Aloha! We are Connie & Tina and we are a couple that relocated from San Diego, CA to the island of Oahu. It was always a dream of ours to live in Hawaii together. Our journey of getting here was not easy! We talked about it for many years before actually making the move.
How We Got Here
Both Connie and I have lived in San Diego for many years. We lived in our last apartment for 10 years and realized we were in a major rut. Each day was the same; work, home, dinner, sleep, repeat.
Many times on the weekends, we’d spend the entire time at home. Our excitement for being out and about was gone and although we’d spend time talking about living on Oahu, there was fear on my (Tina) part to actually make the move.
Thank You Crappy Neighbors!
Then one day, our world became super uncomfortable. Our apartment was on the second floor and some new neighbors moved below us. The apartment building that we lived in was really old.
We could hear all types of noise from the other apartments around us. When you live in an apartment, it comes with the territory. However, it was our new neighbor’s very first apartment and so they complained about us walking in our own apartment!
They complained that they could hear the floors creak; something that we had no control over. We also had two cats at the time and one was a kitten that had the zoomies every morning. They complained that they could hear our kitten running around.
One time they even yelled and banged on the ceiling. Needless to say, Connie and I were both extremely uncomfortable. It was like walking on eggshells in our own home. We complained to management and nothing could be done.
We decided it was time to move. While the neighbors sucked, it was because of them that our journey to Oahu began, so thanks crappy neighbors!
2 – 3 Times the Rent
Since we lived in our apartment for so long, we had no idea how much the housing market changed. We began searching for a new apartment but everywhere we looked required that we make 2 to 3 times the yearly rent. 🙁
If you are from San Diego, you know that the rents are out of control! The average one-bedroom apartment was going for around $2,400 a month! We simply couldn’t stay in our apartment any longer.
I came up with the idea of RV living. Connie always wanted to live the RV life and I thought it was a great way to be free of the high rents and save money.
RV Living (Yikes!)
We bought an RV and it turned out to be a miserable experience for me (Tina.) Connie didn’t mind it at all but I disliked everything about it.
I worked from home and Connie had a full-time job so it wasn’t possible to visit different campgrounds. On top of that, the gas prices were rising and the price of RV campgrounds was expensive as well.
We ended up parked in my parent’s driveway and each day became more miserable than the next for me. Summer was approaching and the RV got hot! I stressed about keeping our cat cool and tried to figure out ways to keep the RV cool.
Running the AC was only partly helpful and it was expensive. I also loathed showering in the tiny RV bathroom. Since we didn’t have a water hookup, we had to conserve the water in our tank. Speaking of which, we had to dump the grey and black tanks each week and fill up our water tank with potable water.
I felt like we made a big mistake and it took a toll on our relationship. We began arguing and I felt like there was no way out.
Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.
One evening while we were sitting at the dining table in the RV, we were talking and the show Doogie Kamealoha was playing on the tv. If you’re not familiar with the show, it is on Disney+ and is based on Oahu.
I said to Connie, “If I could snap my fingers and move us anywhere, it would be there.” Connie stood up and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.
She began hashing out the steps we would need to take to move to Oahu. After all of the years of talking about it in our old apartment, I always felt as if it were impossible.
However, after living in the RV, I was losing hope about everything. As she began writing out each step, it was giving me hope.
After the list was completed, I felt like we could really do it. We immediately began taking action. One of the first things on the list was finding employment.
As we began taking action, things began falling into place. Connie got a job offer in Oahu within a week of making out the list.
We couldn’t believe it! Other steps included finding an apartment and preparing our cat for the move. While some things were bumpy, it all still worked out.
Then finally, the RV. We tried to sell it but we were working with a small time frame and it was difficult. Then we found an RV rental company that rented out RVs and split the revenue with RV owners.
Our Journey Continues
Now that we are in Oahu, we know our journey continues. One thing that I’ve learned from the process is to take action and have faith.
Also, be flexible, or to quote Bruce Lee, “Be water, my friend.” (one of Connie’s favorite quotes 🙂 )
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Thanks for reading this far!