Originally Posted by nitefr8r

Hawaiian used to fly a charter service a few times a week and Alaska has HNL-ANC service as well. The flights are full most all the time. I'm not sure if Alaska's service is seasonal or not.

You can try riding to the mainland and then up to ANC, but those flights are full most of the time as well which means competing for a jumpseat against all the other pilots both on and offline who are trying the same thing (and that includes the large number that are just out in Hawaii visiting).

The average person who moves to Hawaii from the mainland stays for 18 months and then moves back. We have the world's largest moat around us and many just don't understand just how far away from friends and family you really are. It's just not for everyone. The commute to the mainland is bad enough for me (I've been doing it for 3 years) -- I won't even consider bidding the ANC domicile for FedEx.

As for prices, the Hawaiian real estate market is till very firm and little sign that things are slipping at all. The over 1 million dollar market is extremely hot and is definitely a sellers market. If you want a view and a 'normal' sized house plan on over a million easy. On the big island 1 million dollars will get you no view and a nice (1800 sq or so) mostly average nothing spectacular house. If you want views think 1.7+. On Oahu things are bit better but the houses with a view in nice neighborhoods are still going to be in the 2 million dollar range. If you're going to build you can easily get into the nosebleed altitudes fast.

My wife, cat and I live in a small 2 bedroom 2 bath single family home on a "California" sized lot (small). We have ocean views front and back. We're at the 500 ft elevation outside of Tsunami inundation range. The house would sell at a fire sale for almost 700k. It's 1100 sq ft. We bought before prices reached the ludicrous range (even Californian's suffer sticker shock when they come out here)

Gas varies from about 3.70 a gallon or so atm, to well over $4.00 (almost 5 in some spots). On the bright side, my 6 cylinder pickup is 2 years old and has 7300 miles on it. It's an island where am I going to go?

Food costs are higher as well to the tune of 20-30%. Most everything comes on a ship from California. At any given time there's only a 10 day or so supply of food on the island of Hawaii. Think west coast port strikes.

We also have the highest utility rates in the nation by far. Public schools are a mixed bag, some are rather good, some are very bad. Most of the folks I know with school age kids have them in private schools (HPA on the big island, St Andrews and Iolani on Oahu etc).

If you're extended family oriented it can be a real burden. getting people to the islands is a major undertaking for most people. They like the visit but it's a long ways away. If you get a middle of the night phone call about elderly parents your answer can easily be, I'll be there in 2 days.

As for the culture and the locals (the real ones not us malahini), some people adapt. Others never do and grow to resent the place and the people. Then they leave.

That's the more or less unvarnished truth. I tell people that if they want to keep Hawaii a special place for them, to visit on vacation and it'll stay that way. It's not for everyone, in fact it's not for most people any longer.

I've been doing the commute for more than 3 years now and it gets old in a huge hurry. Run ins with your usual and unusual TSA personnel to get getting bumped at the last minute from a jumpseat by an online rider can quickly turn the commute into a nightmare. I start looking for what flights to ride about 2 days or so before I have to be there. There aren't a lot of back ups.

My wife is a local girl so Hawaii is more or less home for her (family is on the mainland though). I like the place, as do others. We pay the price (financially and otherwise) for living here, but I like the climate, the culture, the people and scuba diving. I also like the isolation and being out in the middle of nowhere. So where else would I go? But a lot of Hawaii (the state not just our island) is fast turning into Los Angeles on an island.

Sorry the answer is so long, but I'm sitting in El Segundo for 24 hours before my trip and apparently I'm bored and chatty.

Good luck and Aloha.