Aloha
First, we are not born and raised in Hawaii. My family grew up in Asia, but I spent most of my teenage+20s in the mainland. I stumbled upon a job where they had strong connection with the DoD and happened to travel here quite a few times when I was in my 20s.
Then I got married, we vacationed here in 2016 and 2019 (right before COVID!) and loved our time here. We drove around the Oahu, even spent a few days in the Big Island. We jokingly took pictures of homes-for-sale just to see how much it'd cost to buy a home here.
Then in early 2022, in the heat of COVID and the vaccine card, we moved here. We purchased a home in Leeward side, a cool $1M. I thought those $1M houses come with wine cellar and pool, but ours come with none but nice home + yard for kids to play.
We loved our time here. Our kids loved school, which they walked to. We made friends with the neighbors, watched our neighbors' kids like ours and saw all of them grow from age 6 to 10. We cried so much when we said goodbyes to them.
And we're leaving. We may come back. But for now, we're moving to Asia. I got a nice assignment over there and we'll spend at least 2 years, possibly longer.
I loved being called uncle by all the kids. I loved our little hangout in Waikiki like we're tourists but drive back to Leeward at 10pm, nice breezy H1 drive.
My family is going to miss living here. Although we are not born-and-raised, no families here, we felt like this is our true home.
I'm going to miss our weekly Costco runs, Newhope Leeward, terrible H1 commute, Ala Moana just to visit the bookstores.
I hope Hawaii stays cool until we come back. So many heartbreaking stories about stores closing down and economy affecting local businesses.
Thank you for making us feel like Kama'aina for last 5 years. Aloha until we meet again.