Half a year in Hawaii! A lot has changed!

Well I am into my 7th month here on Oahu. Crazy. A lot has changed in my last blog post 3 months ago. First off I no longer work in Hawaii. I was offered a remote position at a company in Oregon. This means my 2 year plan of living in Hawaii is now a little over 1 year plan but that is ok. I do love Hawaii but I do miss my family and friends back on the mainland and this position offers me the opportunity to still live in Hawaii for a bit longer while the wife and I plan on what is next for both of us. So here are some further observations of living in Hawaii from my perspective.

1)    Aloha is real. Aloha as a word that gets thrown around a lot but Aloha as an attitude and way of living is very real. I don’t think I (or anyone really) could ever do it justice by trying to encapsulate what it means in words. It is truly a feeling. You get it living here. I will always be grateful for what this place as taught me as far as compassion and empathy goes. Aloha is more than a marketing slogan and a greeting. I plan on going back to mainland with the lessons this island as taught me and and continue to practice it wherever my life takes me. But that being said…

2)    It’s hard to make friends. Well for me at least. I know by talking to others who have been on the island a while, that this is the case for many. My wife on the other hand has had no issues making some great friends here. I am not sure if it is because I know my time here is temporary so I may not be mindfully willing to get connected on a deeper level or maybe it is the opposite. People may not want to get to close to me knowing that I won’t be here long term. In either case I have found plenty of great people to hang out and “talk story” with but I really haven’t found anything deeper yet. I tend to be very social but very guarded at the same time. I only have very few in my inner circle and maybe I need to allow that to loosen a bit but by in large its been pretty isolating.

3)    I brought too much stuff. I should have really thought about bringing most of my record collection here. I know I have to now move all of that back at some point next year. Being a vinyl collector isn’t the easiest when it comes to relocating!

4)    Career growth is limited here. I was lucky to find a solid job in Hawaii that paid mainland wages. That is not often the case. That being said, one thing I didn’t realize when I got here was that career growth is limited here. If this opportunity would have happened to me in 10-15 years and I was closer to retirement age I could have easily stayed here. But I am still young enough to want to grow in my career. I still want to learn and move forward. I just didn’t see that happening here in Hawaii for me and that is one of the main reasons that prompted me to take this new job in Oregon. I just didn’t want to stagnate here. I could have easily done that. I think in the long run I made the right decision for my career as a whole. And now, I know what it takes to retire in Hawaii so maybe one day I will be back. For more info on getting a job in Hawaii read this.

5)    Poke. I fucking love poke. I always have. I am talking real poke. Not this point and pick, Subway style stuff going on in the mainland. I mean going to a glass case with 15-20 styles of marinated raw fish in various sauces and seasonings and getting it by the pound. I got my favorite spots for Poke here and even Safeway has some great fresh ahi shoyu poke. I hear there is great poke in Carson and around the south bay of LA. I may have to try those out when I am fiending for some good stuff when I get back to living in LA but for now it’s poke all day every day for me.

6)    Oahu is more than just Honolulu. That goes without out saying but so many people come out to Oahu and only stay in Waikiki and don’t really get a chance to discover what the island is really about. When I started coming to Oahu in 2000 I made it a point to explore the island. We would rent a car and just drive around find spots outside of the tourist zones. Living here as allowed me to opportunity to really explore this place like I could never do just being here a week. Each side of the island is unique. Even in Honolulu there are so many sections of town that visitors don’t really check out. I would suggest if you have the time getting to North Shore, The Westside and East side of the island. I still have so much to explore. I haven’t really had a chance to explore the middle of the island yet but that is next. Even when I move back to mainland I know that when I do come back to Oahu to visit, it will be with different eyes and for that I am forever grateful.

7)    It’s true about Mexican Food. I have heard so many times that there is no good Mexican food in Hawaii. That isn’t an issue when vacationing here but living here is a different beast. I do miss getting some good Al Pastor tacos. In LA there was so much great Mexican food. You can get all kinds of great regional Mexican food. Want some Mole Negro? There is a spot for that. Want some Mexican seafood? Oh you gotta try this spot. Well you find no such luck here in Hawaii.

8)    Hawaii has changed me. I am so appreciative of this move. When I was back in LA for a short trip in May, my cousin asked me if I had regretted moving here (he knew I was missing my friends and family) and I told him absolutely not. I do not regret this move at all (except perhaps moving all my records here). Living here and working here has shaped me in ways that would have never have happened if I would have stayed in Los Angeles. I know this move has challenged both my wife and I but I firmly believe that this adventure (as we are calling it) will move us to be more understanding, compassionate and loving people (and couple). I do miss LA but I know I will be back (in fact I am coming for a month starting August 16th). And knowing that I now feel that I can really enjoy this place while I am here. 2019 so far has been hard, amazing, challenging, and yet satisfying. Ultimately this has been rewarding in ways that I won’t even fully realize until I am done with it. Mahalo Hawaii.

