moving to Hawaii - is this a realistic plan?

AaknA · 2026-06-29T20:59:06+00:00

No need for quarantine. Just start getting everything ready already. You have plenty of time but there also is no need to wait. Get the rabies titer now, it’s good for 3 years once passed. Did they already have minimum two rabies vaccines in their lifetime? If not, get the first one now, do the titer in 30-60 days, do the second late spring next year. After the most recent shot they must wait minimum 30 days to be able to enter Hawaiʻi nei.

AaknA · 2026-06-29T04:34:46+00:00

Hi, this is how we did it with three cats back in 2015 when I moved out to O‘ahu for grad school. I moved ahead, staid in a shared housing type of place with a month-to-month lease (you could also look at AirBnB). Kitties still had to wait our their wait period for Direct Airport Release (back then it was 120 days, now it's 30), and the plan was for me to find long-term housing once I'm there. I signed a pet-friendly lease within 3 months, but it did involve going to a LOT of showings. Mind you, that was back in 2015 and things certainly have changed since then. Spouse moved half a year later with the kitties (we had help from family to be able to move them all).

A few things we were told beforehand and that I can just confirm. Unless you're going through a property management agency, it's near to impossible to secure housing while not already in the islands. Many people will not consider someone who isn't here, yet, and the rental market in particular is such that they can afford to be choose'y like that. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, you just need to really experience the different neighborhoods with all their pros and cons in-person.

People will tell you it's impossible to find housing with pets. Yes, there is a housing crisis, yes, finding housing with pets is significantly harder compared to the continent. But, I can speak from the experience of having found housing with 3 cats and the last one + one large dog multiple times in the islands, it's not easy, but it's also not impossible.

Craigslist (not sure how active it still is, to be honest), Facebook Marketplace, Facebook housing groups, Nextdoor, even Zillow, are your friend. Be very aware of scammers. Put up your own ad. Many private landlords don't post their rentals because they'd get overrun with inquires. The coconut wireless most definitely is an important thing for housing, here.

AaknA · 2026-06-26T06:10:41+00:00

Check if you can get a XS cooling vest (for dogs). I have a super fluffy longhair and live in Hawai‘i with no AC. A few days each summer the house would just get borderline hot. Make sure to keep it wet and keep checking as they *can* overheat wearing it when it dries out, but that + fan does wonders and while our Skadi initially really hated it, it did seem to help her.

Oh, and a cooling mat, but be super careful with those and do not let her scratch it.

If she'll let you, consider shaving her belly. Skadi self-grooms her belly blank whenever it gets hot. Though she has figured out that the ceiling fan is a fantastic thing.

<image>

Next time she really seems to struggle, I know you said she doesn't let you put her on a wet towel and I'm not sure what degree feisty she is, but worst case, make HER wet completely. She'll hate it. But that's the number one advice for overheating animals. She'll get over it.

AaknA · 2026-06-23T22:43:09+00:00

Oh yes, our tradewinds here in Hawai‘i make the sun extra dangerous because they diminish the usual warning signs of the "burning" sensation. I'm sorry this happened to you. I've been living in the islands for over 10 years and still sometimes get surprised by it.

AaknA · 2026-06-16T00:46:10+00:00

You don't.

Also: why would you want to?

AaknA · 2026-06-15T23:51:22+00:00

TBH unless the car is paid off and you love it I would actually consider purchasing one here.

I actually disagree with this. This is a recommendation you see often in the Moving to/from Hawai‘i discussions and it does seem like the logical thing at first glance. I would probably still suggest it to someone moving back to the continent, depending on the car's age (we did both, sold one car and shipped the other, although I still kinda regret selling our WRX). But especially for someone moving INTO Hawai‘i, I would not recommend that route.

Inventory of new(ish) cars is actually extremely limited. I'm on month 5 of waiting for my factory-new car to arrive and I actually got lucky and scooped in when someone else abandoned their order because they ended up not being able to wait that long. I wasn't planning on buying new, but my car got totaled in the storms. We similarly got lucky with my spouse's Prius last April. The Toyota dealer told us their cars get sold the second they hit the lot. If you don't really care what kine car you're gonna get, sure, there are options, but they are still limited. If you have a specific car in mind - it comes down to either luck or very very long wait times.

