Ok, it’s not ALL about the Benjamins, but no money, no adventure.
Wanting to go do something crazy was fairly easy for Kirsten and me. Virtually all of our struggles have been with how to pull it off. While we are dreamers, we’re also pretty harshly realistic about things.
As we evaluated all the fun and exotic opportunities, the first order of business was figuring out how to pay the bills. Seeing as how neither Kirsten or I run a location-independent business, we put a lot of thought into the ability to work.
When we looked at Hawaii, the only realistic option to work there was the island of Oahu. It has a large city, Honolulu, with a significant commercial base.
The island of Hawaii is significantly more rural, and professional jobs are nonexistent.
That left us with a dilemma, as we didn’t really want to head to Oahu, but I wasn’t going to be able to find a good job on Hawaii.
Luckily, I was able to arrive at a deal with my current company to work part-time. This turned out to be a win-win situation, as the company keeps my experience and involvement, while I have a revenue base for stability. We’re also working on some really cool things at the company and I’ll be able to see those efforts through.
I’m planning to capitalize on my additional time availability by launching a new business. (Details to come – stay tuned).
In addition, Kirsten and I are pursuing contract work opportunities. With Kirsten’s database & software development experience and my background in marketing analysis, we’re lucky to have options for remote work. The ability to help both mainland and local companies should increase our options significantly.
If we were completely dependent on those new opportunities, our decision to go would have been a lot harder.
It’s certainly a squeeze as it stands now, but life in paradise is worth the risk of eating ramen and spam!
Photo By yomanimus