OUR JOURNEY TO LIFE IN HAWAII, INSPIRING OTHERS ALONG THE WAY
Newsletter: Issue 3 - Dec. 2, 2019
In This Edition
We share our first month in paradise experiences.
Related Link: First Month in Paradise Photos
First Month in Paradise
After wandering in the Sonoran desert for 25 years, we finally made it to the promise land flowing with coconut milk and Big Island Bee honey. We both retired from our day jobs and enjoyed several retirement and farewell celebrations and said goodbye to friends and our Arizona home. We were fortunate enough to have a nice couple fall in love with our home within a few hours of being listed on MLS. All of our remodeling efforts and TLC were rewarded with a cash offer for asking price!
On November 1st, we departed Phoenix via Hawaiian Airlines’ new premium lie flat seats and were graciously greeted by our rental home owners with friendly smiles, hugs and a bottle of wine! Our Toyota hybrid arrived safely and on time. Our 20’ shipping container, stuffed with a life time of household goods, arrived a bit delayed. Both were delivered separately by Matson. We purchased the container to store on our property; however, since our soil is too steep and soft, we had to store the container at a shipping yard temporarily until we get the ground prepped. We have been making trips to the container and have integrated many items from Arizona to our new temporary hale.
We got busy shortly after our arrival starting with our neighbor Gill Pecceau clearing our property with a flail mower. We realized we needed a 4-wheel drive truck to work on our 5-acre farm so we purchased a Ford Ranger with great year end specials and a family discount – thanks to Bill Wilson! In meeting with our architect for lunch, we received an update that good progress is being made on our house permit. We set up a local bank account and applied for our Hawaii vehicle registrations and drivers’ licenses. We successfully registered the Prius; however, the driver’s licenses and the DMV process is another story still in progress. Perhaps the next newsletter!
We stayed at this rental property last year for vacation and were fortunate that the owners agreed to rent it long term while we build our home. We are free to pick and eat all the avocados and papayas (and anything else we find, except the coffee cherries) on this 5-acre Garden of Eden! We are enjoying fresh, local food. We make our own schedule and work for ourselves. The average speed limit is 35 to 45 MPH and driving here seems almost relaxing with the surrounding ocean views and lush vegetation. With moderate 75-85 degree day temperatures and constant trade winds at 1200’ elevation, there’s no need for A/C (at least not at this time of year). The fading sunset is replaced with ink black darkness perfect for star gazing, with the exception of the distant lights from downtown Kona. We fall asleep to the sounds of crickets and coqui frogs and awaken to the cool mountain breezes, chirping birds, wild roosters crowing and great anticipation for a hot cup of coffee and another day in paradise.
We have been vacationing in these islands since 2000 and have made many great connections. As long as we respect the local culture and traditions, we are treated with aloha spirit and welcomed as ohana. Life is slower paced here, which is what originally appealed to us and still does. We have first-hand experience with the term “island time.” Although we have been planning our home for 4 years and are behind our intended schedule, it has worked in our favor to get acclimated to our new lifestyle.
Overall, our first month on the island has been productive, educational and quite amazing! We are well on our way to becoming kama‘aina. We had our first Thanksgiving here and we are very grateful and hopeful that Santa will bring us our permit approval for Christmas!
"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees." -- Henry David Thoreau
Mahalo (thank you) for your interest.