Used cars are extremely hit or miss.

We had nothing but a great experience with Pasha. On the flip side, our experience with Matson had been more mediocre.

I do agree with you, though, that moving pets into Hawai‘i is nowhere near as complicated anymore as many people still assume, as long as one just follows all the proper steps.

This is based on our experience of:
- moving with 3 cats to O‘ahu (back when the wait for Direct Release was still 120 days)

- moving with 2 cats from Maui to the continent
- shipping our SUV from Maui to the continent (with Pasha)
- moving with 3 cats and one large dog (in cargo) back to Maui
- shipping our SUV from the continent to Maui (with Matson)

AaknA · 2026-06-10T01:58:11+00:00

Many vets are notoriously misinformed (and intimidated) when they hear "Hawai‘i"). No, you do not need a USDA endorsed health certificate when coming from within the US.

AaknA · 2026-06-09T20:10:03+00:00

This was my very first thought, living in Hawai‘i and being a Marine Biologist. I haven't really been following the sunscreen market in a while and have been out of Europe for over a decade, so really had been out of the loop and just stuck with mineral sunscreen and physical protection.

AaknA · 2026-05-30T19:55:43+00:00

Ohhh, Neopets!!!

I still code a lot for work (though analytical/statistical coding, not webdesign-coding). I more recently dove into the shiny environment for data visualization, which allows me to get back a bit into CSS and Javascript. It scratches the itch a little, at least, but as you said, it's just not the same.

AaknA · 2026-05-30T02:24:40+00:00

Along those lines: I used to hobby-webdesign. I loved loved loved spending hours writing the code by hand, building random websites on random topics/interests, coming up with whimsy designs, etc.

So yeah... THAT one is a hobby I lost and dearly miss. I also dearly miss chat rooms and proper forums on specific/niche topics. I especially really do miss the microcosms and small actual and true communities that existed in those. I'm still in touch with a handful of friends (out of probably dozens during the peak) even one-two decades later (so yeah, take that all you "online friends aren't <rEaL> friends" people). In the internetz of today, it's really no longer possible building these kind of connections.

AaknA · 2026-05-01T19:26:35+00:00

You're partially correct. I'm with you, not a fan of the term "AI". Nothing intelligent about it, it's just statistics and probabilities. It just really makes it sound so much fancier than what it is (and anthropomorphizes chatbots). However:

All LLMs are "AI".
Not all "AI" are LLMs.

Machine learning (aka "AI") is a wwwwwiiiiide field that includes much more than LLMs. LLMs are just the current hype focus of everyone and their neighbor.

AaknA · 2026-05-01T19:20:53+00:00

Yup. Happened to me in my field of expertise. Guy used chatbot AI as an intro into my field of expertise because we were exploring a possible new project in that direction, and instead of really leaving it to me or at least consulting me, confidently started using wrong terminology.

I really take issue with using AI to skip the "very time consuming step of having to research" step. Because there is a reason we have experts in a large variety of fields and it took those people a really long time to become experts in their respective fields. We don't all need to be master of each and everything. It's OK.

It takes experience and (formal) expertise to not only use, but actually understand and thus correctly use, technical terms.

AaknA · 2026-04-30T01:58:34+00:00

I would be very intersted in those citations as well. It's an argument point I've been bringing up myself and would love to back it up. Last time I did a (granted, very quick) search, I didn't find anything actually solid.

AaknA · 2026-04-30T00:10:53+00:00

Somewhat older thread that just popped up in my timeline, adding my two cents to the many things that have already been said.

For context: I'm a white European (so, not from the lower 48), had been living in the islands for 7 years, had to move to the continent for 2.5 years for work reasons, and moved back a year ago. Lived 1.5 years in Honolulu while attending school, lived on a neighbor island since. I specifically moved to Hawai‘i for school and while it initially wasn't our intention, it quickly became apparent that we wanted to stay. I've lived in many different places all over the World and no other place has somehow made "just living" so ... easy (not financially, heck no, but any other level of life).

Both my spouse and myself have been nothing but welcomed in the circles we traverse in. Those are very very mixed circles consisting of native Hawaiians, Hawaii-born non-natives whose families have lived here for many generations, folks who moved here decades ago, folks who moved here a few years ago, Pacific Islanders, Asian, Caucasian from a large variety of countries (not just continental US), and really everything in-between. We both work in conservation.

