September 27, 2011
Today we boarded a plane in LAX and flew one-way to Oahu, Hawaii. We’ve been pondering for months where to get an apartment. It’s harder to decide when your options seem unlimited. High on our list was the San Francisco bay area, but at some point the spark for moving there died and was replaced with the excitement of moving to Hawaii. I’ve always wanted to live in Hawaii at some point. We’ve also toyed with moving to Singapore or somewhere else in Asia, but there are lots more logistics to sort out, like how to get a visa to live there while working. So we opted for Hawaii, as a stepping stone, to someday moving to Asia. And there will always be California. We know in the long run we’ll always end up back in California.
But for now, while we’re young and unattached to any particular place- we’ve moved to paradise! With most of our belongings still in storage and no mortgage or other commitment to tie us to CA, we were in a wonderful position to move anywhere! And the fact that George can work anywhere with internet connection makes it all possible.
My bags are packed, I’m ready to go…
As we sat on the couch in the early morning waiting for Olivia to give us a ride to the airport, we figured we ought to snap a photo of our luggage. As checked luggage we brought our two silver suitcases and backpacking backpack (pictured in a black duffel bag in the corner). We also each brought a small backpack and bag as our carry-on and personal item. Oh, and my sun hat too! Our bags were bursting at the seams and even our carry-ons were super heavy to carry through the airport. We wouldn’t usually travel with this much luggage, we only brought this much since we were moving. On our last long trip all we took were our backpacking backpack and two small backpacks. Most of our belongings are still packed away in storage, so we only brought clothes, toiletries, and electronics. We figured we can get whatever else we need when we get there!
We arrived in Honolulu at 1pm, but that felt like 4pm to us. Once we got our rental car and checked into our hotel we were ready for lunch! We walked out to Kuhio Avenue to see what we could find and stumbled upon Puka Dog, which we had seen in an Anthony Bourdain episode. Puka Dog it was! There are all sorts of flavor combinations to choose from like lilikoi mustard with mango or coconut relish. I really liked it, but it was a bit sweet for George’s taste. The price is a bit high, so it probably won’t be a regular place for us, but it would be a fun place to take visitors.
We had lots to do to get ready for our apartment hunting, like calling to confirm appointments and checking padmapper.com for new listings, but we still made it out to the beach for our first sunset in Waikiki.
And now we begin a new chapter in our lives, living in the Waikiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii…