September 14, 2025 • 18 mins
Have you ever wondered what it's really like to live in paradise? Wonder no more as Carol takes us behind the postcard-perfect beaches of Hawaii to reveal the authentic island experience that changed her life forever.
Carol's journey began as a college exchange student at the University of Hawaii, where her perspective on travel—and life—underwent a profound transformation. Far from the Brady Bunch or Gilligan's Island vision she expected, Carol discovered a Hawaii of high-rises, diverse communities, and an infectious "aloha spirit" that slowed everything down. "People would say, 'Oh, you must be from the mainland because you walk so fast,'" she recalls with a laugh.
The episode delves into the practical realities of Hawaiian living—from the creative housing solutions needed in one of America's most expensive markets to the respectful navigation of local customs and spaces. Carol offers fascinating insights into the distinct personalities of each island: bustling Oahu with its tourist-heavy Waikiki, honeymoon-perfect Maui with its whale watching opportunities, and the Big Island with its remarkable climate diversity and more affordable real estate options. Her insider tips are invaluable—like experiencing Diamond Head at sunset during a full moon or finding the perfect boogie boarding spot at Little Beach in Maui.
Perhaps most compelling is Carol's reflection on how her Hawaii experience launched a lifetime of global adventures. Inspired by Australian travelers she met who would "travel for one or two years at a time," she developed a pattern of working in restaurants, saving money, and taking month-long international trips every six to nine months. Her parting wisdom resonates deeply: "If you want to grow as a human being, you've got to travel." Whether it makes you more grateful for home or opens your eyes to new possibilities, Carol's Hawaii story reminds us that sometimes paradise isn't just a destination—it's the beginning of a journey.
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Hosts
Carol Springer: https://www.instagram.com/carol.work.life
Kristen: https://www.instagram.com/team_wake/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hi, welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with
Kristen and Carol.
I am Kristen and I am Carol,and we're two long-term friends
with a passion for travel andadventure.
Each episode, we interviewpeople around the globe to help
us decide where to go next.
Hello, this is Carol, and sincewe have just celebrated our
(00:36):
fourth anniversary, we've beenhaving a little fun and sharing
some episodes that are moreabout us.
Last month, you heard Kristentalking about Yosemite, and this
month we are doing a partialreplay of an interview I did a
while back on the Wingin' itTravel Podcast.
In that chat I got to talkabout my time living in Hawaii
(00:57):
and how my passion for travelbegan.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Enjoy, when are you currently based?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I am in Boulder, Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Okay, you have lived in Colorado for how long?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
17 years.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So we're going to get some nice information about
that state, and in California itwas 14 years right 14 years in
California.
Yes, we're going to discussboth of those later on, but
first of all I just want totouch very quickly on early
travels.
When you grew up in the States,was there any particular trip
or maybe just a bit ofwanderlust?
You learned, maybe atuniversity or whatever that got
(01:29):
the travel stuff going inside ofyou, that you want to explore
the States, and maybeinternationally as well?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yes, my family did not travel very much.
We were campers and touredaround.
We did make a trip to Coloradowhen I was a child, like eight
years old, but we never reallytraveled much.
And then I went to Florida fora high school trip to Orlando
Disney World.
So I don't really call thattraveling, it's going to a park,
(01:55):
an amusement park, right.
But we did go to Epcot Centerso I got a little exposure there
.
But really my Wunderliststarted after I went on an
exchange program when I was incollege to the University of
Hawaii for one year and that wasamazing.
I'm like, oh my gosh, this isthe best place in the world.
I got to go, I got to come back.
So I went.
(02:15):
It was just a one-year exchange.
I finished up in Minnesota andthen I de-lined to Hawaii as
fast as I could and, workingthere, I met people from all
over the world and I met a lotof Australians that would like
travel for one or two years at atime.
I was like what, what, what is?
this thing and I didn't knowthat was possible.
How do you figure that out?
And so that's really when itall started.
(02:36):
I met a lot of flightattendants and I would start
taking little trips around theUS and the West Coast from
living in Hawaii.
And then I went to New Zealandfrom Hawaii and then I'm just
like I got to go see.
My list just got longer andlonger.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, and those Australians that you met, I mean
, what a country to start,because they have such a good
economy, right, and you can earnso much money there.
They were the first people thatI met traveling like oh, these
guys seem to be going for likesix, 12 months.
Why is it that easy?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yes, yeah, it's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I think growing up they have that culture.
Someone was telling me when Iwas living there that you know,
the big thing when they grow upis they get told to go out.
