Aloha everyone,
Let me introduce myself. My name is Jean, originally from PA and then moved to NC.
I have retired from the phone company and my husband is 8 years younger than I, so he is not yet ready to retire.
This is a problem! Waiting is not one of my assets, I do not do it well, but I feel I have been doing it all my life and I am tired.
I have always been more adventurous than both of my husbands. My children are from my first controlling, abusive husband. To get away, I had to be very strong and I learned to become very independent in the process.
My second and LAST husband is opposite than the first. He is passive-aggressive! Does not speak much! Most of the time he doesn’t even answer any questions. After trying to get answers on where and when to go on a small vacation, I gave up and bought 2 tickets and said “I have airline tickets to Mexico, do you want to go or should I ask someone else?” He went!!! But having to do that each time is very wearing, so I gave up on doing much of anything with him. It is like this with whatever we need to purchase or wherever we go. So I go and do mostly what I want to do, as long as I have the money to do it. He would be happy to sit for days watching DVD’s (same ones over and over) and not do anything.
So I Googled weather, climate, retiring and came up with the Big Island. When I found that land was reasonable there, I studied everything I could and my dream began.
My first trip to the BI was with my oldest son for a week, but he was interested in the Hamakua area and since he was paying for the trip, I only got some small peeks at Puna, but I was already planning on my next trip when I was going to concentrate on riding around to see some of the developments in the Puna area. I knew that Hamakua was definitely not on my retirement budget. Especially when you want to live on almost nothing.
My next trip was two weeks in Kapoho Beaches with my daughter and another son (who was only interested in the beaches and girls) and he was easily bored riding around looking at land and houses. I did love the hot pond at the place we were staying. But it was too close to the ocean and it was pretty hot some days that we were there so I wanted more of the mountains where it is cooler.
My third trip was after my daughter bought a 3 acre lot in FFVE. We stayed up in Volcano and I liked the area. So we went and found her lot, but it was raw land and we tried finding a path back but it was too full of holes and not easily hikeable.
The main thing that I wanted was for the land to have a cabin on it and that someone else spent some time grading and working on it. I wanted to have someplace to stay or camp while I could decide what to build and how to best spend my money.
I would like to try to live off the grid, but be safe, have a good water system, have internet, (maybe I could handle dialup again), a few channels on HI-DEF TV and try to live healthy by growing and buying organic food , maybe having a few chickens and some animals like goats...maybe try making cheese...Hey.... It could happen!
The looks of the house would be secondary to the functions. Figuring out new ways to save energy and using the sun for power is what interests me. I feel it would be a fun project to spend a year of my life checking these things out and seeing how to survive on the bare necessities. I can’t wait to see the property and see what vegetation is growing there. I also know that there is much stuff there that didn’t grow there, including an old school bus...but hey, that adds to the adventure!! Maybe I’ll fix it up and live in it...
Anyone else out there having any of these dreams? I have much respect for the history and the aloha of the Island and I would like to borrow it for a short time while I am on this earth and hopefully leave it in the best natural state that I can. So I am studying all about natural species of plants so I am prepared when I get there to not introduce anything that can screw up the eco-system any more than it has already.
I’m working on my husband, but it is a slow process, but at least he is checking it out and asking questions.
Wish me luck!
Mahalo
Jean Hopper