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Racial tensions as a non-local asian or mixed-asian tend to be much lower, especially multi-gen coming from CA in my experience. It's not necessarily always the color of your skin though but your attitude and personality coming from the mainland.
I rarely encounter overt racism but I am 68 so it might be due to age. Sometimes I will get the cold shoulder, or hostile stares but not much more than that.
The people who seem to settle in and stay here are those with a passion for ocean sports. Or possibly golf. There has to be some draw for you to be here other than the exotic (which wears off quickly) or the beauty. It can be a challenging place to live, especially if you are single and don't have a career established yet.
We came here because my wife has family here and I like to surf, paddle, and windsurf. We love it and are staying.
Racial tensions as a non-local asian or mixed-asian tend to be much lower, especially multi-gen coming from CA in my experience. It's not necessarily always the color of your skin though but your attitude and personality coming from the mainland.
I find this to be the most true.
It seems to me, that a lot of the people that move here from the mainland, because they are charmed by "the aloha spirit", fail to ever really adopt and project that very spirit. The "aloha spirit" is something that is reflected in every little thing you do. It is at the root of your behavior. It is NOT saying "aloha" or "mahalo" or wearing flowered shirts and flip flops.
This is the frustration of those who have lived here all of there life, and have to endure an onslaught of societal dilution and cultural exploitation.
Sorry if my post will ruffle some feathers, just sharing my honest personal opinion, please don't get offended. Again, just my own singular personal opinion.
10 years ago it was a paradise I wanted to settle in one day. Everyone said "don't move before you visit it many times and live in it temporarily for a while". I followed this advice.
After 10+ years of month long vacations (at least 3 weeks, so that you don't count days but rather feel like you're actually living there) I have a different view of Hawaii and my favorite spot in it, Maui.
Now it's the last place I ever want to end up living.
it's insane how fast your opinion changes once the novelty of things wear off and you see things clearly.
I find Hawaian nature to be kind of ugly now. Once you get past the palm trees, you see that everything is an overgrown mess. Landscaping doesn't exist. Some 5-star hotels try to keep it neat, and somewhat succeed. But on our last vacation I realized how ugly the island looks, it's just a pile of vegetative trash basically. Everywhere the same. No nice neighborhoods, even ones with expensive homes look no better than ones that look like mobile home parks. Nature has a way of equalizing everything on Hawaii. Trees, bushes, flowers... once the novelty wears off... are no more special than any other tree/bush/flower anywhere in the world. Arriving back in PNW felt like a breath of clean air. I couldn't get enough of pine trees and clean cut grass lawn in my neighborhood for over a month! When I remember what Hawaii looks like I appreciate even the worst parts of my city!
I do appreciate the cliffs and shores. But nothing in between them.
Food is unremarkable. Nothing you can't find on mainland. We stopped going to restaurants after a few vacations. All that Aloha/Mahalo spirit culture got old pretty quick, I find it annoying but it seems like there's less of that too recently, definitely not as in your face as it used to be 10 years ago, or maybe we're just not paying attention anymore? Anyway, it's easy to ignore if you're a tourist and not trying to even pretend to participate. Being polite and respectful is enough, like anywhere else.
Locals... well, we stay away from them as far as possible. We made some friends with people who live on the island, so... the stories are interesting, lets put it that way. Fake hospitality smiles not gonna fool anyone. I would never want to work with locals for sure. I woudn't feel safe.
Ocean is nice. The place attached to it is not really, but it's the only choice to enjoy said ocean in the US if you live on the west coast. Having explored all the islands thoroughly during our first several visits, recently we're been strictly hotel<->beach. Driving around the island the last time made me realize I like nothing about the island anymore. Nothing. Just the beaches. And hotels.
Anyway, it may sound like I hate it but I don't. I just don't care about it anymore. Still the best and only destination for a relaxing vacation on the beach. If someone yanked those beaches and hotels and placed them in the ghettoest part of my town I'd probably not even notice the difference.
Sorry if my post will ruffle some feathers, just sharing my honest personal opinion, please don't get offended. Again, just my own singular personal opinion...
....I find Hawaian nature to be kind of ugly now. Once you get past the palm trees, you see that everything is an overgrown mess. Landscaping doesn't exist. Some 5-star hotels try to keep it neat, and somewhat succeed. But on our last vacation I realized how ugly the island looks, it's just a pile of vegetative trash basically. Everywhere the same..
My opinion is that this is a very peculiar view of both the natural and artificial Hawaiian habitats.
I find Hawaian nature to be kind of ugly now. Once you get past the palm trees, you see that everything is an overgrown mess. Landscaping doesn't exist. Some 5-star hotels try to keep it neat, and somewhat succeed. But on our last vacation I realized how ugly the island looks, it's just a pile of vegetative trash basically. Everywhere the same. No nice neighborhoods, even ones with expensive homes look no better than ones that look like mobile home parks. Nature has a way of equalizing everything on Hawaii. Trees, bushes, flowers... once the novelty wears off... are no more special than any other tree/bush/flower anywhere in the world.
