FEARLESS FRIDAY
Please welcome DK Coutant to Discover... Her Fearless Friday post starts more like a dream, but moving across a body of water so far from home can be a frightful adventure.
Moving to Hawaii…
https://www.hawaii-guide.com/moving-to-hawaii
“Malihini (newcomers) to the islands are generally not taken very seriously in their first year because many return to the mainland not long after arrival. In classic Catch-22 fashion, this may affect getting a job, getting a reasonable price on an apartment, and many other things. This isn't meant to discourage you but to keep things realistic when moving to the state.”
When my husband got a job offer at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and I found at least a temporary position on the faculty, we decided to made the jump. We did our research, and tried to keep our expectations realistic. We had spectacular encounters but also some obstacles to overcome.
It was hard being away from family. And a feast or famine situation developed. Most of them lived on the East Coast of the US. That meant flights of 14-16 hours one way. (It would have taken less time if we had lived in Europe) We would have long periods of time when we didn’t see our loved ones, but when they came, they stayed for weeks. And beyond family, everyone we had ever known, decided to visit us those first couple of years. I don’t think we went more than 3 days without visitors for almost a year. We loved our company but it was a struggle to keep up with our new jobs and trying to make new friends.
Luckily with luscious beaches, tropical jungles, waterfalls and Volcano national park, it was easy to keep guests happy and busy. And who wouldn’t want an excuse to hang out at the beach or hike to a favorite waterfall?
People sometimes underestimate how homesick people can get for familiar food. As a vegetarian, it was tough to find veggie dishes when we first moved there. Loco moco, laulau, and Kalua pig were the local favorites, and those dishes were heavy on pork. My husband and most of our guests loved the food, but I learned to eat more fish, poke and green papaya salad, yum. And the longer I lived there, the more veggie options began to appear on menus.
When collecting information before the move, we found two of the biggest reasons, newcomers didn’t last long were 1) the cost of living, and 2) difficulty making new friends. We prepared for both those challenges. For the first, we had two salaries when we landed, so that helped with the cost of living, but we also made lifestyle changes. Locals didn’t dress up, so we lived in a few sets of casual clothes, flip-flops aka ‘slippers’ were accepted everywhere, and very inexpensive. Locals didn’t compete to see who had the latest technology or fancy car, and we embraced that philosophy. While prices at the grocery could be shockingly high, and shipping costs from online purchases often cost more than the item you considered buying… we made it work and easily lived within our budget.
The second reason people turn tail and head home: 2) Difficulty making new friends, as described in the moving to Hawaii guide (above). That also required a strategy.
club or Halau. I started with the University club, but when it closed for the summer, I joined a local Halau. It gave me a chance to absorb the local culture and touch the ocean every day. Fortunately my novice crew was pretty good. To this day, I keep the medals we won in a special carved box. When we qualified for state championships on Kauai it was a huge thrill. For state events they bring out the old Koa canoes which are named and tracked historically. It was an honor to paddle in one of those boats and I’ll never forget that day.
I paddled canoe for many years and branched out into open water swim races. I wrote about both of those experiences in Evil Alice and the Borzoi. I loved reliving the paddling scene with with Cleo, but the open-water race section was fictionalized - thank goodness! The years I spent participating in ocean sports in Hawaii was a beautiful time in my life and I’m overjoyed we made the leap.
After 16 years though, my parents were getting older and our kids were settling down to start families. It was time to move back to the mainland. Saying goodbye to the island I had come to love, was heart wrenching. But new adventures awaited me. And I hope that will always be the case.
Paradise is shaken when the body of a young woman is dragged onto a university research vessel during a class outing in Hilo Bay. Cleo Cooper is shaken when she finds her favorite student is on the hook for the murder. Danger lurks on land and sea as Cleo and her friends are enticed to search for the true killer. In between paddling, swimming, and arguing with her boyfriend, Cleo discovers all is not what it seems on the Big Island of Hawaii. But will she figure out the truth before she becomes the next victim?
BUY LINK: Evil Alice and the Borzoi
It was fun visiting your Fearless Friday blog today, Brenda. Thanks for letting me stop by and reminisce!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun for me and my readers. Thank you, DK.
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