thinking about moving to hilo, hawaii
 

it seems that it is inertia that keeps me in utah. i am sick of the weather, the politics, and being this close to my family (i know that sounds harsh, but there is some history, a few miles between us might make for a more healthy relationship).

any advice or anecdotes on pulling up stakes?

Hilo is the 'wet' side of the Big Island. Every time I am descending over Uppolo Point on the way to Kona, there is an almost permanent rain cloud socking it to Hilo. It is a 'blue collar' kinda town, would definately be a change from anywhere in Utah.

Well, life is too short to be where you are unhappy... Go where you think you'll be the happiest...

utah is pretty redneck. i keep a torque wrench in the car at all times!

i think a little rain might be nice. it sounds like you can drive an hour and get out of it, though. and the big island has everything we have here: hunting (i am not a big hunter, but killing and eating feral pig sounds good), fishing, camping, etc., minus skiing, plus all the ocean stuff. i love to snorkel and spearfish.

Life is too short, period. I'm 37, and I bought this house 13 years ago. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to choke on it. So I say, GO!!! The details always work themselves out (I've heard.) :)

this is good advice. its not so much that i am unhappy, i have a good life, i am just tired of utah. i was brought here kicking and screaming when i was eleven and just never made it back out.

Not sure if you're into spoons, but if you are, Hawaii is not the place for you.

You seem like a guy that could do well in Seattle/WA.

i would seriassly reconsider a beach front home anywhere near the oceans edge due to its propensity for tsunamis triggered by seismic action from chile to alaska.

hilos is beautiful. but you hear the airaid sirens,drop what yer doing and run lak a mofo for them thar hills!

same goes for kona. its not a joke. its dead damn seriass. kealakakua bay ridgeline collapsed last seismic activity 2 years ago and was caught on film and is on youtube. basically sloughed off into ocean(think giant deep ass submarine canyon). had you bean there you would be smooshed. this exact same action is what happened to k-bay ions ago when the BIG JUAN hit from the west side and sea shells were transplanted 1000 FREEKING FEET above sea level.

other than that............its a nice island. its also a nice island to dive at midnight with the manta rays 30-40 ft deep. with a VERY LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE AND LOTS OF SCUBA BUBBLES!

Islands get really small, even if you go from one to the other, it's still small. I could do it for six months but the longest I lasted there was four months.

they hunt, so guns must be allowed. i am not a nut, however. i have a .50 black powder rifle and a pistol. that's it.

no beach front property for me. if i can get to the ocean in half an hour, i am stoked.

the big island is a hundred miles across, if i am not mistaken. that is much farther than i travel with any regularity. i think the last time i went farther than a hundred miles was last february or march.

Why don't you try Woofing? (Work On Organic Farms - aka WOOF).

Our daughter is in Hawaii right now, been there a couple of months working on an organic farm. There are quite a few of these around, check websites. Generally no pay but room and board. Some do play stipends but not much. Some version of this program is in every state and all over the world. Our daughter wanted to go to New Zealand but there were some passport/work visa delays. Hawaii was easy.

Kind of a neat way to try living in different places.

angela

i am too old for that ;) plus i have a wife and child.

i've been thinking about selling the house and cars and just doing it. then finding work once i am there. i do respiratory therapy and they don't have a school there, which means that everyone that is an RT is a transplant. there is tons of work for RT's on oahu, but real estate is wicked expensive there.

That's different. What does your wife think?

snorkel and spearfish. hmmmmmmmmmmmm in hawaii anywhere, there are these thangs called MANOS. to the mainlanders they are known as SHARKS!


you CANNOT SPEAR reef fish due to a possibly fatal organizm that the fish eat from unta wata plants. and it is fatal to humans. and where do sharks hang out???? anywhere there are turtles and peoples.

bluewater is where its safe(?) to spearfish and eat your kill. spearfishing aint for the faint of heart. it is DEAD SERIASS poo and you dont ever go by yourself unless of course you have placed me in your will.

bluewater spearfishing entails a minimum of (2) guys and (4) or more is better. be on scuba for a safer experience. sharks dont like air bubbles from regulators. snorkling and you are just BAIT!

standard op drill is (4) guys jump in water scuba or snorkal. (3) have either 12 ga or .44 mag BANG STICKS and you have spear. you spear fish, haul ass NOW back to boat and your YA BANGY BRUDDAHS follow you on board covering your 6 oclock(ass) from mr. tiger/hammerhead/great white/blue/white tip/black tip and a host of other PITA PELAGICS that can screw up yer LIFE!


go to bluewaterhunters.com and they have a nice pic of (2) clowns snorkling with spear guns and dead fish and a really really BIG TIGER SHARK IN THE SAME PICTURE!

ask me how i know this poo.

Not to try and compare to Hilo, but the South East seems to have everything you have mentioned, with a much lower cost of living... just saying...

never been on the big island. maui and kauai yes. low speed limits, no helmet law.
never saw so many harleys in my life. ducati will do well there. i lived in the south seas for over two years. the rain is warm, you just get used to it. you got a good idea.

