Living in Hawaii - Moving to Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Big Island

Two Beer Queers – Hawaii’s Beer Review Specialists

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:10:34 +0000

There is something very funny about these two local guys in Hawaii doing beer reviews of the most ridiculously named beers in the world. As a team, they have that perfect blend… funny and funny. I’m pretty sure I reviewed these guys on AimforAwesome before – I’ll have to look for that post. These two [...]

Maui Beach Sunset

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:22:27 +0000

While living on Maui I logged quite a few Maui beach sunsets all over the island, not necessarily where I had a straight shot to see the sun. The sky changes all over the island, so it’s always a special time to be at the beach and watching the waves as ambient light fades. I [...]

Best Beach on Oahu Island, Hawaii – Bellows Beach

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:04:45 +0000

Sometimes, sitting here at my desk and “working” – I think back to some of my favorite times in my life. I bring up Youtube and query using keywords to find places I’ve been and things I’ve done – usually in Hawaii. The best beach on Oahu is Bellows Beach (video below) – which is [...]

Biggest Daytime Party on Maui? Sundays at Little Beach

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:45:09 +0000

Don’t miss 5:18 when the guy’s from Spain show you how they do it in their country! How to find Maui’s Little Beach? It’s next to Big Beach, of course – everybody knows that! Little Beach, on days other than Sunday – is quiet and you probably won’t see more than a handful of people [...]

Things to Do on Maui – Ziplining

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:36:08 +0000

This is the biggest zipline in Maui – it has 2 miles of side-by-side zip lines so you can share your adventure with a friend at the same time. I have never done any ziplining – in Hawaii, or anywhere else – but I think it would be a good way to spend a lazy [...]

Lahaina Produce on Maui – Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:09:49 +0000

I lucked into this video while searching Youtube for something interesting about Hawaii. It’s great – she finds rambutans at the Lahaina Produce market (LahainaProduce.com) over by the Pu’ukolii Sugar Train Station. Rambutans are one of the most delicious fruits in the world. I have trouble deciding which is best – rambutan, dragon fruit, or [...]

Moving to Hawaii – In Preparation

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:07:28 +0000

Moving to Hawaii – Before You Go The first time I went to live in Hawaii, I was sent in the US Air Force. They arranged everything, and it couldn’t have been easier. I brought clothes in a suitcase, and my uniforms and other gear. That was about it… some photos of friends, and a [...]

Best Big Wave Video – Ever

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:06:21 +0000

Big waves are nothing to play with. I learned that when I tried to go from 6 footers to 12, and 15-20 feet waves showed up in a killer set and wrecked me. Though I’ve caught some amazing big waves before, the kind that are huge – 10+ feet and break slowly (so I can [...]

Is Hawaii Weather the Best on the Planet?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:59:51 +0000

Hawaii Weather – What is it Like? Picture the ultimate weather… mostly sunny, not usually too hot. Gentle breezes blowing. Never too cold. Cool nights. Some rain, but not usually too much. Welcome to Hawaii! The funny thing is that on the islands the forecast for each part of an island is often quite different. [...]

Living in Hawaii – Which Island is Right for You?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:39:19 +0000

Living in Hawaii – Which Island? The islands are quite diverse. If you like nightlife – you can only live on Oahu. If you like quiet, intimate gatherings on the weekend – you could live on any island, conceivably. You’ll need to visit all the islands if you want a big choice, otherwise try Oahu, [...]

Finding Employment in Hawaii – What is in Demand?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:59:05 +0000

Employment in Hawaii Employment is tough to find for most people. Jobs exist in certain career fields. If you’re a waiter-waitress, nurse or other healthcare worker, or you have worked in the travel industry, you can probably find a job in Hawaii. If not, it’s a serious struggle finding employment for most people that move [...]

New Book Release – Moving to Hawaii 2012 – Is Living in Paradise for You?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:58:24 +0000

Finishing up on the upgrade to the present Moving to Hawaii – 2011 book at Amazon. Should be ready to release tomorrow, and will be live on Amazon within 24 hours of uploading. Thanks to all who bought the 2011 guide, this new book adds a lot of information and updates things like cost of [...]

Language, Culture, Friends, and Social Life in Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:30:49 +0000

Hawaii’s Laid Back Lifestyle Sure, everyone works in Hawaii. Well, most do. But, even though everyone is working here is this underlying attitude that life is not about work. The people living in Hawaii understand well that the secret to a happy life is about what you’re doing outside of work. Work-style is a little [...]

What Are Some Bad Reasons for Moving to Hawaii?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:33:12 +0000

In my previous article I wrote about good reasons for moving to Hawaii. This article is about the other side of the coin – the bad reasons or motivations some people have when moving to the Hawaiian islands. Moving to Hawaii is not all that easy – it will take a monumental effort on your [...]

What Are Some Good Reasons for Moving to Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:17:05 +0000

I was thinking today about people that make it when they move to Hawaii, and people that don’t. I mean, some people come to live in Hawaii and stay for the rest of their lives. Others, seem to give it a shot – realize it isn’t for them, and leave. Still others come, and rebound [...]

College Student Wants to Live in Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:46:29 +0000

I received an email from a girl I’ll call, “Lorie”. She is a college student now and living on the mainland. She was thinking about going to live in Hawaii for college. She realizes it will be tough – but thought she would tough it out. Can a college student from the mainland USA go [...]

Physical Therapy Assistant Wants to Move to Hawaii Countryside

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:49:42 +0000

Here is another reader email – names changed to protect all involved – except me. This guy was about to graduate from school as a physical therapy assistant and he was thinking about moving to Hawaii. I’ve added “Vern” and “Tom” to designate who is doing the talking below. I like to comment within the [...]

Moving to Maui from California?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:48:51 +0000

Here is another email that came in from a woman who was considering moving from California to Hawaii with her husband, after moving there from Ohio a couple years before. She loves California but is thinking – maybe moving to Maui, Hawaii is the next step? It just might be! Here is her email: * [...]

UK Resident Asking – Should I Move to Hawaii to Start a Business?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:09:01 +0000

The following was an email from someone living in the UK – England that has been considering moving to Hawaii. I’m posting it for everyone to see, because your situation may be similar in some ways and you can learn something from the exchange. I answer within the body of the email – I’ll just [...]

How Much Money Do Honolulu, Hawaii Residents Make?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:10:43 +0000

I would have guessed that the average income for families in Hawaii was higher. It does make sense why everyone is griping about how expensive everything is – when the average is pretty low in comparison with the prices for everything. It’s safe to say, at these income levels – you need A+ credit to [...]

Starting a Business in Hawaii?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:15:26 +0000

Starting a Business – Not Recommended Hawaii is not a great place to start a business in my personal opinion. Many people try, but I think the failure rate is higher in Hawaii than other places. Number one – there is a lot of competition in areas that matter – like tourism. If you don’t [...]

Flying to Hawaii – Tips for a Comfortable Flight

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:02:47 +0000

Though it’s not a 24-hour flight, like it was for me coming from mainland USA to Thailand, the flight to Hawaii can still be quite long for those not used to being in the air for 5-10 hours at a time. New Jersey’s Newark airport has a direct stop that takes about 10 hours straight [...]

Public and Private Schools in Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:37:31 +0000

Public and Private Schools in Hawaii Hawaii has a single state-wide public school system. It has one centralized school board, located on Oahu, and governing the entire State of Hawaii – all 284 public schools. Funding for each school is fair and balanced. Bringing Your Kids to Hawaii Bringing your school-aged kids (keiki) to Hawaii [...]

Buying and Rentals – Living on an Island in Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 08:29:31 +0000

Living on an Island Space on the islands is at a premium. It’s no wonder then that Oahu, with nearly a million residents, seems a bit small. There are other reasons the islands seem small. Parts of Hawaii are uninhabitable. Some hills have loose rock – and homes cannot be built there. Quite a bit [...]

Religion in Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 05:56:57 +0000

What Place Does Religion Have in Hawaii? Over more than six years in Hawaii I didn’t meet many people that were overtly, devoutly religious. It seems like the people in the islands, in general, are extremely happy to be living in paradise on earth and they’re not looking for whatever paradise might be found in [...]

Things to Do in Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:56:06 +0000

What Fun Things Can You Do in Hawaii On Oahu there are quite a few things to do. There is a lot of shopping, multiple malls to shop at, concerts to see… many different sporting matches to go watch. There is every sport imaginable to take part in if you’re active that way. There are [...]

What Are the Social Problems in Hawaii?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:20:07 +0000

Hawaii Social Problems Local Attitudes This one is a catch-22. If your own attitude is poor – you’ll meet some of the nastiest people you ever didn’t want to know in Hawaii. That’s just the way it is everywhere, right? However, if you’ve got a cool attitude and are open to learning how things work [...]

The 5 Best Smells in Hawaii?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:07:25 +0000

This is sort of a weird post, and why it just hit me – I have no idea. Well, I have some idea – as I just ate some pineapple and the smell was amazing. Part of the Hawaii experience, is the mix of amazing smells that waft through the air. You know I just [...]

Hawaii Water Dangers – Tsunami, Waves, Jellyfish, Urchins, More!

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:37:52 +0000

Hawaii Water Dangers Approximately 7 million people per year visit the Hawaiian islands. I wish all of them could read this list of cautions – because it would save them some trouble, sometimes without much effort. Hawaii is different from where you grew up, wherever that is. The ocean and other weather events can be [...]

Hawaii Natural Disasters – Hurricanes, Tsunamis, Landslides, More!

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:07:23 +0000

Hawaii Hurricanes In recent memory, and since Hawaii became one of the United States, there were a couple of hurricanes that tore through Hawaii. There was a lot of devastation and some people even died as a result. The hurricanes were Hurricane Iwa on 11/23/1982 which hit Oahu, Kauai, and Ni’ihau. This was not a [...]

Retirement in Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:48:13 +0000

If you are considering Hawaii as a retirement destination you are not alone! Many people reading my “Moving to Hawaii – 2011″ ebook are sending me email to ask more questions about what it will take to retire in paradise. Unfortunately, I haven’t retired yet – so I don’t know many of the answers they [...]

Hawaii Veterans Services and Benefits

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:22:22 +0000

If you’re a veteran of the armed forces, you can rest assured that Hawaii state services have things covered. I served in the US Air Force beginning in 1984 and was actually stationed there at Hickam AFB. After I was discharged I moved into downtown Waikiki and visited the VA immediately to see what could [...]

Hawaii Agencies on Aging and Other Social Services

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:00:57 +0000

There are a lot of retirees in Hawaii – as you might imagine. Hawaii is pretty well prepared to take care of those that reach the age where they need special care – but, it’s expensive. I know Hawaii residents that are paying $3,500 per month for care of their two parents in their home. [...]

Some Interesting Facts About Hawaii

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:42:27 +0000

Some Interesting Facts About Hawaii Hawaii is the only state of the United States that: is not located in the continent of North America grows coffee is completely surrounded by water is an archipelago has a royal palace does not have a straight line in its state boundary has no snakes Highest mountains? Mauna Kea [...]

I Want to Move to Hawaii – Should I?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:46:15 +0000

I get this question so much – I think it is by far the question most asked of my by email from visitors to this site wondering if they should move to Hawaii – or not. I can’t possibly tell someone, definitively, whether or not they should move. That would be impossible. Even with what [...]

Big Waves at Waimea Bay, Oahu

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:34:15 +0000

Waimea Bay is one of those big waves spots you need to see to believe. I was there in 1985 I think it was, could have been 1986, and they were calling it 50-60 feet high surf. That’s gigantic, and there is nothing I can write about it that will help you to feel the [...]

What is an Average Day Like Living in Hawaii?

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:07:24 +0000

This is what an average day for me looked like when I lived on Oahu: Background – Location, Building, etc. I had just arrived on Oahu and already had my first IT job. I was making $50K per year, but it felt like nothing. I had some online businesses that were sending money every month [...]

Most Visitors to AFA Looking for “Living in Hawaii” Info

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:08:43 +0000

Some end of the year and beginning of the year thoughts… I pulled up two months of stats to see what I could see about this site and what people wanted that were reaching us through the search engines and other channels. As you can see by the info-graphic below, most of our visitors were [...]

How to Save Money in Hawaii – Buying at the Right Time

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:03:06 +0000

Lifehacker is one of my favorite sites, has been for years. They just came out with their 2012 guide – The Best Time to Buy Anything in 2012 Life in Hawaii is astronomically expensive, and this guide can help you save a couple hundred dollars in a year. I know I always seem to buy [...]

Happy Hour Hawaii Database – Get Your Drink On

AimforAwesome@gmail.com (Vern L.) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:59:01 +0000

Aloha Vern, Just wanted to thank you for the great information you post to AimforAwesome.com! Also wanted to share a local website that my wife and I have created called Happy Hour Hawaii (.com). We have nearly 150 happy hours throughout the islands, and the restaurants manage their profiles themselves. We also have GPS based [...]