Why do you want to move to Hawaii?
For years I operated under the impression that this was just
one of those questions that didn’t really need to be answered. In fact nowadays
when people ask me, I assume they are doing it tongue-in-cheek. For example, as the Polar Vortex ripped its
way across the country, someone asked me why I was moving to Hawaii...and they
were serious. There is a guy that I work
with that on multiple occasions has asked “Why Hawaii?”
It got me thinking. What are people really asking me? Don’t
they already know why someone would want to 1) leave the Midwest and 2) move to
Hawaii? The answers is both yes and no. I started to realize that real question
people were asking isn’t ‘Why do you want to move to Hawaii?’ but ‘Don’t you
know [blank] about Hawaii?’ Every question is tainted by the asker’s personal
experiences and goals. Every time we ask a question it’s bound to be based on
our own point of view. Kind a “Duh” moment if you ask me, but hey I never
claimed to be some great thinker.
So the guy at work for example, he asks from his point of
view. He is nearing his retirement years and so everything he does is based on
the fact that he would like to retire in the next 10 to 15 years. In his
opinion the cost of living in Hawaii is a hindrance to a healthy retirement
portfolio. You see his plan is to invest and save millions so that he can
someday have enough money to move to some tropical paradise. In his opinion I’d
be better off picking a place like Costa Rica. It’s tropical, its lush and the
cost of living is significantly cheaper. I have no doubt that I could live like
a king there. But I have absolutely no interest in living in Costa Rica (no
offense to the Costa Rican bureau of travel). I’ll spare you all the other
examples but the majority of people that ask ‘Why Hawaii?’ are really asking isn’t it too expensive to live there? Isn’t it
too hot to live there? Won’t you get claustrophobic? Are you really going to
abandon your friends and family? Will I ever see you again? All good questions actually. Questions I had
to ask myself before I could be sure that moving to Hawaii was the right move
for me and my family.
So why do I want to move to Hawaii? Well there are a number
of reasons starting with the culture. To live in a place that has been achieved
this perfect blend of Asian and Polynesian cultures is kind of a dream come
true. Having tried learning Japanese in the past and succeeding in learning
Chinese I feel perfectly at home in a place like this. Can’t wait until I can
say ridiculously long street names like it’s no big deal. As for the cost of
living? In my opinion it will force us to maintain a simple life-style. Like
the locals, we will focus of enjoying and appreciating the land. Knowing that
soon I’ll be able to see both the mountains and the ocean everyday as I go
about my normal routine brightens my day. Will I miss my family? Of course I
will, I miss them now. It will just be my job to make sure I keep up with them
and stay in regular contact. But people have been striking out on their own
since the beginning of time. No reason to stop now. Who knows, maybe once I’ve reached a place
that truly feels like home I’ll “get” it. I’ll want to put down roots, and be
content never leaving my bubble. Then it’ll be me asking ‘Why do you want to
move to the mainland?’
I'm going to be working on a page that documents and reviews "Moving to Hawaii" blogs. There are several that I used to kind of help motivate me and answer questions for me. No one blog will answer all of your questions about moving to Hawaii but depending on your reasons for wanting to move, some may be better than others. I'll attempt to provide an unbiased review. If you have a suggestion I'll take a look at it.
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