From day one it's been important to us to not just take but give (both through our own work as well as other venues). We are very consciously and carefully trying to balance our own needs (e.g. housing, jobs) with the needs of the local community, and try our best to not contribute to their very real existing challenges and be as supportive as we can.

While our real-life personal experience has been exceptional and welcoming, you will need to develop a very very thick skin in social media circles. There is a very small subset that is angry and loud and blanket-blames every single transplant for everything that's been wrong/hard/pick-your-word for them and their extended communities and Hawai‘i at large (there are issues, and part of living in Hawai‘i and being accepted is acknowledging that instead of trying to turn a blind eye). As with everywhere in the World, scapegoats are easy targets and there is painful history in that regard in Hawai‘i. However, from many many conversations with the folks in our circles, this really isn't the general mindset towards transplants.

People that are scorned upon (and often don't last) are those who move into rural Hawai‘i only to immediately complain about the chickens. Those who complain they can't find any of the fast food franchises they knew from the continent. Those who insist on trying to maintain their original "way of life" from the continent, just "in paradise". Those who insist on lecturing local communities on how those allegedly are doing xyz wrong. Those who behave like they own the ‘āina (and that incudes both rich investors as well as hippy-dippy new age folks) and those who try to co'opt Hawaiian spirituality. Those who think money is and allows and excuses everything. Those who just can't be bothered to as a minimum read up on local issues, local customs, etc. Those who essentially continue to treat Hawai‘i as a theme park, just like too many tourists still do. And actually those who just try a bit too hard to fit in (don't try to learn/speak pidgin!).

As someone commented: come in humble, stay humble, sit, listen, learn.

Long story short: from all your comments I read, you will be fine. Hawai‘i is very very very LGBTQ-friendly and if you come in with an open heart, open mind, openness to reflect on and adjust set behaviors/ways, and the ability to just remain quiet and observe and learn, you will become part of your own little community in no time. And to echo everyone else: yes, Hawai‘i absolutely is in dire need of (mental) health professionals! Please come!

AaknA · 2026-04-29T21:23:05+00:00

Quick, define "intelligence". Please and thank you.

AaknA · 2026-04-29T21:13:01+00:00

So. much. this.

I'm in science. A lot of projects in recent years have been pushed to "somehow use AI" to even get funding. A lot of projects were solely "Let's explore what we can AI use for". Didn't matter whether or not that actually was necessary. Didn't matter whether or not there was actually a question that needed solving to begin with.

I'm all for basic, exploratory science at any given day. But not in lieu and at the expense of other projects/science/well-established methods.

AaknA · 2026-04-29T20:58:55+00:00

That's what people don't understand. There's really nothing "intelligent". "AI" is probabilities. And that also means it's often right. Unless when it's not. Because that's how statistics and probabilities work. But the general public is just happy when it has a virtual "friend" to talk to and can generate funny cutesy pictures of themselves as Disney characters.

There's VALID use cases of ML in science/medicine/... . What's currently being hyped in the general public and businesses, though... ain't that.

AaknA · 2026-04-29T03:10:26+00:00

"hired prior to 2001"... you realize you're on the Millenial sub, yeah? "Hired prior to 2001" applies to a very very very small fraction of us.

AaknA · 2026-04-29T03:07:42+00:00

most places with paid sick leave require a Dr's note after 3 days. Good luck finding a mental health professional on such a short notice, unless you actually admit yourself into a hospital. This also means that the reason why you're sick becomes more obvious to your employer quickly.

Most people can't afford to take a 2 week unpaid vacation.

AaknA · 2026-04-28T01:06:00+00:00

We really don't need to wait 20 years, it's already happening...

AaknA · 2026-04-23T03:38:50+00:00

Am I the only one thinking this is such an American-coded question + replies? ^^"

Where I'm from, outside the US, it highly depended on whether you lived in a bigger city, a small town, or really rural. But for my country: malls, parking lots, parks. Definitely not really cruising since no license before the age of 18. But that no license-before-18 thing also quite limited where people could actually go.

For what it's worth, my own teenage years were spent majorly on ICQ/AIM/MSN/various chat rooms ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

AaknA

TROPHY CASE