Now I’ll try my best not to sound ungrateful because I truly do understand how blessed we were to live in Hawaii, but with all of the beautiful weather, beautiful people and Aloha spirit there are a few things I wish I knew before moving to Hawaii.
1. Crazy expensive. The cost of living in Hawaii is off the chain. I, of course, assumed things would be a little more pricey but when we got there tt is flat out ridiculous. Everything imaginable is up charged, even things that aren’t shipped to the island. Dole pineapples were grown right down the street from my house and were still overpriced even from the commissary! Gas is high, food is high and don’t even get me started on housing and to top it all off there’s no such thing as the Dollar Store, Hawaii don’t play that.
2. Traffic. Now this didn’t bother me much because I’m pretty patient but Hawaii traffic drove my poor husband crazy. It’s very common for a 15 min drive to turn into a 2-hour drive and that’s without the constant construction that Hawaii is known for. Last April Hawaii was ranked #3 in the country for worst traffic.
3. Island Fever. I’m a sucker for random road trips and I was truly going into road trip withdrawal during our 3-year stint in Oahu.
4. Roaches. Ugh, I get disgusted just thinking about this. Roaches are a huge problem on the island. Gratefully I didn’t have them in my house but when the sun goes down its cockroach city outside. I’ve seen roaches just chilling in grassy fields, walking down the sidewalk and if you aren’t careful they will get in your car. I’ve heard multiple stories of people buying brand new cars that are infested with roaches, the worst part is that apparently there’s even like a roach season where things get even nastier.
5. Black girl hair problems. It took me almost 3 years to find a good hairstylist. I had the hardest time finding someone that could do a decent sewin in a professional environment that didn’t charge a ridiculous amount. A basic quick weave can easily cost you $100-$130 and that’s without hair. When I was first seeking a stylist I found a girl who had really nice pictures of here sewins online. But the experience with her cost me a nice plug of hair, an ugly sewin that I took out a week later and about $600, including hair. The next stylist I found did decent hair but her environment was not at all professional. Then there was the stylist who had gorgeous pictures and great reviews but when I got to her house it was filthy. I should’ve left like my husband suggested but I was in a bind and I didn’t want to listen. My “Marley Twists” unraveled 2 days later. She came to my house to redo them and they still unraveled the very next day. When I called her to get a PORTION of my money back she lied about being in a car accident & refused to refund any of my money. I was furious! I remember the day I prayed to God about my hair situation and it was a few days later I found an awesome, professional stylist that was well priced with an awesome spirit. The hair struggle is real in Hawaii.
6. Distance. When we first moved to the island we only had one kid, but as we headed back to the mainland I had the realization that we are a full-blown family of 5. My family has missed 2 pregnancies, 2 births and multiple birthdays. Not to mention all the holidays and family dinners. This was probably the hardest part of living in Hawaii. Family means so much to me and there are many memories that we’ve missed out on that we can never get back.
7. Time Lapse. Shows come one at the most inconvenient times, my husband was all out of the football loop and I had to get off social media when a new episode of ratchet reality TV or How to Get Away With Murder came on because everybody and their mama was narrating the show.
8. The school system in Hawaii is horrendous. I know quite a few families that had their kids held back when the moved to the mainland just so they could catch up on what they missed in Hawaii. I was so grateful that my kids weren’t of school age during our stay there.
I truly adore Hawaii and I’m so grateful for the experience but I would’ve been a little bit better prepared had I known these 8 things about moving to Hawaii.
To Show my appreciation here are 5 of my favorite pictures taken while in Hawaii.
Tata