The number one question I get asked when I tell someone I grew up in Hawai’i is, “Why would you ever leave?!” or “Why would you move here?!”; it’s honestly annoying repeating myself every time because it’s not just pineapples and coconut trees.
The number one reason I moved to Colorado was to attend college for Architecture School; University of Colorado Denver was 1 of 5 colleges I applied to when I was a senior in high school. I chose to come to Denver because my college was a part of the WUE Program which allowed me and my family to pay significantly less tuition than an out of state resident who was to attend.
I think the reason why I fell in love with Colorado so quickly was that everything I needed was within walking distance. I have a shirt from my college that says “the city is your campus” and I would also like to add, the city is my playground! Since I’ve lived in three different apartment complexes and one student housing all in downtown Denver, I have always been in walking distance to school, restaurants, work, and events happening down at the capitol.
If I still lived in Hawai’i, I would need a car and honestly I don’t want to deal with the maintenance of owning a car (and the price tag) and I would still feel so trapped. A lot of people joke around about living on “a rock” and it’s SO true! I feel so restricted and limited to things to do! As much as I love Hawai’i, living in Colorado has so many opportunities!
I am so lucky to have been able to meet up with my friend from Germany in Boston, road-trip with my friends to New Mexico and take a vacation to California with my partner all within six months because airfare is SIGNIFICANTLY less when you’re only flying for a few hours and it takes at least five hours to fly from Hawaii to California!
Since Hawai’i is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with not very much natural resources on hand, and land is also very scarce, food, gas, and living are also very expensive compared to other states. A lot of items and produce need to be imported to the islands and that is why the price for goods are more expensive. Eggs and milk are almost double the price I would pay in Colorado!
Hawai’i will always be home for me and I am so thankful I was able to experience the most stunning sunsets and sunrises, experience such a unique culture and enjoy the best kinds of food such as Highway Inn, Sumo Ramen, 7/11 spam musubi and acai bowls after a day of swimming until I literally couldn’t swim anymore. As much as I miss it all, I had it for 17 years and I think I took more than enough advantage of it and now I’m more interested in traveling and seeing what the world has to offer because it’s too damn big for me to spend it just on an island.
I will always return to Hawai’i to see friends and families but my residence is in Colorado where I’m able to have everything so conveniently close and be able to travel so far!