3 Months In Hawaii - What I have learned so far about relocating to the islands

So, I am at the start of my 4th month living in Honolulu. What a trip. I never thought I would be living here. Just 6 months ago I was vacationing here and now I call Hawaii home. This has been a one hell of a change in my life. I have learned quite a bit in my 3 months so far on Oahu. Here are some items that have stuck out to me.

1)    It’s expensive here. I know everyone says it but yes everything is expensive here. Food and housing especially. Lucky for me I was used to a higher cost of living, coming from Los Angeles, but it is still a little shocking how much certain things can cost. I can’t imagine coming from the Midwest or south where cost of living is much lower. If you are familiar in living in LA, SF or NY, Honolulu is much more manageable.

2)    You are not on vacation. I landed here on a Sunday and I started my new job the very next day. At no point did I feel like I was on a vacation living here. I think some people come here thinking that life will be like a vacation. It isn’t. It is hard work to live here, especially first moving here. I came here with about 4 bags. Clothes, computer and some DJ gear. My wife came with me the first week but then had to go back to LA to handle moving our furniture and more importantly handle moving our dogs. The first few months I was sleeping on a blowup bed and pretty much by myself.

3)    Finding a rental with dogs is tough. I am not sure why. This island seems very dog friendly but finding a rental that takes dogs is VERY hard in Honolulu. It might be that the short-term rental market (VRBO, AirBnB) is so prevalent here that people don’t want pets to help with quick rentals. Looking online at apartments and rentals, when you filter your search with those rentals that take dogs, it cuts it down by more than half. Little dogs are easier to deal with when looking.

4)    My situation was unique. To even consider moving to Hawaii, there were certain criteria in a job offer that I would need. I honestly didn’t think I was going to get an offer that I would seriously consider because I have read so many stories where people take less money in their positions to move to Hawaii. I honestly got an offer that I couldn’t refuse. That is not the norm here. I was very fortunate to get the offer I received, and I am very grateful that I was provided the opportunity to move here.

5)    There will be hiccups. As I often say, “paradise comes with a price”. Moving here required a huge leap of faith for my wife and I. Lucky for me I already have friends and family on the island and those connections helped me quite a bit when moving here. Before my wife and dogs arrived in April, there were moments of depression. Wondering why I was doing this? Was it worth it? There was a lot of self-doubt. I have never moved away before. I have been in the same general area my entire life. This was a huge change that I am still getting used to. This was a personal challenge for me to do this. I still take it as a challenge every day. I am here to test myself, in my career, in my personal space, in my music. Regardless of the trials and self-doubt, this will be worth it.

6)    Hawaii is beautiful. I mean I know that goes without saying. Before I lived here, I have been to the islands a lot but now I see it differently. I am getting to know the neighborhoods, the local spots. The people are beautiful. There is definitely an aloha vibe and it is real. That is one of the main reasons I love living here. The vibe is tough to beat. I am glad to be in Honolulu though. I don’t think I could last on one of the other islands. I do enjoy the city life and Oahu is the only island that has a major city. I discovered that I am very much a “townie” (the Hawaiian equivalent to “urban”). While I love the ocean and beach, I am pretty much a city dude.

7)    Starting over as DJ actually a good thing. Lucky for me I have good connections here in Hawaii, so I have been pretty much been able to get regular gigs here so far. But I have to rebuild my name and brand here. People don’t know me here as well. So, I have to spread my brand, meet the players here, get involved in the scene. It helps that there are people that have spent time in LA here and know what I did in LA the past 27 years but yeah for the most part, it is me going after gigs, pushing my sound and brand out there. Not a bad thing at all.

8)    I miss LA. I do. I love Los Angeles. It is my home. While I live in Honolulu right now, LA is always home to me. But LA will be there when I am ready to go back, I have a good plan to focus on certain things while I am here. Los Angeles is full of distractions and while I miss them very much, it also got in the way of me focusing on my relationships, my music and my IT career. All things that I plan to do while I am here. I do admit I feel isolated here. Not that this is a bad thing, but it is real. I miss road trips to the central coast and  bay area; desert parties and I miss my music community in LA. But I will be back a few times a year until I move back to mainland. This is a unique experience that not many get to do in life. I get to live in Hawaii. That is pretty awesome. I don’t know how long I will be here, but I know that while I am here, I will enjoy my time here.