Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are plenty of islands in the Caribbean with low population a lot closer to the USA and other countries than Guam. Guam is in the middle of nowhere, 9,814 kilometers to mainland USA. That means very limited jobs and very high cost of living to bring in products from mainland. Unless you have roots in that culture or lots of money, it's expensive and you have to take a downgrade in wages. I read a gallon of milk in Guam is over $10 and I thought paying $7 in Hawaii is expensive.
I have been in Hawaii. Landing in Guam multiple times for a few hours for fuel and chow is not consider being in the real Guam. Guam has way less people, so that's a plus for me but it comes with a price.
There are plenty of islands in the Caribbean with low population a lot closer to the USA and other countries than Guam. Guam is in the middle of nowhere, 9,814 kilometers to mainland USA. That means very limited jobs and very high cost of living to bring in products from mainland. Unless you have roots in that culture or lots of money, it's expensive and you have to take a downgrade in wages. I read a gallon of milk in Guam is over $10 and I thought paying $7 in Hawaii is expensive.
I have been in Hawaii. Landing in Guam multiple times for a few hours for fuel and chow is not consider being in the real Guam. Guam has way less people, so that's a plus for me but it comes with a price.
Or unless you're military. We get taken care of pretty well out on Guam.
As for milk on Guam, I don't recall milk being $10 a gallon when I saw it as K-Mart, but I was last there in early 2019 so my memory is not the best. I wonder if those articles listing such a high price of milk on Guam use the same tactics some of these websites use to suggest that a gallon of milk in Hawaii is $8-$9. Sure, you can find some places that sell a gallon of milk for that much, but milk costs a lot less than $8-$9 a gallon in Hawaii at Walmart, Costco, Target, etc.
Or unless you're military. We get taken care of pretty well out on Guam.
As for milk on Guam, I don't recall milk being $10 a gallon when I saw it as K-Mart, but I was last there in early 2019 so my memory is not the best. I wonder if those articles listing such a high price of milk on Guam use the same tactics some of these websites use to suggest that a gallon of milk in Hawaii is $8-$9. Sure, you can find some places that sell a gallon of milk for that much, but milk costs a lot less than $8-$9 a gallon in Hawaii at Walmart, Costco, Target, etc.
That works. Unless you are military or have connection with the culture in Guam, is too far from the mainland and further from Puerto Rico for me. Nobody would visit me or hardly I will come to P.R. to visit family and friends. I would go on a long vacation in Guam but will get homesick after a few months or less. I didn't spend much time in Guam in the military. The few times we were there, it was for refueling, eating chow and be on call on the base so we couldn't get out of the base.
Guam has less people than Hawaii and Puerto Rico and that's a plus for me but just too far from anywhere that matters to me. Funny, I was raised in a tropical island but now with my age I enjoy the mountains and altitude and a place that snows in the winter to live. I sleep way better in cold weather than the humid tropical in Puerto Rico. When I visit in P.R. if there is not a working AC where I'm staying at, I will suffer.
I know people that live on a island and they love it. They just adapt with the high cost of living and live around it. I hardly drink milk in my age. I was speaking of people that have to buy milk frequently if you have children. For the cost of living I go to Numbeo. They are pretty good in comparison between cities, states and countries.
That works. Unless you are military or have connection with the culture in Guam, is too far from the mainland and further from Puerto Rico for me. Nobody would visit me or hardly I will come to P.R. to visit family and friends. I would go on a long vacation in Guam but will get homesick after a few months or less. I didn't spend much time in Guam in the military. The few times we were there, it was for refueling, eating chow and be on call on the base so we couldn't get out of the base.
Guam has less people than Hawaii and Puerto Rico and that's a plus for me but just too far from anywhere that matters to me. Funny, I was raised in a tropical island but now with my age I enjoy the mountains and altitude and a place that snows in the winter to live. I sleep way better in cold weather than the humid tropical in Puerto Rico. When I visit in P.R. if there is not a working AC where I'm staying at, I will suffer.
I know people that live on a island and they love it. They just adapt with the high cost of living and live around it. I hardly drink milk in my age. I was speaking of people that have to buy milk frequently if you have children. For the cost of living I go to Numbeo. They are pretty good in comparison between cities, states and countries.
I have to say that I really enjoyed the time I spent on Guam and could see myself living there. But when I was on Guam, I was always there in a TDY status, so stayed in Tumon at several hotels.
The main problem I would have with living on Guam is the cost of airfare there. At least coming from Hawaii, where roundtrip tickets were regularly over $3,000. That would really make people not want to visit and make it far less likely that I would regularly leave Guam. When I lived in Hawaii, having people come to visit me was expensive enough, but it was still far less expensive than the flights to Guam. Even searching flight to Guam from the east coast, I'm still finding that flights are over $2,000 roundtrip (and this is with the Covid "discount"). And it's not like many don't fly to Guam. Every flight from Hawaii to Guam (or from Guam to Hawaii) that I've ever been on has always been packed, mainly due to military and contractors flying.