You know they're very muchencouraged to go to Europe or
America or whatever, or Asia,just to do that travel year, if
you like, or two.
They call it a walkabout orsomething oh yeah, yeah, they
walk, so they're kind ofencouraged to do that from a
very young age, which is quiteinteresting, because I
definitely wasn't same.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I wonder why that is different right, I, I was like
the wild child in my name and Ididn't even go anywhere, that
that much or that far, and Idefinitely did not go without
working.
How I managed it?
I did take a lot of trips whenI was working in restaurants in
Hawaii and I would save a bunchof money.
Then I take like a month off,do a trip, come back, work a
(03:52):
bunch.
So I went on a probably amonth-long trip every like six
to nine months and that workedout pretty well yeah, that's
cool.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Okay, and as you mentioned, hawaii, that's the
start there, so you lived thereand obviously studied there.
Did you also stay there beyondyour college years?
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yes, yes, so I did the one year in college and then
, when I graduated from college,I moved back there for two more
years.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
How easy is it to get started in Hawaii?
Because I think people frommaybe Europe probably just think
it's like a holiday destinationfor US people on the mainland.
Where are you going to go?
That's not international.
While going to Hawaii, what wasit like to settle there?
Because I'm just thinking topof mind.
I could be wrong, that industrythere would just be travel
right, or the military.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yes, I mean it was very shocking when I first went
to Hawaii seeing Waikiki.
It was like a massive downtowncity, all these skyrises and
like that's Waikiki.
I thought Waikiki was like theBrady Bunch when they lost the
idol, or it was like Gilligan'sIsland is what I envisioned, you
know, like there's realbuildings in Hawaii.
I was like shocked.
But yeah, and it's got.
(04:54):
Industry.
Military is really big there.
There's four different militarybases, I think, just on Oahu
right, and then there's sugarand pineapple farming and, you
know, mainly tourism.
That is definitely the numberone industry.
But they have like a hugegovernment.
My friend still lives there andshe does like public relations
(05:15):
work.
She's got a real job.
Ok, a real job.
Yeah, and so I mean now people,a lot of more mainlanders that
they call them there live therebecause of the remote working.
The big thing is it is crazy,crazy expensive, right.
But I remember people tellingme, like okay, look at Hawaii,
it's so expensive.
I'm like I don't know.
Like you just figure it out.
(05:36):
It's like you just get moreroommates.
You know, it never reallycrossed my mind.
I've never been very pickyabout oh, I want my own
one-bedroom apartment.
Like there's no way I canafford my own one-bedroom.
We had four people in atwo-bedroom and sometimes there
was five of us.
Some would sleep on the couchon the lanai or something, and
we were working at restaurants.
We didn't care, like we weregone all day long and I'd lived
(06:04):
with a couple flight attendantsfor a while and they're only
there 25% of the time.
So you just you just figure itout.
But we did interview a gal thatlived on Oahu in one of our
episodes and she said she had areally hard time.
She lived there with her familyand the tough part was trying
to get someone to rent to you.
Like no one would want to rent,like definitely before you get
(06:28):
there.
You can't plan ahead of time.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Because there's, I think, so many people have that
flake, or a lot of people cometo Hawaii, they rent and then
they bail.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
And so then you're sitting there with a place
vacant so you almost need like asponsor basically what she said
to kind of like say, vouch foryou, or you got to know someone
that you can live with them andthen you can maybe help take
over their lease.
Um, and I kind of.
When I moved back, I had afriend that was living there
already, that was going tofinishing up school, so I stayed
(06:57):
with her for a while and then Ijust found a roommate in an
existing apartment.
So again, I wasn't on the lease, I was just renting a room.
And then my friend that was aflight attendant and we got our
own apartment with two otherflight attendants.
So I don't remember it beinglike, oh no, I'm not eligible at
all, it's just more.
You just can't be that picky.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Right, got it.
And what's the feel like therein terms of compared to the
mainland US?
Does it feel different andwhat's the feel like there in
terms of compared?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
to the mainland US.
Does it feel different?
Oh, yes, it's so.
It's totally the aloha spirit.
Everything moves really slow.
People would say, oh, you mustbe from the mainland because you
walk so fast.
And you know, everyone justwears masks, flip-flops.
They just call them slippers,um, is that really the name?
Slippers any more?
Slippers, um.
(07:45):
And of course there's um, youknow, kind of the hawaiian lingo
that you know, but you don't.
Really it's kind ofdisrespectful to like to try to
talk gosh.
