When Gigi wrote a post a while ago about Hawaii being the best place for her to live I thought to myself that Hawaii is fine, but it is not necessarily paradise. I was born and raised in Hawaii, but then my husband and I moved to Chicago in 1974 where we raised our two children. We moved back to Hawaii a few years ago to live with my mother when my father passed away.
We loved living in the Midwest. We loved winter too, but wish we only had 2 weeks of it rather than the 4 months Illinois is usually blessed with.
Hawaii has lots of things going for it, but it also has some drawbacks.
And yet we do love Hawaii for the obvious reasons.
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| Tif and Jon on our homemade skating rink when our yard flooded and froze |
We loved living in the Midwest. We loved winter too, but wish we only had 2 weeks of it rather than the 4 months Illinois is usually blessed with.
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| Jon, blueberry picking in Indiana |
Hawaii has lots of things going for it, but it also has some drawbacks.
- Shipping things to Hawaii costs an arm and a leg. I'm really grateful for Super Saver Shipping when you qualify for it.
- Housing is extremely expensive.
- Termites, cockroaches, mongoose, rats, giant spiders...
- Traffic congestion! I think we were considered to have the worst in the nation.
- Not a whole lot of museums, zoos, etc.
- I think we have the highest electricity costs too.
- And GAS! Maybe California beat us, but we're not far behind.
- If you want to travel to another state, you have to swim over two thousand miles. And don't try using the Interstate highway either even though we do have three of them.
- We have very few fabulous libraries.
- We're the last ones to vote in any election, the last one to celebrate New Years.
- RUST!!!
- Plastic falls apart! Why is that?
- We don't get to have the euphoria of spring fever.
- We don't get to enjoy the fall colors.
- No white Christmas
- No Trader Joes or Ikea
- Visiting our children, grandchild and dear friends is expensive.
And yet we do love Hawaii for the obvious reasons.
- No black ice, summer all year long
- Shave ice
- Saimin
- Tai chi, Zumba and jogging outside, all year long
- Friendly people everywhere... Please excuse the knuckle heads and grouches because we do have a few of them, but very few.
- Trade winds
- Flowers all year long, not to mention seasonal fruits like mangoes
- Beautiful beaches, gorgeous scenery
- Lots of family and friends
Good morning Kay, beautiful photos this morning, the children look so sweet in the winter photo.
ReplyDeletei have lived in Northern Ontario Canada all my life, I love the change of seasons, I love the clean air and wild life.I would like a shorter winter, and I wish we had bigger hospitals so we didn't have to go hundreds of miles to see specialists.I wish we had some of the bigger stores too.But I 'm happy, my family is here, within distance mostly.
This is such a great post Kay. And so true. It took me many years to see the good sides of living in Paraguay, because I missed my Canada so much. But as long as you are not satisfied with where you are, you can't really be happy. Now I enjoy the sight of a big pasture (here), just as much as the mountains in Canada. And the short winters we have are great too.
ReplyDeleteMy son has been living in Ecuador for the past two months and is now in Peru for another month. He and his partner seem to find every place interesting and fun. They did a lot of mountain climbing in Ecuador. I love seeing those photos of your beautiful ranch. You have so much open space there.
DeleteWhat a beautiful post, especially the last sentence. With that kind of attitude, you'll ALWAYS enjoy the place you live in!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post, Kay. Looking at (and listing) all the way you love and don't love a place is a good way to gain perspective. I lived eight years of my life in Puerto Rico at three separate times, and I too missed the seasons. It was the best part about returning to the Mainland. Many of the things in your Minus column are true about any tropical paradise: the weather is summer all year long.
ReplyDeleteThe Pacific Northwest is so green and lush, with mild winters and... lots of RAIN. They go together, it seems. Up here near the Canadian border, the days are long in the summer and short in the winter, but I don't mind a bit. I love it here.
how true, happiness is an attitude not a location-I love living in the desert because of no winter and everyone is friendly. Lots of activities and time to enjoy them...
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. Anywhere for me without snow is a plus. I like Oklahoma because it doesn't get much, but we do get the heat. I can handle the heat much, much better. A beach would be nice though, so I settle for the cabin and our little lake! Have a great day Kay. Carla
ReplyDeleteI love where I live in Colorado, but you are so right that it is our attitude and our efforts to find the good things that make us happy with where we live.
