As we get ready to go back to California in a couple weeks, I just wanted to collect some of my thoughts about what I’ve learned after living in Hawaii for the last 4 months. But note, I was born and raised here so not everything is brand new to me. But I haven’t lived in my hometown for an extended time since I was 18, so there are a lot of things I’ve learned about living in Hawaii as an adult.
-I buy much much less on Amazon now and plan purchases accordingly because it takes 2 weeks to ship things here. If I can buy it in a store, for around the same price, then I’m going to take my butt to a store and buy it. Overall this is a much healthier way to shop I think, and it made me realize how much I was wasting on shipping back in California (not so much wasting money but wasting packaging and the carbon footprint of shipping individual items). I also bought a lot more unnecessary things in Cali because it was free return shipping. But this is not so in Hawaii (though if its defective it’s a free return), so I only buy what I really want here. This make me appreciate next day shipping on the mainland, but made me realise how unmindful I had been. I’m also grateful for USPS for providing the same rates of shipping even though items need to be shipped across the Pacific.
-I became a lot more mindful about wasting in general. Don’t buy something and then throw it away on an island. Also in that same vein, the Goodwill in Hawaii (especially the Kaimuki store—which is next to a rich neighborhood) is the best. Target gives Goodwill all their old stock so you can find a lot of brand new things there from Target. In general I found more new things and better quality items here than at the Goodwills in SF (except maybe when it comes to clothes, the clothing options here are not as great). Also speaking of waste, I’m surprised there aren’t better recycling option here considering we’re an island. My specific apartment building doesn’t recycle paper/cardboard, and there aren’t any city recycling bins. C’mon Hawaii, let’s not fill up our limited landfills and start recycling (or even composting!).
-I gained a ton more weight because the food is good here (or rather it’s to my taste). But worth it. Also food is expensive here, but the SF and other areas in the Bay Area are just as expensive. Although groceries here tend to be a tad more, but then again raw fish (sushi or poke) is rather cheap. It’s all relative.
-Not having daylight savings is the best. Literally nothing changed while the rest of the mainland had to “cope.”
-Having family nearby is the also best. Even though we wore masks indoors or visited them outside, having family is oh so important. And it’s especially important for Emi because you can never get enough love and adults paying attention to you when you’re small.
-Not having to live in fear of racially motivated attacks is a priceless piece of mind. Like I said before, the majority of people living here are Asian (at least 37%) so attacks against Asians are pretty much unheard of. I’m especially grateful for the melting pot that is Hawaii.
Anyway these are just some thoughts that went through my head and aren’t a complete list (like obviously being able to swim at the beach any day you want is a great perk), and this list is quite personal to my experience. But overall I just wanted to reflect and be grateful for the past four months here.