I can't remember what thelanguage is called um, but
there's like a slang, you know.
Hey, bra, you know, and likeyou like plate lunch, you know,
and it's kind of thisinteresting local language.
(08:05):
Right, it's English, obviously,yeah, you know.
So you just want to be, youknow, respectful and you know
you don't call people natives.
They're locals, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
And there's certain surf spots, you know, for the
locals and it's really thecertain parts of the island that
are very touristy and they lovethe tourists, they respect the
tourists and everyone just wantsto have fun and open arms, and
I would say that the bulk of itand.
But there's certain areas ofthe island that are kind of like
really for locals.
Only just don't go there, youknow.
(08:37):
Oh, okay, just get out of ourface.
You know, especially some ofthe surf places, especially if
it's like harsh search becauseyou have to know what you're
doing.
Some of it's like shore breakand it's really strong, and so
you can't go out there and justgoof around because you're going
to get hurt, and so that'sreally more that people get mad,
that people are just carelessand do stupid things.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Got it Okay, and Oahu is the main island where people
settle down right.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
That is the.
I believe it's the capital, butit's the biggest city.
That's where Honolulu is, yeahand so.
But there's a lot of peoplethat live on Maui.
Yeah, there's a lot of.
Most people probably live inOahu.
That's where the biggest, mostcity activities going on.
And then Kauai they call thatthe flower island.
I believe that's like the thirdno, that's probably the fourth
(09:24):
most popular.
There's some like famousvolleyball player that lives
there and just some famouspeople end up moving to Kauai
and Maui.
There's just such amazingislands.
And then the big island theycall it it's really the island
of Hawaii, which is confusing ifyou don't live there.
To say the island of Hawaii,aren't they all Hawaiian islands
?
But they don't want to reallycall it the big island anymore.
(09:47):
It's the island of Hawaii, butthat's the one with the two
volcanoes on it and it's thelargest island and that's.
If I would move back, I wouldwell it'd either be Maui,
because my husband really wantsto go to Maui, but the big
island.
You can get much better value.
I was just looking $600,000 toget a single-family home and,
(10:09):
coming from Colorado, that'scheap For a single-family home.
That's less expensive than here.
I mean, you don't have housesthat small here, but you're at
this gorgeous house with likelike a tree house.
It had an outdoor shower, highceilings, brand new kitchen,
(10:29):
like indoor outdoor living space.
Everything was spanking.
It was only one bedroom, sothat's a downfall, but it was
not too far from the beach.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Okay, I'll just retire now because the big
island, I found was a bit morerustic.
Yes, because Maui's got theclassic like honeymoon beaches.
Oahu's got some great beachesthe other side.
I went to Lanakai beach in Oahu.
That was amazing, like theopposite of Waikiki, yes, and I
was like, okay, so those twoislands are fairly doable for
(10:59):
like that idyllic island life.
But the big island, like yousaid, it's got Mauna Kea on it,
the big mountains gotobservatories at the top and you
got black sand black sandbeaches as well.
I thought, oh, this is a bitmore rustic.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
So I kind of felt like more local there yeah, and
you have all the climate so youdon't have to be hot.
You can.
You can be by the water, yeah,and be hot and surf and do all
the water sports.
Or you can go up to the country.
I mean it even snows in thewinter there, oh wow.
You can live upland and just beon a ranch or a Kona coffee
(11:30):
farm and be super rustic.
Wow, there is one part wherethe lava still flows and some
neighborhoods just got wiped outa few years ago, so some land
is really cheap right now.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
You can get $20,000.
You can buy a lot next to lava.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Yeah, yeah, but you just put to pull your car on
there or something to slip outof your van.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I don't mean when I went there, the the postcards
would order google would be thelava flowing into the sea, but
when I was there it was driedout.
But I guess, if it's stillflowing.
I guess it goes in like cycles,right, it's still like.
Now it might be flowing intothe sea, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, I went there when I was going to school and a
trip to the Volcano NationalPark and we got really close to
the volcano and we got to seelike the lava.
It was like I can't imaginethat we were that close, but we
were.
So I, but we were, because Iremember just kind of looking
over like there's could someonehave fallen in?
That's scary.
And I remember the bottom ofour shoes burned because it was
so hot.
(12:29):
It was crazy.
I mean, it was supervised.
So maybe I'm just notremembering it, it probably was
safer than that, but I rememberat night we would see the lava
go into the water.
Yes, yeah, in the daytime itjust all looked like a bunch of
steam.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
You couldn't really see anything amazing thing to
see, I'd imagine.