ReplyDeleteNice list, and I think you covered it all for me too. Isn't that so true about plastic bins especially. Acrylic yarn (made of plastic extruded from a machine) is still very indestructible in Hawaii, so maybe not all plastic in all forms (recyclable plastics HDPE 1 and 2 may also be indestructible even in our hot weather). It is a disappointment though to find broken plastic bins in storage.
ReplyDeleteL. from W.
A quick google on the subject finds that heat is a factor as it causes the atoms in plastic to vibrate. Glad to know that HDPE 1 and 2 are BPA free since I've been collecting the recyclable bags ever since your post awhile back. Too bad we can't do a better job recycling plastic bags in Hawaii. There are so many good uses for these bags.
DeleteL. from W.
Hmmmm... This is so good to know! Crumbling plastic is such a bummer.
DeleteIn the PNW we have: seasons, trees, mountains, lakes, rivers and salt water, proximity to the Pacific Ocean, beaches, great gardening conditions, hiking, camping, big cities, shopping of every kind, rural farms and fresh produce, occasional snow, moderate temperatures, and my family.
ReplyDeleteI have lived in California, Thailand, Europe, New York, and Hawaii. I prefer Hawaii. I love wearing muumuus. I love the perpetual summer. I love the racial tolerance that allows me to be married to a haole and have hapa-haole kids. I love the ethnic foods, fine dining, informal dining, the availability of Asian ingredients, etc. Many other reasons, too.
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest thing for me is not having my children and grandchild close by. I really miss them.
DeleteLove your post for the day! I've lived in a lot of places -- Germany, Spain, Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Washington and they all have their pluses and minuses, but I have found a lot of beauty in them all. I feel I've been very fortunate to be able to discover many places and would do it all over again! Hope you have a lovely weekend! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Wow! You've really been around, Sylvia. What an interesting life, you're having.
DeleteI lived 62 years of my life in Texas, and left for three reasons, heat, religion, and politics. I've lived the Oregon 8 years and have yet to find a reason not to like living in the Pacific Northwest.
ReplyDeleteyour list of dislikes is longer than your likes, you must be taking Hawaii for granted these days! (-:
ReplyDeleteLast photo: Waipio valley lookout.
ReplyDeleteI miss the Big Isle as we moved back from Kamuela (wet-side) to Oahu in 2005 to take care of my wife mother.
One of the few places in Hawaii where a fireplace is a must have.
Good eyes! Art is from Honokaa so that is a favorite spot of ours. Kamuela is absolutely gorgeous! We looked into buying property several decades ago and it was already cost prohibitive.
DeleteI love your list. I love many things about where I live. It is inexpensive to buy a home, the winters are mild, but we have four seasons, there is a great river walk where we love to walk, there is little traffic, there is great Mexican food, there are many wonderful locally owned restaurants, we have a great community feel, and people are really friendly. Not too bad. Maybe I shouldn't move away after all.
ReplyDeleteI love Hawaii. It's a great place to live. I've lived on the "mainland" and the main thing I don't miss from the mainland is the discrimination.
ReplyDeleteLove Hawaii and even if it costs more, it is paradise in terms of people caring for one another.
I know there is discrimination on some parts of the mainland. We were lucky that we lived in an area that it wasn't so prevalent. Thank goodness
DeleteI always thought I would love to live in Hawaii. I've enjoyed every place I have lived but it takes a while to settle in. When Gregg was in the navy we moved 10 times in as many years but since he retired we have lived in our present home for 21 years. I have grown to love Virginia. For a start I have made some wonderful friends here. I love spring and fall. The summer months are too humid for me but I do love seeing the fireflies. I love the fact that we have a lot of parks to enjoy walking around. In one direction we have the city (Washington DC) and in the other we have the Shenandoah's, equal distance. There's too much traffic and commutes can be horrendous for people but basically I can see more pro's than cons.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd been born in Somerset, where we live now, as it's a wonderful place to live. Beautiful scenery and places to visit. Friendly people and the pace of life is definitely slower than in the South East. The only drawback for me is that it takes 3-4 hours to go and visit our sons. I know that Christopher misses being as close to London as we used to be - it used to take just a half hour rail journey to be in the centre of London, now it takes a half hour car drive then an hour and a half by train.
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