.30/.30 is what you CAN get away with for feral pigs/goats.


MUST DECLARE ALL FIREARMS ASAP with local 5-0's(fuzz) as soon as you get there or its yer ass. and they take firearms very very seriass. felony big time . and you will become KEMOS KABANA BOY in da joint!

The big question is what you do for work. I like the Big Island, but not sure I'd want to live there. Kauai would be my choice but I'd still have the same problem - what to do for a living.

she is in. moving to hawaii makes her nervous due to cost of living.

also, her whole family is here and they are awesome. that would be tough.

yeah, we've been looking at austin, texas as well.

any suggestions on south east?

respiratory therapy.

i didn't like kauai. my brother lives there. much too rural. and violent. and housing there is TWICE what housing is on the big island.

Austin is pretty cool, but quite a drive to the coast... it really depends on what kind of scene you are looking for... you take Galveston, Corpus Christi and South Padre Island, while all on the Gulf Coast and in areas where you could find decent employment, each is a very different lifestyle... Then you can throw in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Carolina's.... it's really a gambit of different choices to choose from.... I know Texas and I believe Florida do not have a state income tax so that could be a benefit, but I would suggest not jumping the gun so to speak... do a little research into the areas and activities available before taking the plunge...

Why do you say minus the skiiing?

The Big Island has skiing!

Can you really snow ski in Hawaii?

we really like austin. i realize it isn't close to the coast, but it is warmer than here!

we thought about charleston/savannah. also central florida is an option, mainly the gainesville area.

Austin is a hip town, great music scene and not too far from anywhere in the state... not to long of a drive to go deep sea fishing etc... lots of places to hunt in the state and not too many regs on the rifles used... just can't use rim fire ammo on deer... and I think that housing would be somewhat cheaper as well... I know we have some Austin Pelicans, hopefully they will chime in....

"People do snowboard and snow ski on Mauna Kea (Hawaiian for white mountain) on the Big Island of Hawaii. There are no ski lifts to take you up the mountain, which is over 13,500 feet high, so you must rent a 4WD vehicle or hire a guide. Skiers take turns being the driver up a road that also serves several observatories at the summit."

no thanks. plus, i've read that it is discouraged and VERY dangerous, due to it being volcanic rock and cinders just under the snow.

we've looked at real estate in austin. for half of what our house would sell for one can buy more house there.

If you live in Austin, go to South Padre for the Gulf. The water is much nicer. Galveston water is still brown, from the Mississippi river.

Skiing? ... way up there, where the O₂ is thin? ... you may want to bring along a respiratory therapist to figure out . .. oh wait. Never mind.

Yep, as long as you have 20% for a downpayment. I think it is the main reason real estate didn't bubble here.

Probably so... I would recommend visiting and checking out areas like San Marcos and New Braunsfels as well... I haven't been to either in a while, but I sure liked the areas when I was younger...

Great prices on homes there - sure to go up, do it.

no kidding. from sea level to 10,000 feet + would be pretty brutal. i went from about 5K to breckenridge at 10K + and it was not fun. i skied about three runs and and decided it wasn't worth it.

yeah, i may just have to sell the house and move to austin and then work on getting work. there are tons of RT jobs in the austin and san antonio areas. i've been doing some research. i only got fired up about hilo because i found some work there, but haven't heard back from the hospital.

what is san antonio like?

GAWD...i missed you you big knuckle head:D
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Uno's right...I'd look at Austin before Hilo...BUT...being a respitory therapist...Hilo has a lot of weed growing in the hills. I remember the helo pilot pointing it out to us when we took a tour of the island.

the weed was so obvious flying blue hawiian helos on the kona to hilo helo and over the mtn pass tour you couldnt swing a bong without hitting a field.

gawd that was funny remembering that trip.

hawaii is nice to visit. i have bean there numerous times. each island has somethang different for each of us that really is precious and magical. for me its UNTA WATA. crap i have been around the big island so many times now i could puke on some of it. other parts i could live there if it was a 100 years ago. too much lokal vs. white dood crap. everywhere! grocery stores,anywhere you can think unless TOURIST area and then all they want is your money.

everyone i know who has fallen in love with the place after a year come back cuz their lonely! WTF?

as i said a 100 years ago i would love it for the LACK of people. but now adays its crowded and lokals dont like us. just think AIM american indian movement and ya got a pretty good picture of the tensions between lokals and mainlanders.

and that goes for jobs also. lokals always get preference. its a different world and its not the paradise most think it is. dont get me wrong i havent seen it all, and i would go back to see more, but i have learned how to interact with lokals and i pretty much avoid their crap now.

hell ya wanna ski??????????? try new messiko!

Smaller. It is #4 or #5 in size in Texas. You have more rolling hills around the area. It is less expensive than Austin, and more industrial, but not as industrial as Houston.

Lots of good places to live close by. You can probably sell your place, buy a great house and have enough money left over to buy acres and a hunting cabin.

Do your homework and find a house in an area with good schools.