Uh, quite unique as well.
Uh, just to finish on hawaii.
So oahu, I've got.
Uh, I'll tell you what I didand you can maybe add to it I
done diamond head.
That's a classic trail up to aviewpoint, uh, that people seem
to do.
I went to lanakai beachobviously waikiki beach and that
was and I went to see PearlHarbor as well.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
So that's pretty much what I've done in Oahu.
Yeah, so save.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Pearl Harbor.
Anything else to add for that?
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, well, the snorkeling is just amazing and
you can snorkel in so manydifferent places and there's one
place that's really, reallypopular.
I already forgot the name.
It's on the east side of theand it's like in a cove on the
east side of the and it's likein a cove and, but it's overly
populated and I think I probablywouldn't recommend it.
(13:27):
Go to like a North Shore to gosnorkeling.
There's just so many differentsnorkeling locations there.
But the Diamond Head also thathas gotten really popular.
That's where I actually lived,on the base of Diamond Head.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Perfect place to live , and so my jog would be around
the outside of diamond head.
And that is like a littlesecret, because you can walk all
the way around diamond head andat one point I mean you're not
as high up as diamond head butyou're on the road like right
below the point and the view isout of this world.
You can see there's windsurfersall down there and the absolute
(14:04):
most magical time is, if youcan, full moon night yeah full
moon rises and the sun issetting.
at the same time, wow, it'stwilight and there's um
windsurfers, I think.
I think that sport has changedquite a bit now.
There's all those like windsailors that people do.
I can't believe this.
(14:25):
And then there's another beachjust up the road, a little bit
near the shopping center, calledAla Moana Beach Park, and that
is slightly more local, butstill a lot of tourists go there
and it's like a religiousexperience every night at sunset
.
I just absolutely love it.
The Manoa Falls that's wherethe college is.
(14:45):
There's a nice hike up there.
It gets pretty crowded, thoughI hear Everything's gotten so
much busier because my friendstill lives there.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
as I said, yeah, I was going to ask about is it
ever not busy there?
Because if Americans love goingthere and then you've got to
add on the internationaltourists, it must be crazy busy
all the time.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah.
I don't know how you can stop it, or at yeah, well, the rainy
season is like January andFebruary and so it's not going
to be as popular then and it'sstill usually warm.
But I remember once when I wasworking and it had rained for
two weeks straight, we'd maybegot like two hours of no rain.
(15:23):
I'm like these poor people likethis was their life dream to
come to Hawaii and it rains likeevery day.
So if it's a once in a lifetimeexperience, don't go during the
rainy season.
I highly recommend not to go.
And do they really have ashoulder season?
I don't know Like.
We went there just not too longago for spring break and it
wasn't that crowded yet.
(15:43):
And there's whale watching inMaui, which was amazing and
that's like January, february,march.
So you know, if you want totake a chance, go in february so
you could see the whales, andwe still saw a lot of whales in
march.
That was really amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
But that's only really in maui, it's not
everywhere yeah, I found mauiactually more expensive out of
all three when I went as atourist.
I'm not sure as local if that'sthe case, but the hostel is on
top of the hill because maui isis flat in the middle, right you
fly.
Sure it's local if that's thecase, but the hostel is on top
of the hill because Maori isflat in the middle, right you
fly in.
It's amazing to fly in.
It's like you fly in betweenthe two sort of mounds or
mountains either side.
But yeah, the hostels arenormally at the top of those.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Oh, they are Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, because they're also cheaper land up there.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, and what's kind of neat though, because of
Google and Maps now it tells youhow busy everything is.
So just try to go to thiscertain you know events or tours
or you know tourist attractionat the non-busy times.
Yeah, google wasn't that goodwhen I went, so it's got much
better.
A little treasure in.
Maui.
There's a naked beach, okay,and they have the signs clothing
(16:55):
must be worn.
So of course you know it's anaked beach because, like, why
else would they put that signthere?
But it's like McKenna Beach.
So McKenna Beach, is thisreally big beach?
But, then you walk to.
It's called Little Beach.
Okay, boogieboarding wasamazing.
It was like how it waspositioned.
There is always a perfectmellow wave, because I'm just
like a mediocre boogie boarder.
I don't like big waves, but theywere like strong enough but not
(17:18):
scary, and you were never thatfar offshore, you didn't have to
paddle that, it was pure heaven.
If you like boogie boarding.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Okay, that's a good tip.
Okay, that's cool.