Note, I got island fever shortly after moving to Hawaii, but I since came to love it and bought a place there. I hope to return there in 2022 for my next duty station.
I have to say that I really enjoyed the time I spent on Guam and could see myself living there. But when I was on Guam, I was always there in a TDY status, so stayed in Tumon at several hotels.
The main problem I would have with living on Guam is the cost of airfare there. At least coming from Hawaii, where roundtrip tickets were regularly over $3,000. That would really make people not want to visit and make it far less likely that I would regularly leave Guam. When I lived in Hawaii, having people come to visit me was expensive enough, but it was still far less expensive than the flights to Guam. Even searching flight to Guam from the east coast, I'm still finding that flights are over $2,000 roundtrip (and this is with the Covid "discount"). And it's not like many don't fly to Guam. Every flight from Hawaii to Guam (or from Guam to Hawaii) that I've ever been on has always been packed, mainly due to military and contractors flying.
Note, I got island fever shortly after moving to Hawaii, but I since came to love it and bought a place there. I hope to return there in 2022 for my next duty station.
I agree but if you have ties with the culture in Guam then it doesn't matter if its expensive or far away. Some people will make adjustments and work around that because living in Guam and the culture is the most important thing for them. I was raised in Puerto Rico but now I'm used to the Midwest and mountains and altitude. I can go back there but I have to make lots of adjustments which in my age I don't want to do. I love to visit but not to live. Visiting Puerto Rico or any place is a lot different than living there. If I have to move to P.R. by force , it will be high in the central mountains with lots of trees and greens and away from the crowd and a distance to my neighbors which I could never get in the city.
You should go. Most people I met from Guam are cool people. I have respect for the people living in the tiny islands especially in the Caribbean when I go on a cruise. It's another world from mainland.
How would you all compare Kauai to Guam? Or Oahu v Guam? We came to Kauai last year and tourism is huge right now and prices for housing are through the roof. We have been here about 7 months and island life isn’t too bad as long as we get in the ocean and remember why we’re here. But it does feel very gentrified still and wondering if Guam feels occupied by the military. I like the idea of even more Asian influence while still having English everywhere. Also, how are the schools on Guam?
How would you all compare Kauai to Guam? Or Oahu v Guam? We came to Kauai last year and tourism is huge right now and prices for housing are through the roof. We have been here about 7 months and island life isn’t too bad as long as we get in the ocean and remember why we’re here. But it does feel very gentrified still and wondering if Guam feels occupied by the military. I like the idea of even more Asian influence while still having English everywhere. Also, how are the schools on Guam?
I lived on Oahu for 3.5 years. As I've written elsewhere, Guam feels like a mini-Oahu in many ways. You have your key touristy areas that feels plenty big city, but also your less crowded, natural scenery areas. I honestly think the water scene is more beautiful on Guam than it is on Oahu. That said, Guam does feel a lot less crowded than Oahu, which may be a plus for you.
The military presence on Guam is bigger than it is on Oahu I dare say in terms of the percentage of either island that is military. But it doesn't feel any bigger (not that it feels excessively big on Oahu to me) to me, primarily because the military bases are much more spread out on Guam than on Oahu. They are (at least the main bases) quite the distance from Tumon (tourist central on Guam) and quite a bit of the population lives and many service members live on or close to base.
In terms of food, I honestly never had a problem with food on Guam. There are more than a few good spots to eat there.
He loves the weather and scenery. He prefers Guam to Hawaii (he's spent a lot of time in Hawaii). He loves the food. The cost of living is less expensive but it's still expensive. Oh well. He likes the people a lot. There are tons of Koreans in Guam, and tons of Korean food. Maybe it's the same in Hawaii, but he notices it more in Guam.
Guam has it's ups and downs. One significant down is that it is not a US state - it's a territory, and there are differences between territories and states. For instance, a resident of Guam cannot vote in a federal US election. They are not US nationals.
Military bases cover 29 percent of the island of Guam, but the main source of income is tourism, mainly from Japan. Guam has a very, very small population. The native people are Chamorros. In Hawaii, the native people are Polynesian. And military bases in Hawaii make up about 5 percent of the total land mass. In Hawaii, most of the tourists are from the United States and the second largest group is from Japan.
I've been to both. If I had to choose it would be Guam.
It felt way more laid back and chill. Almost like you're in a movie or a time warp or something. Really liked the pace of life there. I think I would like that lifestyle more.
Hawaii is crazy, contested, expensive, built up etc.
Either way you're in the middle of no where on an island in Pacific. Either way you have a long flight back to the mainland so location is irrelevant. Hawaii you have more flight options that's the main difference. But if you want to check our Asia Guam is closer.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
