel your Sunday AM dive.  No wind? Its going to get a bit warmer and there is a good chance you wont see a good sunset for a day or two because of the VOG. Rainy? Hope you have a good book downloaded because finally you have an excuse to stay indoors. Hurricane/Tropical Storm brewing in the vicinity?  Time to put on some body armor and brave the crowds at Safeway and Costco. See? Weather...

Well we just happened to have a Tropical Storm in the area last week which affects wind on the island.  I was initially worried we could get rain, but the storm shifted northeast and suddenly we were in for a hot, HOT weekend.  Add to that the fact that we have guests in town, staying in the condo would just end in some sort of  luchador-style cage match. If only I had some sort of frozen confection to keep everyone cool....

I was honestly worried about how I would fit an AD reference in this week

  That being said, there is really only one thing to do. Stay inside and run the AC?  At $0.35/ kwh that is just not an option.  So we headed west. Since rain was no longer an issue, I figured we would take our guests west to Lahaina. Funny story, Lahaina was originally named Lele, which apparently means "Relentless Sun" making it a questionable choice for a day trip on a particularly sunny day. Nonetheless, we ended up at one of my favorite spots to snorkel: Kapalua Bay. I'm assuming a short post followed by some pictures would  be sufficient. Enjoy! Photo Credits: My sis-in-law

Kapalua Bay

humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Everyone crowding around a Sea Turtle that came close to the shore

If I had $100....

....I'd be short $13.96 at least according to this recent study by the Tax Foundation.  I'll wait for the collective "Duh" to die down. The truth is this while it isn't surprising it is interesting seeing it laid out visually.

If you've ever been to Hawaii, there is a pretty good chance that a small part of you wondered if you could live here. Nothing puts paradise in perspective like stepping inside a local grocery store. Those stories you hear about the cost of a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk are accurate. Unless you come from an area in the light yellow, you probably did a double take when filling up your rental car with gas. I think back to our first trip to Costco and Wal-Mart (movers tip: never... ever go to both in the same day unless you have made an appointment with a suicide prevention counselor). We were in desperate need of basically everything. Funny how the teller at Costco and I had two completely different reactions to the total reaching $400. I started reconsidering just how badly I needed that 50 ct box of Rice Krispy Treats and she just yawned. Next on our way to Wal-Mart , Rice Krispy Treats in tow (don't judge me), I set a mental budget of a couple hundred dollars. Once again, I was shocked at how much we paid for so little. To be completely honest the sticker-shock subsides after a couple of weeks. Well at least until we received our first electric bill! Suddenly I'm walking through the house shutting off lights, and teaching lessons about energy conservation the only way I know how. J. Walter Weatherman-style

".. and that's why you never leave a room without shutting off the lights."

All told I think it takes about a month before you acclimate to the high cost of living in Hawaii.  The addition of a Target didn't hurt either. Their prices are only marginally higher than they were in Nebraska so it has offered a bit of relief. Meal planning is key. I watch cooking shows during my downtime which used to mean I'd get some inspiration and then run to the store to buy whatever spices and ingredients we didn't have on hand. Now it just means I live a little more vicariously through the hosts. Occasionally splurging to make a special meal. 

Another area that I had to make major adjustments is in my business. Fortunately I have a job working for a software company on the mainland so I didn't have the difficult transition a lot of people do when moving to Hawaii. To keep me out of trouble I've almost always had a side business.  It doesn't take long to realize that most businesses here have a paltry web presence relying on Yelp and TripAdvisor to communicate with potential clients and visitors.  Most business owners fall into one of 3 categories. 1) Lives off island (I'm looking at you Canada) 2) Is doing "fine" with their current amount of exposure and isn't interested in increasing their web presence. One guy even seemed like he wasn't entirely convinced this whole internet thing was here to stay. or 3) I found WordPress and know just enough to make a few simple changes and am interested in customization as long as I don't have to pay the going rate.  Tough crowd.  I came here thinking that I would be able to fill the web development void, only to find that it's not as lucrative as on the mainland. I've since been in contact with several designers/developers that have had to keep their mainland business contacts. If you are planning on moving here with a similar skill set try not to burn any bridges as you leave town. Looking at the info-graphic below really puts things in perspective. See the average business owner that lives here in Hawaii doesn't have any breathing room in their budgets. Same goes for the wealthy, they seem even more judicious with their spending. Probably why they're living in a house with a view and I'm living in a condo.  So what do I do about my situation? I pivot. Following the lead of successful businesses here on the island I'm going to focus my efforts on visitors who most likely live in a state where the dollar goes a bit further (Sorry D.C.) More on that as the story develops. 