If you had to give a fewsentences as to why someone
should go and travel, whetherthat's within the States or
internationally, what would yousay to that person?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
It's going to just open your eyes and it's going to
help you be more grateful.
Either it's going to be moregrateful that you live in an
amazing place because you seewhat other cultures are like, or
it's going to help youunderstand people and be more
empathetic, and it's going toopen your eyes that there's so
(17:54):
much more out there.
Yeah, just if you want to growas a human being, you got to
travel, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Fantastic.
Thanks, carol, for coming on tothe podcast.
It's been a great episode, I'velearned a lot and thanks for
being such a fun and energeticand lots of information to share
there.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, thank you.
All right, Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed the podcast, canyou please take a second and do
a quick follow of the show andrate us in your podcast app, and
, if you have a minute, we wouldreally appreciate a review.
Following and rating is thebest way to support us.
If you're on Instagram, let'sconnect.
We're at where next podcast.
(18:31):
Thanks again.
Hi, welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with
Kristen and Carol.
I am Kristen and I am Carol,and we're two long-term friends
with a passion for travel andadventure.
Each episode, we interviewpeople around the globe to help
us decide where to go next.
Hello, this is Carol, and sincewe have just celebrated our
(00:36):
fourth anniversary, we've beenhaving a little fun and sharing
some episodes that are moreabout us.
Last month, you heard Kristentalking about Yosemite, and this
month we are doing a partialreplay of an interview I did a
while back on the Wingin' itTravel Podcast.
In that chat I got to talkabout my time living in Hawaii
(00:57):
and how my passion for travelbegan.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Enjoy, when are you currently based?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I am in Boulder, Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Okay, you have lived in Colorado for how long?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
17 years.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So we're going to get some nice information about
that state, and in California itwas 14 years right 14 years in
California.
Yes, we're going to discussboth of those later on, but
first of all I just want totouch very quickly on early
travels.
When you grew up in the States,was there any particular trip
or maybe just a bit ofwanderlust?
You learned, maybe atuniversity or whatever that got
(01:29):
the travel stuff going inside ofyou, that you want to explore
the States, and maybeinternationally as well?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yes, my family did not travel very much.
We were campers and touredaround.
We did make a trip to Coloradowhen I was a child, like eight
years old, but we never reallytraveled much.
And then I went to Florida fora high school trip to Orlando
Disney World.
So I don't really call thattraveling, it's going to a park,
(01:55):
an amusement park, right.
But we did go to Epcot Centerso I got a little exposure there
.
But really my Wunderliststarted after I went on an
exchange program when I was incollege to the University of
Hawaii for one year and that wasamazing.
I'm like, oh my gosh, this isthe best place in the world.
I got to go, I got to come back.
So I went.
(02:15):
It was just a one-year exchange.
I finished up in Minnesota andthen I de-lined to Hawaii as
fast as I could and, workingthere, I met people from all
over the world and I met a lotof Australians that would like
travel for one or two years at atime.
I was like what, what, what is?
this thing and I didn't knowthat was possible.
How do you figure that out?
And so that's really when itall started.
(02:36):
I met a lot of flightattendants and I would start
taking little trips around theUS and the West Coast from
living in Hawaii.
And then I went to New Zealandfrom Hawaii and then I'm just
like I got to go see.
My list just got longer andlonger.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, and those Australians that you met, I mean
, what a country to start,because they have such a good
economy, right, and you can earnso much money there.
They were the first people thatI met traveling like oh, these
guys seem to be going for likesix, 12 months.
Why is it that easy?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yes, yeah, it's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I think growing up they have that culture.
Someone was telling me when Iwas living there that you know,
the big thing when they grow upis they get told to go out.
You know they're very muchencouraged to go to Europe or
America or whatever, or Asia,just to do that travel year, if
you like, or two.
They call it a walkabout orsomething oh yeah, yeah, they
walk, so they're kind ofencouraged to do that from a
very young age, which is quiteinteresting, because I
definitely wasn't same.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I wonder why that is different right, I, I was like
the wild child in my name and Ididn't even go anywhere, that
that much or that far, and Idefinitely did not go without
working.
How I managed it?
I did take a lot of trips whenI was working in restaurants in
Hawaii and I would save a bunchof money.
Then I take like a month off,do a trip, come back, work a
(03:52):
bunch.
So I went on a probably amonth-long trip every like six
to nine months and that workedout pretty well yeah, that's
cool.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Okay, and as you mentioned, hawaii, that's the
start there, so you lived thereand obviously studied there.
Did you also stay there beyondyour college years?
