My Aloha Adventures (life on the 9th Island)

After 18 months in Oahu, we have returned to the mainland. Our move was bittersweet because in another life, another time, the outcome may have been different. Moving to an island during a pandemic wasn't our best decision. Hawaii was shut down for most of that eighteen months, except for a very short two month period over the Summer. The area we lived in was also affected somewhat by the Red Hill water issue - some of the restaurants near us closed for about six months. Ironically, the restaurants and Hawaii reopened two days before we flew off island.  There is a lot that we will miss about Hawaii - the rich Asian culture, the manapua man, the relaxed lifestyle and hotdog musubi but we realized while we were there that having a good support system nearby is worth more than living in a paradise that we couldn't really afford to enjoy. I've heard that Hawaii is a great place to visit but visiting and living there are two separate things. Had our eighteen months been spent i...

It's hard to believe another year has passed already. I like to spend a few minutes on New Year's Day reflecting on the past year so I'm ready to move forward with a good attitude into the new year.  I'll be honest - 2021 was a hard year for us. We moved to Hawaii expecting it to be the picturesque paradise portrayed in social media and movies. What we got instead, due to the pandemic, was an overpriced version of Gillian's Island, with a lot more people stranded on the island with us. Most venues were shut down and most restaurants were take-out only. Products and goods were hard to come by and expensive. Just as the island was starting to open up in the summer, a new wave of Covid outbreak hit and the state imposed even stricter guidelines, which caused things to close back up in September.  Yes, Hawaii is beautiful. The beaches and mountains are Instagram-worthy. The culture and food are amazing. But...and it's a big but - living here and vacationing here are...

It's hard to believe that we've been living in Hawaii for ten months already. Time does certainly fly. M oving during a pandemic was probably not the best idea. We've had trouble connecting with people because of the lockdown. In fact, I got on the elevator with a lady two months ago  and asked her what floor -- she said my floor and then added that she was my neighbor. I had never seen her before (and have only seen her once since), even though we have met/spoken to her husband/boyfriend several times. I was a little concerned we might have a "Cruel Summer" TV show-type situation happening here but then I remembered that the apartments in this building are only 709 square feet so there'd be no place to hide her. 😂😂 Still, I pride myself on being pretty observant so I'm a little concerned that I didn't notice a whole person next door for over eight months. 😮😷 I've also realized that visiting a place and living in a place are two distinct things...

Aloha! As of today, we have officially lived in Hawaii for eight months. To say it's been a hard eight months would be an understatement. In hind sight, moving to a place we've never been during a pandemic might not have been the wisest decision. We did have a few short months where life seemed to fall into place: We bought a futon sofa and chair, Lo was working full-tme, I was watching the toddler during the day and working Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays. But, life has a way of changing.  My inflatable bed popped so we had to move the futon to my room and bring the camp chairs back out.  My work days extended through the week so my nights were no longer free. And, our kitchen faucet sprung a leak. Honestly, we've been in survival mode for the past few months. We are working to turn our situation around but Lo and I both agree that if the you tube videos we watched before moving here had been a little more honest, we might not have moved. So, since a few people have r...

Several people have asked us to share our  experience of moving to Hawaii. Please note that, if you are planning a move here, your experience could be entirely different given all the different variables but here is what we have found (excuse the long post): TRAVEL When we flew in November, flights were around $232/one way. Lo and I had to purchase a rapid covid test at $139 each. Lo's results arrived before we landed but mine did not, resulting in me having to quarantine for 5 1/2 days. Travel here is opening up now but there are still some restrictions in place. SHIPPED BOXES/CHECKED BAGS We contacted a local mailbox place to see if they would store our boxes until we arrived so I could use my work's discounted shipping FedEx service. We had to pay for three month rental at the Shipping place. I spent roughly $357 to ship 12 boxes at the discounted rate. To ship one additional box (medium size) at UPS, it cost $189.00. We had planned on checking two bags each (around $240 for...

Things have been a little quiet on this end. To be honest with you, in months two and three, we were have a little "buyer's remorse". Moving to an island in the middle of a pandemic turned out to be a little more problematic than we anticipated. The lack of air conditioning (and heat on those rare cold, rainy days) was getting to us, coupled with the fact that so many things here were closed due to Covid. And, trying to connect with family and friends in various time zones only added to our frustration. Then there was the matter of jobs. While Lo secured a job before we got here and she started working in January, it took me a while (and 53 applications) to find something that would allow me to work weekends and nights so I could watch the Toddler during the day. I managed to find a seasonal job that's pretty much way different from what I've done for the past 30+ years but I'm happy to have it. In fact, my job was confirmed the day before my 61st birthday and...

Aloha. Pretty much every year, I make a resolution to learn a new language. I've attempted to learn Icelandic, Irish/Celtic, French, Spanish, Zwahili and Farsi. I also try to brush up on my German every year. This year, my language choice was made for me because we moved to Hawaii. I was surprised at how many Hawaiian words are in normal day-to-day language. So, in case you've ever had the desire to learn a little Hawaiian, I'm posting a few words, their pronunciation and the meaning. For those who have visited Hawaii, you might be surprised to find you've been mispronouncing a few things. We were. Here's my very short list of the words I've learned in our two months here (hopefully, I'm learning the right way to say them - if not, I'm sure someone will tell me 😂): HAWAII - ha-vy-ee - the state OAHU - eww-ah-who - the island ALOHA  - ah-low-ha - hello MAHALO  - ma-ha-low - thank you OHANA - oh-han-a - family KEIKI - cay-key - child KAPUNA - koo-poo-nah ...

When I was a month old, we moved to Germany. We lived there until I was about five. One of my favorite childhood memories is running through the sheets on the clothesline as my Tante (aunt) Miele hung up the clothes. When she was done, we would walk into town to the Farmers Market.  It was a weekly routine for us. If I close my eyes now, I can still remember the smell of the clothes on the line and I can still see all the different colored veggies in their stands. To this day, I still love hanging my clothes outside and I absolutely love Farmers Markets. One of the first thing we did when we moved here is to find local Farmers Markets. Oahu has a few markets but our favorite is Pearlridge. It's small but they have packed it with a lot of diverse local offerings and inexpensive local veg/fruit. We tend to do a walk around the different stalls before we buy anything. We like to talk to the vendors and find out about their products. Not going lie, we usually buy from the vendors that ...

 The house is quiet on this Aloha Friday. Lo is at her new job and the Toddler is napping. I have a few moments, lovely moments, to myself. I have a foreign movie playing in the background. Thankfully, no subtitles so I can mindlessly watch it while I relax. I hate that these movies always have the same format: girl is single, usually works as a writer/editor, she travels to a foreign country and meets the man of her dreams. This storyline just pisses me off because I've traveled alot -- some by myself -- and this has never happened to me! And, I went to a matchmaking festival. In Ireland.  By myself.  So...if life really does mirror art, I should be happily married to someone I met in a foreign land! 😂 Speaking of foreign lands...see that nice segway?  When people found out we were moving to Hawaii, I can't tell you how many people felt like we were moving overseas. We usually just smiled and mumbled that Hawaii is part of the USA.  However, once we got here, ...