Here is an interesting letter I got through email – from a 19 year old guy that seems smitten with Hawaii, he’s taking Hawaiian language class for god’s sake! I love getting email from young people – and 19 is quite young to be thinking so intensely about moving to and living in Hawaii!

I wish more young people would think about making the move out to the islands. Living on Oahu especially, can give a person an exposure to such a wide variety of people and culture – that I’d actually consider it worth it – even if you ‘fail’, and need to return to wherever you came from. Developing a good ‘world-view’ is so important I think. Hawaii is one such place you’ll be exposed to more cultural diversity than you could have imagined.

So, below is his email and my reply follows. If you also want to go live in Hawaii – send me email and tell me as much as possible about your situation and what you would like to have when you move. I’ll do my best to help you in an article like this one.

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Aloha Peter,

I’m going to try my best to make this interesting. About 6 months ago, my teacher gave us an assignment, she asked us what we would do with 5 million dollars, I am that sort of person who would of course think real hard and not just put down rubbish like, “i would buy a golden boat, and some female company.” You know what I mean.

So I started to write, with no plan nor any idea what I would do with 5 million dollars, I thought while I was writing, 5 million dollars might be my whole life’s worth – you know, like how much I might make before I die. So I started to write about how I would live my life, I wanted to live simply. I am a very chilled back person who knows the cost of money and what it can really get ya.

I start to think about the things I had written down. I wrote things like; fishing, local shopping, broke down car, average house, family man, decent job and walking, I love walking. I start to think of places where this dream would be perfect for me. I was thinking of places like northen New York, or Wyoming (I know, Wyoming!?) and other places. One place that I never thought about being an option was in fact Hawaii. I never even considered it as a state when I was naming the states, perhaps because I thought it was a giant hotel, type of thing. lol. Then when my friends pointed out that I didn’t name Hawaii, it started to bug me. I started to think about why I don’t know more about this state other than Lilo & Stich (children’s cartoon, i used to watch as a kid). I started to do a lot of research, I mean a lot, and I will buy your book, because now I am obsessed with the topic of Hawaii.

Hawaii is me in a nutshell, its everything I could possibly ever imagine me having. I know how the cost of living is really high, and for most people, including my mother and sister, is a instant turn off. I believe I could live a really simple lifestyle, and breath in the aloha spirit that is Hawaii. I’m taking some classes to learn the Hawaiian language, even though it is now an endangered language, but I feel like I have been born in the wrong part of the world and I need to catch up. I don’t want to be that person who moves there for the view, and all that stuff, I want to indulge in the Hawaiian culture, I want to make friends with as many people as possible, I want to be involved with the community, I want to eat the native foods, I want transform my stressful fast paced life and slow down enjoy the beauty, start up a family in Hawaii after I move, and be happy.

I am 19 right now, and I’m about to go to college. I’m going to college to be a computer engineer. The reason why I’m emailing you today is because I feel like I cannot get enough information about this place, I spend every waking moment thinking about it, and I just want to know everything you can tell me about it that would help me, both negative and positive.

I been looking at how much money I would be making as a computer engineer in hawaii, and thats about $68,000 a year. I wanted to know if thats good money for hawaii, and I am willing to sacrifice a lot of things i am comfortable with now, because I live on this planet once, and I want to spend it some where absolutely worth my life, I don’t like it here in central New York, nor do I like it in Washington, no where seems perfect for my nature type.

Any information for my situation would be much appreciated. And I hope you have a great day. And apologies if this was difficult to read, I’m not a author by any means, computers and tech is my thing, not words. Thanks again.

– Michael Fiscus

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Wow Michael, that is some letter. I loved it, by the way. I wish more young people would realize early on that they want to move to Hawaii – and start planning to make that happen. Seems like you’re on the way to getting there. I guess you are talking about after you get your degree. You have a lot of time to go, and the world could change quite a bit in 3-4 years. I think most of the information in the “Moving to Hawaii 2012” book will still be relevant in a few years, but who’s to say?

My first advice, since you say you can’t get enough good information about the topic – is to read the book. I think there are 130 pages of information there. When you’re done reading the book, go to AimforAwesome.com and hit the “All Hawaii Articles” link at the top of the page, or click that link to the left.

When you’re done, there are many more posts I haven’t updated on that page yet – that relate to living in Hawaii over on the right side in “Recent Articles” section. Read those too.

When you are done with all that – have a look at other blogs and websites that talk about living in the islands. City-data has a forum where people in Hawaii give advice (sometimes not great advice!) about living in Hawaii. Read forums. Find Facebook groups in Hawaii and ask questions.

See my 4 videos you can find at Youtube – “Moving to Hawaii 2011”. The info comes from an earlier version of the 2012 book, and covers all the chapters in that book. I tell about Hawaii off the cuff – and the ifno is slightly different from the book. Maybe it will help some.

To answer your inquiry about money – yes, you can live on $68K per year in Hawaii – any island. You can probably live as a single guy on $40,000 per year and still be loving it. Be careful with food and going out – the two giant expenses in Hawaii besides rent. Since you have some time, put some effort into courting young, beautiful, available, Japanese girls with obscenely rich parents. That way you’ll be able to have a house in Hawaii someday, not just living out of a rental apartment. Otherwise it’s going to be a long-haul!

I grew up in western Pennsylvania. I understand that, if you’re living in central NY – you are ready to break out and see the world. I say, GO FOR IT, and don’t let anything stop you. You seem to be on a 3-4 year plan, so there is plenty of time to work it out. Grab a job while going to university, so you can have some savings to use when you move. Better yet, visit the islands after a year or two – and see if it’s what you thought it would be. People’s expectations are sometimes a bit twisted. Visiting Hawaii first, before moving there, straightens it all out for you.

Best of luck Michael, and let me know when you decide to move, or after you go for a vacation and see Hawaii for the first time. I’d be interested in hearing your take on it.

Aloha,

Vern