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yes, yes, so I did the one year in college and then
, when I graduated from college,I moved back there for two more
years.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
How easy is it to get started in Hawaii?
Because I think people frommaybe Europe probably just think
it's like a holiday destinationfor US people on the mainland.
Where are you going to go?
That's not international.
While going to Hawaii, what wasit like to settle there?
Because I'm just thinking topof mind.
I could be wrong, that industrythere would just be travel
right, or the military.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yes, I mean it was very shocking when I first went
to Hawaii seeing Waikiki.
It was like a massive downtowncity, all these skyrises and
like that's Waikiki.
I thought Waikiki was like theBrady Bunch when they lost the
idol, or it was like Gilligan'sIsland is what I envisioned, you
know, like there's realbuildings in Hawaii.
I was like shocked.
But yeah, and it's got.
(04:54):
Industry.
Military is really big there.
There's four different militarybases, I think, just on Oahu
right, and then there's sugarand pineapple farming and, you
know, mainly tourism.
That is definitely the numberone industry.
But they have like a hugegovernment.
My friend still lives there andshe does like public relations
(05:15):
work.
She's got a real job.
Ok, a real job.
Yeah, and so I mean now people,a lot of more mainlanders that
they call them there live therebecause of the remote working.
The big thing is it is crazy,crazy expensive, right.
But I remember people tellingme, like okay, look at Hawaii,
it's so expensive.
I'm like I don't know.
Like you just figure it out.
(05:36):
It's like you just get moreroommates.
You know, it never reallycrossed my mind.
I've never been very pickyabout oh, I want my own
one-bedroom apartment.
Like there's no way I canafford my own one-bedroom.
We had four people in atwo-bedroom and sometimes there
was five of us.
Some would sleep on the couchon the lanai or something, and
we were working at restaurants.
We didn't care, like we weregone all day long and I'd lived
(06:04):
with a couple flight attendantsfor a while and they're only
there 25% of the time.
So you just you just figure itout.
But we did interview a gal thatlived on Oahu in one of our
episodes and she said she had areally hard time.
She lived there with her familyand the tough part was trying
to get someone to rent to you.
Like no one would want to rent,like definitely before you get
(06:28):
there.
You can't plan ahead of time.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Because there's, I think, so many people have that
flake, or a lot of people cometo Hawaii, they rent and then
they bail.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
And so then you're sitting there with a place
vacant so you almost need like asponsor basically what she said
to kind of like say, vouch foryou, or you got to know someone
that you can live with them andthen you can maybe help take
over their lease.
Um, and I kind of.
When I moved back, I had afriend that was living there
already, that was going tofinishing up school, so I stayed
(06:57):
with her for a while and then Ijust found a roommate in an
existing apartment.
So again, I wasn't on the lease, I was just renting a room.
And then my friend that was aflight attendant and we got our
own apartment with two otherflight attendants.
So I don't remember it beinglike, oh no, I'm not eligible at
all, it's just more.
You just can't be that picky.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Right, got it.
And what's the feel like therein terms of compared to the
mainland US?
Does it feel different andwhat's the feel like there in
terms of compared?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
to the mainland US.
Does it feel different?
Oh, yes, it's so.
It's totally the aloha spirit.
Everything moves really slow.
People would say, oh, you mustbe from the mainland because you
walk so fast.
And you know, everyone justwears masks, flip-flops.
They just call them slippers,um, is that really the name?
Slippers any more?
Slippers, um.
(07:45):
And of course there's um, youknow, kind of the hawaiian lingo
that you know, but you don't.
Really it's kind ofdisrespectful to like to try to
talk gosh.
I can't remember what thelanguage is called um, but
there's like a slang, you know.
Hey, bra, you know, and likeyou like plate lunch, you know,
and it's kind of thisinteresting local language.
(08:05):
Right, it's English, obviously,yeah, you know.
So you just want to be, youknow, respectful and you know
you don't call people natives.
They're locals, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
And there's certain surf spots, you know, for the
locals and it's really thecertain parts of the island that
are very touristy and they lovethe tourists, they respect the
tourists and everyone just wantsto have fun and open arms, and
I would say that the bulk of itand.
But there's certain areas ofthe island that are kind of like
really for locals.
Only just don't go there, youknow.
(08:37):
Oh, okay, just get out of ourface.
You know, especially some ofthe surf places, especially if
it's like harsh search becauseyou have to know what you're
doing.
