Should I move to Hawaii?

Question

Im moving out of my dads house, and I live in a northern town in Ontario, Canada. I have 6000+ dollars in the bank account, but I dont want to settle for working some meteoqure job in a rather meteoqure city, where the only exiting thing to do is snowboard, and that is highly determined on only one season of the year, and to whether or not there will be any snow. I was thinking about moving to Hawaii, where there would be the year-round sport of surfing, the beautiful landscapes and ocean, and simply, a big change. However, I am unsure of how to get a green card, and if upon my arrival, I would actually be able to find a job. The worst thing that could happen is I arrive in Hawaii, rent an apartment, and my money runs out to the point I cant keep up rent, or it would be too hard or financially straining for me to start over, and come back home. I just dont want to end up homeless, and I want this to work. Any advice?

Answer 1

There are many things that you should know before moving to Hawaii, and mainly this is the cost of living, how to find a job, and what to expect here. I have written some on this topic here:

http://www.to-hawaii.com/moving-to-hawai...

http://www.to-hawaii.com/blog/2008/04/23...

Answer 2

You need to do some research. Look on www.craigslist.com (there is one specifically for Hawaii and each individual island has its own list as well). That will give you an idea of what rent is like and you can also search for jobs on Craigslist. The cost of living here is high and wages are usually lower than they are in the mainland U.S. for doing the same work. I'm sorry, I don't know much about Canada so I can't compare. The first thing you need to do is look into getting your green card.

Living in Hawaii is wonderful -- the weather is fabulous, there is plenty to do, the people are friendly, and it's gorgeous. But it is also expensive and people here work hard. Many people work 2 or more jobs in order to pay their living expenses and sometimes 2 or more families (including extended family members) live in one house in order to pay the rent. Groceries and utilities are higher than on the mainland too. Not many of us can afford to spend weekday afternoons sipping mai tais on the beach -- we're all at work. Living here and visiting here are VERY different. Am I trying to discourage you? No! But I strongly advise you to do these things before you move to Hawaii:

1) Get your green card.

2) Try to find a job AND a place to live before you move.

3) If you can't find a job, budget wisely while you're here and start looking for work immediately upon your arrival in the islands. (Lots of businesses won't hire someone who doesn't have a local address.)

4) Pare your belongings down to the bare minimum. You don't need to bring a lot of stuff here and it's expensive to move personal belongings.

Aloha and good luck!

Answer 3

Not in this day and age.  Remember.  Every single item except for it's very few natural resources has to be shipped in or flown in.

It is so expensive, even the wealthy are having rough time of it.

You'd be better off investing the money in education to get a job that will support a lifestyle over there.  There are tons of lawyers, teachers have terrible pay, and you would have to do a lot of research to see the kind of money it would take to support your lifestyle and the things you are hoping for in life.  

I spent quite a few years there, and I'm very glad I left.  As beautiful as it is, people are loosing the "Aloha spirit".  Traffic on Oahu is frustrating.  The State is run by idiots who can't plan for anything.  I'm just advising you that perhaps you should take a trip there, rent a car, rent an apartment and get a good glimpse of what life would be like day after day working two jobs just to survive and not be able to enjoy your home and family because you are too tired.  The two newspapers are on the internet.

Honolulu Star Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser.  Just look at the news too.  Looks at the rents online.  Look at the gas prices online.  Homeless?  You'd be in good company.  The homeless have overtaken the parks and beaches.  It's not a pretty picture.