We’re back in beloved Hawaii. We came back a few weeks early so that we could find a home before K started working. Five days later and eight rentals visited we’re, as the English say, knackered.
Last year, the first place we visited ended up being our home for nine months. It was such a great experience–in some ways the best home K and I have ever had together. We thought that this time around it would be an even easier process.
Not so.
We’ve visited a pole houses five miles up a mountain, condos in gated communities, a sweet little beach house on Lanikai; and an A-frame on lush Kaneohe bay. Each place was lovely on one hand and completely not right on the other.
We see our time here as an opportunity to really live a happy life. Manhattan is so rough, so challenging–it’s like living in a game show. But it’s our home and probably where we’ll live for many years to come. In contrast, we want to treat our limited time here in Hawaii as a real experience with as little compromises as possible.
It’s been an adventure. We’ve met such a range of people. One lovely woman let us drink beers on her lanai and then handed us fluffy towels so that we could take advantage of their private beach access. Another woman took a break from her store to show us her home for rent and then left us there with instructions to enjoy the space. One woman told me, when I politely said we were going to keep looking, that I could call her anytime to chat if I needed a girlfriend on the island.
Remarkable.
Even more remarkable is that K and I have no place to show for it. For now we remain in a hotel using baby bottles of shampoo and conditioner, eating at restaurants for every meal, and occasionally reminding one another that wherever we are together is home.
Three One Nine 