No offense taken. Different strokes for different folks. It's hard to tell if you're only talking about nature around developed areas or the entire island. But yes Hawaii is rundown in many places and often the touristy areas are the nicer areas. Beauty can be found anywhere and there are many stunning, but different, places across the US, not just Hawaii. People can get jaded over time, to me it's just home. I've gotten so many comments from mainlanders mindblown that I'm from Hawaii, how amazing it must be, how beautiful it is, etc. and it gets old. Yet I still get a kick out of seeing snow. But you're right about the novelty aspect, there certainly can be a honeymoon period. That's why visiting is very different than living here. It's easy to overlook things while on vacation.
I don't live in Hawaii and I've never lived in California. If its a warm, coastal life that you're looking for then there are plenty of other options that might scratch that itch.
Bermuda is basically impossible to emigrate to but you could consider
The Gulf coast
Pensacola, Galveston, Gulf Shores, Clearwater/Tampa, Fort Meyers, the keys
The Caribbean
Puerto Rico, USVI, BVI, Caymans
There are also a few Atlantic coast towns that are nice, but they do not stay warm year round... a
Tybee Island, Charleston, Hilton Head
Based on the feedback above, I think that a small to medium sized town in Florida would probably be a good compromise between a tropical lifestyle, not leaving the country, and access to experiences/friends/opportunity/education for your kids.
Keep in mind that California can also offer such amenities, but you seem eager to leave CA.
There are a lot of small coastal towns that no one (outside of FL, AL, or LA) have ever heard of. Perhaps you could live in one that is still in the metro of a big city. I'd look hard at Fort Meyers area, Savannah area, and Hilton Head areas with a special eye out (on the map) for less famous places like Port Charlotte or Bradenton, etc.
Sorry if my post will ruffle some feathers, just sharing my honest personal opinion, please don't get offended. Again, just my own singular personal opinion.
10 years ago it was a paradise I wanted to settle in one day. Everyone said "don't move before you visit it many times and live in it temporarily for a while". I followed this advice.
After 10+ years of month long vacations (at least 3 weeks, so that you don't count days but rather feel like you're actually living there) I have a different view of Hawaii and my favorite spot in it, Maui.
Now it's the last place I ever want to end up living.
it's insane how fast your opinion changes once the novelty of things wear off and you see things clearly.
I find Hawaian nature to be kind of ugly now. Once you get past the palm trees, you see that everything is an overgrown mess. Landscaping doesn't exist. Some 5-star hotels try to keep it neat, and somewhat succeed. But on our last vacation I realized how ugly the island looks, it's just a pile of vegetative trash basically. Everywhere the same. No nice neighborhoods, even ones with expensive homes look no better than ones that look like mobile home parks. Nature has a way of equalizing everything on Hawaii. Trees, bushes, flowers... once the novelty wears off... are no more special than any other tree/bush/flower anywhere in the world. Arriving back in PNW felt like a breath of clean air. I couldn't get enough of pine trees and clean cut grass lawn in my neighborhood for over a month! When I remember what Hawaii looks like I appreciate even the worst parts of my city!
I do appreciate the cliffs and shores. But nothing in between them.
Food is unremarkable. Nothing you can't find on mainland. We stopped going to restaurants after a few vacations. All that Aloha/Mahalo spirit culture got old pretty quick, I find it annoying but it seems like there's less of that too recently, definitely not as in your face as it used to be 10 years ago, or maybe we're just not paying attention anymore? Anyway, it's easy to ignore if you're a tourist and not trying to even pretend to participate. Being polite and respectful is enough, like anywhere else.
Locals... well, we stay away from them as far as possible. We made some friends with people who live on the island, so... the stories are interesting, lets put it that way. Fake hospitality smiles not gonna fool anyone. I would never want to work with locals for sure. I woudn't feel safe.
Ocean is nice. The place attached to it is not really, but it's the only choice to enjoy said ocean in the US if you live on the west coast. Having explored all the islands thoroughly during our first several visits, recently we're been strictly hotel<->beach. Driving around the island the last time made me realize I like nothing about the island anymore. Nothing. Just the beaches. And hotels.
Anyway, it may sound like I hate it but I don't. I just don't care about it anymore. Still the best and only destination for a relaxing vacation on the beach. If someone yanked those beaches and hotels and placed them in the ghettoest part of my town I'd probably not even notice the difference.
I tend to agree. I follow a videographer out of Kula and everything looks run down and smack of "give a damn" syndrome. No pride, no tidiness, just erosion and complacency. Depressing.
Mounty, I appreciate your honest personal opinion. Everyone has their own preferences! I like overgrown vegetation and find areas that one person might describe as run down to be part of an area's charm; I find the manicured suburban area in which I live to be a little too sterile for my personal preference.
Tarzanman, thank you for your recommendations. We are researching a lot right now - we are looking at Florida and the Caribbean locations you mentioned, some of which were already on our list. I do agree Florida is a more reasonable choice, though we dislike the fact that all property close to the ocean seems to be at sea level - we want to be up a bit higher. We have been to Florida to scope out a few areas and didn't find anything extremely appealing but then again Florida is huge and we weren't able to see much. I'll look into the towns you mentioned, thank you!
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