02-24-2012, 05:27 PM
I am sorry if my response seemed negative, but the downsides of living here are easily quantified: cost of living, medical care, job market, commuting times and costs, while the pluses are incredibly subjective. The things that make this a good place to live vary so much from person to person, and so do the things that drive people away.
We did not count on several things: in spite of good work history, skills and education in a field that is big business here (ornamental horticulture) my husband has not been able to get permanent work with medical benefits, as a teacher my wages have been essentially frozen for 6 years but my share of my benefits and the cost of living have gone WAY up. That getting basic medical needs met would be so hard; even though we found a good primary care provider things like needed durable medical equipment have taken as long as 2 years to get a prescription filled.
On the other hand, many of the really positive things were unexpected: I discovered that I feel incredibly connected to volcanoes and we have plenty of those, SNORKELING ROCKS, teaching Hawaii kids is unlike teaching anywhere else on earth, fresh local corn on the cob, watermelon, and avocado for Thanksgiving dinner, good smelling flowers all year round, wave action I can hear while falling asleep even though I am 2 miles from the ocean.
Things I miss or wish I could do: I will probably never get to see Jerry Joseph play live again, my daughters and grandson are in Portland and Mexico and on a Hawaii teacher's salary I can't afford to travel, I want to get a PHD and can't through UHH, I miss having access to young artists doing cutting edge work, my parents are getting old and again I can't afford to travel, we don't have a good bookstore, no plus size clothing store any better than Walmart. Oh, I also discovered I am allergic to Hawaii, I now live on allergy drugs every single day here, while my husband is off all allergy drugs for the first time in his life.
This list is personal and subjective, overall I do not regret making the move, but as much as we researched some of this was a big surprise.
Carol
We did not count on several things: in spite of good work history, skills and education in a field that is big business here (ornamental horticulture) my husband has not been able to get permanent work with medical benefits, as a teacher my wages have been essentially frozen for 6 years but my share of my benefits and the cost of living have gone WAY up. That getting basic medical needs met would be so hard; even though we found a good primary care provider things like needed durable medical equipment have taken as long as 2 years to get a prescription filled.
On the other hand, many of the really positive things were unexpected: I discovered that I feel incredibly connected to volcanoes and we have plenty of those, SNORKELING ROCKS, teaching Hawaii kids is unlike teaching anywhere else on earth, fresh local corn on the cob, watermelon, and avocado for Thanksgiving dinner, good smelling flowers all year round, wave action I can hear while falling asleep even though I am 2 miles from the ocean.
Things I miss or wish I could do: I will probably never get to see Jerry Joseph play live again, my daughters and grandson are in Portland and Mexico and on a Hawaii teacher's salary I can't afford to travel, I want to get a PHD and can't through UHH, I miss having access to young artists doing cutting edge work, my parents are getting old and again I can't afford to travel, we don't have a good bookstore, no plus size clothing store any better than Walmart. Oh, I also discovered I am allergic to Hawaii, I now live on allergy drugs every single day here, while my husband is off all allergy drugs for the first time in his life.
This list is personal and subjective, overall I do not regret making the move, but as much as we researched some of this was a big surprise.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb