Thursday, October 13, 2016

Pros and Cons of Moving to Hawaii - Cons

Hey guys,

Now I would like to talk about cons of moving to Hawaii. Ready to hear it? Again, this is solely based on my three-month personal experience on Oahu.


1. Bugs Are Annoying.
Really. We try to keep our kitchen very clean, spotless, and shiny. We keep all the seasonings and food in the fridge. Especially the ones that attract bugs, we don't leave them on the kitchen counter or tables. They go straight in the fridge. But still, we get ants. They come to our sink. I don't understand! What are they looking for? And we get spiders, lizards, and flies. Roaches are HUGE! I have seen a big roach in Florida, but Hawaiian roaches are bigger than that. :x

2. Have to Put Sunblock All the Time.
The sun in Hawaii is incredible. I have lived in Los Angeles which also has the strong sun, but the sun in Hawaii is much stronger. I keep a bottle of sunblock in my purse at all times. We like to walk on the beach, but we do it in the evening only. I have been trying to put sunblock on my skin all the time, but my skin is turning brown already:(

3. Humid
I was not used to humidity. Southern California gets super hot (over 110F), but it is always dry. But in Hawaii, even though the temperature is just around 80 - 82, it feels like we are in spa. So humid that we do not want to move. And we are sweating all the time. When the trade wind dies,,, it is terrible.

4. Less Variety of Produce
We would like to eat healthy and in California healthy organic choices were largely available. Now we are in Hawaii, we are having a hard time finding good sourdough bread, organic vegetables, sheep or goat's milk products, and organic meat. We shop at Down to Earth, Whole Foods, and farmers' market, and we cannot find organic cucumbers, mushroom, oranges anywhere. We have to adjust what we eat here.

5. No IKEA, No CB2
We literally brought nothing but some clothes, shoes, and our car with us. Based on our research, people were saying the shipping cost is very expensive, and it is better to buy furniture on Oahu. And we took the advise and tried to buy everything on Oahu. Looking for furniture was a huge challenge for us. There is no IKEA. There is no CB2. Furniture on Oahu you can find is either cheaply made or super expensive. We ended up ordering some furniture at IKEA on the mainland. I will want to put the information later in a separate entry.


A lot of people say that living in Hawaii is expensive, but I found it pretty much the same as living in West Los Angeles. Traffic as I mentioned in pros is not bad at all for us. It all depends on where you are coming from. I have not got island fever. I don't think I will as I am from Japan which is a very small country. For me the list above is the things that I do not like or I have get used to about Hawaii.

What do you not like about living in Hawaii?


Have a nice day~!