Some of it's like shore breakand it's really strong, and so
you can't go out there and justgoof around because you're going
to get hurt, and so that'sreally more that people get mad,
that people are just carelessand do stupid things.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Got it Okay, and Oahu is the main island where people
settle down right.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
That is the.
I believe it's the capital, butit's the biggest city.
That's where Honolulu is, yeahand so.
But there's a lot of peoplethat live on Maui.
Yeah, there's a lot of.
Most people probably live inOahu.
That's where the biggest, mostcity activities going on.
And then Kauai they call thatthe flower island.
I believe that's like the thirdno, that's probably the fourth
(09:24):
most popular.
There's some like famousvolleyball player that lives
there and just some famouspeople end up moving to Kauai
and Maui.
There's just such amazingislands.
And then the big island theycall it it's really the island
of Hawaii, which is confusing ifyou don't live there.
To say the island of Hawaii,aren't they all Hawaiian islands
?
But they don't want to reallycall it the big island anymore.
(09:47):
It's the island of Hawaii, butthat's the one with the two
volcanoes on it and it's thelargest island and that's.
If I would move back, I wouldwell it'd either be Maui,
because my husband really wantsto go to Maui, but the big
island.
You can get much better value.
I was just looking $600,000 toget a single-family home and,
(10:09):
coming from Colorado, that'scheap For a single-family home.
That's less expensive than here.
I mean, you don't have housesthat small here, but you're at
this gorgeous house with likelike a tree house.
It had an outdoor shower, highceilings, brand new kitchen,
(10:29):
like indoor outdoor living space.
Everything was spanking.
It was only one bedroom, sothat's a downfall, but it was
not too far from the beach.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Okay, I'll just retire now because the big
island, I found was a bit morerustic.
Yes, because Maui's got theclassic like honeymoon beaches.
Oahu's got some great beachesthe other side.
I went to Lanakai beach in Oahu.
That was amazing, like theopposite of Waikiki, yes, and I
was like, okay, so those twoislands are fairly doable for
(10:59):
like that idyllic island life.
But the big island, like yousaid, it's got Mauna Kea on it,
the big mountains gotobservatories at the top and you
got black sand black sandbeaches as well.
I thought, oh, this is a bitmore rustic.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
So I kind of felt like more local there yeah, and
you have all the climate so youdon't have to be hot.
You can.
You can be by the water, yeah,and be hot and surf and do all
the water sports.
Or you can go up to the country.
I mean it even snows in thewinter there, oh wow.
You can live upland and just beon a ranch or a Kona coffee
(11:30):
farm and be super rustic.
Wow, there is one part wherethe lava still flows and some
neighborhoods just got wiped outa few years ago, so some land
is really cheap right now.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
You can get $20,000.
You can buy a lot next to lava.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Yeah, yeah, but you just put to pull your car on
there or something to slip outof your van.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I don't mean when I went there, the the postcards
would order google would be thelava flowing into the sea, but
when I was there it was driedout.
But I guess, if it's stillflowing.
I guess it goes in like cycles,right, it's still like.
Now it might be flowing intothe sea, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, I went there when I was going to school and a
trip to the Volcano NationalPark and we got really close to
the volcano and we got to seelike the lava.
It was like I can't imaginethat we were that close, but we
were.
So I, but we were, because Iremember just kind of looking
over like there's could someonehave fallen in?
That's scary.
And I remember the bottom ofour shoes burned because it was
so hot.
(12:29):
It was crazy.
I mean, it was supervised.
So maybe I'm just notremembering it, it probably was
safer than that, but I rememberat night we would see the lava
go into the water.
Yes, yeah, in the daytime itjust all looked like a bunch of
steam.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
You couldn't really see anything amazing thing to
see, I'd imagine.
Uh, quite unique as well.
Uh, just to finish on hawaii.
So oahu, I've got.
Uh, I'll tell you what I didand you can maybe add to it I
done diamond head.
That's a classic trail up to aviewpoint, uh, that people seem
to do.
I went to lanakai beachobviously waikiki beach and that
was and I went to see PearlHarbor as well.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
So that's pretty much what I've done in Oahu.
Yeah, so save.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Pearl Harbor.
Anything else to add for that?
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, well, the snorkeling is just amazing and
you can snorkel in so manydifferent places and there's one
place that's really, reallypopular.
I already forgot the name.
It's on the east side of theand it's like in a cove on the
east side of the and it's likein a cove and, but it's overly
populated and I think I probablywouldn't recommend it.
(13:27):
Go to like a North Shore to gosnorkeling.
There's just so many differentsnorkeling locations there.
