Hawaii has a reputation for being expensive, and we’ve found that be true.  We definitely got sticker shock on a few items (electricity in particular), but also had a few pleasant surprises. House:  It’s hard to generalize about housing costs, but the Big Island is more expensive than most of…

Kirsten and I had a sailing lesson today and expected to just go through our normal practice for tacking, jibing, man-overboard and other basics. On the way out to sea, the 3 of us on the boat were discussing that it had been a slow year for whales (they’re generally…

Our first 6 months here were great in almost every way. I certainly had fun.  We went to the beach regularly.  Snorkeling, swimming, festivals, and exploring all parts of the island. But something was missing. Between settling into the house, getting cars, exploring our newfound world, finding another house, and…

Flash back to January 1, 2011. I woke to another new year and another year in the books.  Another year of the same old same old.  As a fellow blogger put it, it was another year having the same adventure over and over instead of a year of having a…