So is it worth it? For people that move here expecting to maintain the same lifestyle probably not. In fact just about everyone here knows at least one family personally that moved here thinking they were going to be on vacation 24/7. Most of them are gone inside of 6 months . For those of us willing to cut back and enjoy all that Hawaii has to offer it's absolutely worth it.  Speaking of which, I'm going to pour myself a hard-earned and over-priced drink and enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.

(Click the pic to go to the source)

Okay. This time I mean it...

"No dude you can totally trust that I'm going to post at least twice a month..." - Ken Booth circa Feb 2014 (Pre-Maui)

Fortunately, I didn't really have that large of an audience to apologize to and most likely
 if you were reading my blog last year we have been in touch. This year is going to be different (tag this as soon to be ignored resolutions).  Several times over the last year I would sit down to write a blog post and would wait for inspiration. After an eternity that is five minutes I'd find something else to do. Eventually it got to the point where so much time had passed that I felt like I really needed to evaluate whether or not I wanted to continue the blog and if so the direction I was going to take it in. So like most of my other quandaries, I put it on that mental shelf where I tend to let things marinate for an unspecified period of time.  Eventually 8-bit Coconut was born.

With that out of the way, let's review the past year. Yes that's right, I'm posting this on the one year anniversary of our relocation to Maui. I can't believe how fast a year goes by.  Most people want to know how we feel  about our decision to move. The short answer is "Great!" The long answer is far to long and complicated for just one post. Look for future posts where I break down each facet of island living.

I realized that my last blog post was kind of a cliff hanger. We were about to board a plane and then... nothing. If only I had the time, we would have put together a little video of the three of us living through some sort of Lost parody (with a better ending) to explain the long absence. In my last post things were not looking good. We were dealing with "technical difficulties" like the fact that our car was going to be arriving a full two weeks later then we were originally budgeting. On top of that we missed our flight and wouldn't be arriving until later that evening further complicating our arrival plans.

That didn't stop our son from eagerly anticipating our arrival

We touched down but I'm pretty sure our feet didn't actually touch the ground. Some good friends of ours met us at the airport with leis in hand. A very memorable way to be welcomed to our new island home. Little did we know they were just softening us up for the bad news.  Knowing we were arriving late in the evening, they picked up our keys and checked out our condo for us. They regretfully informed us that our condo wasn't exactly habitable as of yet. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting to walk into the Four Seasons, but I had expected we would just rough it the first night and that excitement would serve as our pillow. 

The weary travelers, still flying high

After picking up the rental car (travelers tip: Save money rent from Kihei Auto Sales if staying on the South Side of Maui) We found our condo and our friends frantically cleaning. You see the problem with island living is that a lot of home and condo owners don't actually live here. This means that the properties sometimes sit vacant for days and weeks before being occupied. We have since found that it doesn't take more then a day before dust and soot mar a formerly shiny surface. While keeping anything clean in Maui may be an exercise in frustration, I've come to believe that the previous tenants didn't believe in mopping.... or vacuuming. Not going to lie, my wife may have shed a tear or two. This was not going as planned...

There will be a lot of Arrested Development references. Consider yourself warned

I'd like to tell you that I kicked things into over-drive, manhandled that condo into an acceptable state and was frolicking in the ocean later that day. In fact yes... that's how I will choose to remember 7/2/2014. In reality, I think I was a bit shell shocked which I will blame on the 5 hour time difference. Standing there in disbelief at the daunting task before us, our friends once again came to the rescue. We weren't asked, we were told to get out, go to the store and pick up essentials, go to The Home Depot and buy paint.  It was busy work, but it really helped keep us focused on anything but our current state of affairs. It would be another 3-4 days before I finally made it to the beach but the wait was worth well worth it. So there you have it, I finally continued the story. Since then we have experienced both ups and downs that I wouldn't take back for a second. So how are we celebrating? Well me I'll be celebrating by spending my entire day traveling back to Maui (work-trip). I'll arrive in the evening just like we did one year ago today. This time will be different. This time I'll be greeted by my family eagerly waiting to take me back to our tiny island home. If you have any questions, I'd love to answer them if I can. Shoot me a question and I'll incorporate it in the next post. If you are a returning reader, thanks for coming back. If this is your first time - Aloha.