Hi Karen, do you have family in the Mainland?

How was it living on the Big Island during the pandemic? We are considering retiring in the next 5 years and looking at the Big Island as a possible place.

Hi ily on the Mainland (East Coast). Living on the Big Island during the pandemic was a sobering experience since everything was shut down (and for a good reason). I take it you are also from the Mainland. May I ask where?

Hi Karen, we

all live in California. I can only imagine how harsh it was during the pandemic. Being separated from my children under that situation makes me pause.

And yes, check your history

I grew up on Oahu as a haole and actually feel I benefited immensely from the diversity and the lack of white privilege. By growing up in Hawaiian culture, I learned how to relate to anybody all over the world. And the part about Hawaiians not being American? People here are the best part of America and an example of what the future looks like. Hawaii was illegally confiscated by business interests on the island and the push of America in the Pacific. And who celebrates statehood in their state? Not in California, Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma or any other state I’ve lived in. You need to “cool your jets” brah. Your lucky to live in Hawaii. Yes, there are challenges, but it is the state in the US, hands down.

This one is “12 reasons you should not move””. You’re commenting on the article “Why it’s great to live in Hawaii”.

I think you are commenting on the wrong article

I’m convinced the very first sentence of David G’s comment would keep many real Americans, including me, from moving to, living in, or even visiting Hawaii. All I read was racism at it best Hawaiian style. DMH

This is quite accurate but not all of the reasons apply to all of the islands and there are more reasons the author did not touch upon. I have lived on the Big Island for 12 years. Very reasonable real estate is available in various parts of the Big Island, Ocean View and Puna, for example, but jobs are scarce and you will need to commute about 150 miles/day for employment, if you can find it at all. Healthcare is in a crisis on the Big Island. There is a lack of specialists https://www.maxloan.org/title-loans-ms and severe and chronic shortage of GP’s. Newcomers arrive here and find no doctor will take new patients. Electrical costs are 10-20x higher than on the continent because Hawaii is the only state that generates electricity with expensive diesel. Skilled workers are scarce. Need a plumber, contractor, electrician? You will pay premium prices, if you can find one at all, for typically below average work quality. Ordinary shipping costs to the continent are crazy high. FedEx and UPS gouge Hawaiian’s with prices that are may times higher than the continent. They claim its due to remoteness but here’s a little factoid for you… San Francisco is closer to Hawaii than to NYC. Think you can rely on Amazon Prime (free shipping). You will find a high and increasing percentage of items “cannot be shipped to your location.” Ditto for Ebay. A handful of families and old timers control these islands and they are self-serving. A company spent $50M to start an interisland ferry system. One was already in operation ports were being constructed. The people and companies who transport goods interisland and have monopiles (auto dealerships, for example) banded together to lobby it to death because they don’t want Big Islander’s going to Oahu and buying and bringing back goods to the Big Island and cutting them out of the loop. Of course, they claimed it was all about the environment.