But the Diamond Head also thathas gotten really popular.
That's where I actually lived,on the base of Diamond Head.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Perfect place to live , and so my jog would be around
the outside of diamond head.
And that is like a littlesecret, because you can walk all
the way around diamond head andat one point I mean you're not
as high up as diamond head butyou're on the road like right
below the point and the view isout of this world.
You can see there's windsurfersall down there and the absolute
(14:04):
most magical time is, if youcan, full moon night yeah full
moon rises and the sun issetting.
at the same time, wow, it'stwilight and there's um
windsurfers, I think.
I think that sport has changedquite a bit now.
There's all those like windsailors that people do.
I can't believe this.
(14:25):
And then there's another beachjust up the road, a little bit
near the shopping center, calledAla Moana Beach Park, and that
is slightly more local, butstill a lot of tourists go there
and it's like a religiousexperience every night at sunset
.
I just absolutely love it.
The Manoa Falls that's wherethe college is.
(14:45):
There's a nice hike up there.
It gets pretty crowded, thoughI hear Everything's gotten so
much busier because my friendstill lives there.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
as I said, yeah, I was going to ask about is it
ever not busy there?
Because if Americans love goingthere and then you've got to
add on the internationaltourists, it must be crazy busy
all the time.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah.
I don't know how you can stop it, or at yeah, well, the rainy
season is like January andFebruary and so it's not going
to be as popular then and it'sstill usually warm.
But I remember once when I wasworking and it had rained for
two weeks straight, we'd maybegot like two hours of no rain.
(15:23):
I'm like these poor people likethis was their life dream to
come to Hawaii and it rains likeevery day.
So if it's a once in a lifetimeexperience, don't go during the
rainy season.
I highly recommend not to go.
And do they really have ashoulder season?
I don't know Like.
We went there just not too longago for spring break and it
wasn't that crowded yet.
(15:43):
And there's whale watching inMaui, which was amazing and
that's like January, february,march.
So you know, if you want totake a chance, go in february so
you could see the whales, andwe still saw a lot of whales in
march.
That was really amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
But that's only really in maui, it's not
everywhere yeah, I found mauiactually more expensive out of
all three when I went as atourist.
I'm not sure as local if that'sthe case, but the hostel is on
top of the hill because maui isis flat in the middle, right you
fly.
Sure it's local if that's thecase, but the hostel is on top
of the hill because Maori isflat in the middle, right you
fly in.
It's amazing to fly in.
It's like you fly in betweenthe two sort of mounds or
mountains either side.
But yeah, the hostels arenormally at the top of those.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Oh, they are Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, because they're also cheaper land up there.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, and what's kind of neat though, because of
Google and Maps now it tells youhow busy everything is.
So just try to go to thiscertain you know events or tours
or you know tourist attractionat the non-busy times.
Yeah, google wasn't that goodwhen I went, so it's got much
better.
A little treasure in.
Maui.
There's a naked beach, okay,and they have the signs clothing
(16:55):
must be worn.
So of course you know it's anaked beach because, like, why
else would they put that signthere?
But it's like McKenna Beach.
So McKenna Beach, is thisreally big beach?
But, then you walk to.
It's called Little Beach.
Okay, boogieboarding wasamazing.
It was like how it waspositioned.
There is always a perfectmellow wave, because I'm just
like a mediocre boogie boarder.
I don't like big waves, but theywere like strong enough but not
(17:18):
scary, and you were never thatfar offshore, you didn't have to
paddle that, it was pure heaven.
If you like boogie boarding.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Okay, that's a good tip.
Okay, that's cool.
If you had to give a fewsentences as to why someone
should go and travel, whetherthat's within the States or
internationally, what would yousay to that person?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
It's going to just open your eyes and it's going to
help you be more grateful.
Either it's going to be moregrateful that you live in an
amazing place because you seewhat other cultures are like, or
it's going to help youunderstand people and be more
empathetic, and it's going toopen your eyes that there's so
(17:54):
much more out there.
Yeah, just if you want to growas a human being, you got to
travel, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Fantastic.
Thanks, carol, for coming on tothe podcast.
It's been a great episode, I'velearned a lot and thanks for
being such a fun and energeticand lots of information to share
there.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, thank you.
All right, Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed the podcast, canyou please take a second and do
a quick follow of the show andrate us in your podcast app, and
, if you have a minute, we wouldreally appreciate a review.
Following and rating is thebest way to support us.
If you're on Instagram, let'sconnect.
We're at where next podcast.
(18:31):
Thanks again.
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