Hawi?

[missydog1]

Slippahs are flipflops ...
and the most common footwear as they are totally moisture resistant, ventilated, and importantly easy to slip on and off because it's rude to wear shoes in the house.

So a tourist goes off for the day hiking etc and wears shoes for that activity, but an average resident goes out in slippahs, ready to stop by people's houses, etc.. If going specifically for a hike, then puts on the athletic shoes, but doesn't wear them around town.

Exception being people who are working, wearing whatever they need to do the job. Just like Puna. People who have "field jobs" are going to be in jeans, not Docker shorts ...

Short version - if you don't want to look like a tourist, don't dress up, don't wear new clothes, don't wear tourist T-shirts, wear flipflops around town, of course you might want a baseball style cap from a local business [] and your hair being kind of ragged and even a little long would fit in well with Hawi ...

Oops, I forgot to say you need a slippah tan ... it's a dead giveaway if your feet are white. My feet are brown with white slippah outline ... I don't go barefoot outside all that much.

PS. Nothing is set in stone. [8D]

[David M]

Quote: "I normally wear ratty shorts and a shirt (untucked). Will I look "touristy"? (I'm kinda serious with this question)"

If a tee, add some slippahs and you'd look like me LOL

David

Ninole Resident

[Royall]

quote:

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Originally posted by David M

Quote: "I normally wear ratty shorts and a shirt (untucked). Will I look "touristy"? (I'm kinda serious with this question)"

If a tee, add some slippahs and you'd look like me LOL

David

Ninole Resident

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Geez David, I was thinking you when I read that![][][]

Royall

What goes around comes around!

[missydog1]

hmm, David looks just like my husband ... [:p]

btw, I'm kidding about people not wearing sneakers, of course they do...
but there's a certain tourist uniform that's very recognizable, right?

When I go into town and see people crossing in front of the Farmer's Market, what gets me is the belted shorts with tucked in shirts, sandals with white socks. Sandals with socks makes no sense to me ... []

[rusty h]

i really think a person should be themself in Hawaii. heck most know if you live here or not just by watching you react and walk around. I say when you move here then change over. Like kathy said tan lines give you away especially if your from the north.

if your a tourist be a proud one! not very many people can afford to travel to hawaii.

after saying all this I too try to dress local but the white skin is a clear givaway. I stay with local people so at least I see and feel the local lifestyle while on the islands, 1 month a year anyways.

when I get back to Alaska I stand out on the other end of the scale because of the tan. funny

i want to start a "Rent a Wreck" car rental for the folks who want to look local while on vacation. so...I will be looking to buy used cars and trucks when we settle in. any thoughts?

peace

[Greg]

I think it's natural for a person to want to "look local" when they first arrive in a new location. I also think that after a decade or two, it just doesn't matter.

A great deal of ha'ole kamaaina see the practicality of wearing long pants with shoes and socks.

(and not trying to talk "pidgean")

[missydog1]

sort of responding to what Rusty said about being proud to be a tourist.
Sure, there is nothing to be ashamed of, and I like to travel too.
There are tourists who come through just paying attention to the "show" - the high spots visually, the cultural and historic markers that are, well, sold, listed, labeled for tourist consumption.

Tourists on this track on day trips are welcomed from an economic perspective in small towns like Hawi, but the congestion they bring is not, nor do people really engage with them. They pass through, and people who live there say "tourist" with a tone of disgust. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but that's the reality. They ask questions that show they've done no homework about where they are, have no clue that they're in a community, act as if everything revolves around tourist coming and going, and it grates on people.

There's another way to come through, as a "visitor" who actually sees the community, and isn't following a checklist of spots to see. Who maybe comes and hangs out at the coffee place and chats, instead of having an agenda, who drops by the sunset viewing spot and chats with folks who are fishing or having a beer.

People who come to North Kohala touring are generally focused on Pololu, the statue, lunch, ice cream. People who live there don't even think much about Pololu. Yeah, it's there, but it's all the way past Makapala. Takes gas to go there, people have errands and work and other things to do. No need for ziplines and hiking. Fishing, now that's different.

All I'm saying is there are different things to discover up there, just like in Puna. It's like if someone asks what is there to see in Puna, and the answer is Lava Tree, Kaimu, Kehena Beach, Wai Opae, Champagne Pond, driving the Red Road, stop in that bohemian village, Poaha or something ... so they have toured Puna but have they really seen anything of the life people live? Not really.

As to clothes, I have plenty pictures of myself in my tourist clothes on my visits. []

I'm with Greg on the long pants. I work in the yard a lot, and wearing shorts just asks to get more pokes and bites. Shoes, I should wear more but I'm in and out of the house too much and I truly prefer slippers. If I'm going for a real walk then I force myself to put on shoes.

I don't talk pidgin, but my husband does. However, his pidgin isn't pretend; it's from working on local crews doing surveying and construction, going back to the '70's. For him, talking pidgin is his happy place and he switches into it effortlessly. I don't try because I'd just be bad at it. []

[Charles Moore]

"The most beautiful item in Hawi is Joanne Cameron, ISIS on
the Sat. morning TV show in the 1970s."

Thats so weird...I was just on YOUTUBE last night researching a video documentary project, and found Jetsons and Isis clips.
I always secretly hoped the already scantily clad ISIS would use her magic powers to make her outfits invisible.

[Green]

quote:

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Originally posted by KathyH

LOL ... ratty and untucked is good ..
what does your hair look like?
and do you wear sandals or athletic shoes? Those are tourist garb.
Residents wear slippahs or work boots.

If wearing shorts and T-shirt, slippahs ...
If wearing athletic shoes, then jeans or long pants.
Shorts with athletic shoes and socks, or sandals - tourist.
[8D]

ed to add PS. - Green, your post is entirely a quote? Those always confuse me what point is being made when there's no additional comment. ???

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Hi Kathy, I meant to add a comment to the last post, but messed up and i couldnt figure out how to delete. Just wanted to add that i know what you mean about Mendocino as i lived in Pt. Arena (approx. 50 miles south of mendocino on hwy 1)and that was like living in puna compared to Hawi or kona .

[missydog1]

hey, Point Arena! Yeah, I know what you mean. First place I came to in Mendocino County was PA, had friends living there. Rented a place in Anchor Bay, had to make the long drive to Fort Bragg to give birth to son #2. That was 1972, before whats his name from JackintheBox bought the Mendo hotel ... came to Mendocino in 1975 and watched the whole shift to tourism evolve. Left in 1982, sick of living somewhere overrun by tourists.

My ex (who is a real character) went back and lived in Point Arena in the 80's and later.

My friend in Hawi moved there after selling his home of many years up Greenwood Ridge, buying a boat, sailing to the South Pacific, and ending up in Hawai'i. After living in Puako, migrated to the north of the island.

There are quite a few Mendonesians living in windward North Kohala, also in HOVE, and naturally Puna.