Congrats, that sounds like a dream come true to me!
My husband & I got married on the beach in Kona (the Big Island) and it's lovely! The active volcano on the Hilo side was great, we stayed in a private rental that was lovely (called Fern Cottage I think). If you are a diver, there is something called a blackwater dive that is easily the coolest thing ever! If you are not, make sure to go snorkeling, the fishes are incredible and the water is so pretty.

What a wonderful husband you have!

I agree with the visitors.... When I got married, we moved to live in Laredo, TX. A lot of people in Mexico like to go shopping in the US, so I also had a lot of visitors come out of the woodwork to stay at my home and that wanted me to go to mall or stores with them, all day long!

I used to spend all available business hours shopping as well, but ever since then, I cannot manage to spend a couple of hours at a mall anymore.

Oh, and congratulations on your move!

Oh no, that's horrible MGR! It wouldn't be so bad, if she'd at least pay for her own activities. I just don't understand why our families do that to us.



Good ideas! The military is paying to move our stuff, and even our vehicle, but we are still weeding through it all to not take 'extras' that we don't need. I hate unpacking, but I hate having a bunch of stuff to unpack where we go, "What is this, and WHY did it move here with us? LOL. Things like winter clothes/coats are going. As is our front loading washer and dryer... most of the places we are looking to rent come with a washer and dryer in them.

The one area we are confused about is our vehicle. It looks like it's not a common model of vehicle there, so parts may be hard to come by, or expensive to order in. We just bought it last year, and have several years of payments still to go on it. We may just have to bring it, store it in our garage, and buy a cheapo car to drive around the island... keeping our car in good condition for when we return home. At least we'd know we've got a good car to drive when we get back, with no payments left on it. I don't even want to think of the import fees to bring it with us though. Ack, this is tough!



Thanks Samma! I'm not a diver - yet. My dad is, and I've wanted to do it for years, but didn't get around to it. I really SHOULD get off my behind and get certified. Especially to enjoy the water there. I had to google Blackwater diving to see what you were talking about. I got to see a few videos on Youtube - that's so amazing! It would be just mesmerizing.

As for the volcano park - we HAVE to take DD there. I was explaining to another board member earlier...

Our Abbie believes the move is her doing. We went to DisneyWorld in FL for Christmas this past year... and while there, we went and had breakfast on Christmas morning with the princesses in the Castle (it was my niece's birthday, so we wanted to do something extra special for it). We had a special appearance by Ariel to come see the girls. Ariel sat them all in a circle on the floor, with wishing wands, and made them close their eyes, wave the wands, and make wishes. When they had finished making the wishes, they all looked up... and the high ceiling was lit up like stars (I'm telling you, someone went to a LOT of trouble to make my 2 neices and daughter feel AMAZINGLY special). Ariel told them it was a sign that their wishes would come true. When asked what my daughter wished for, Abbie stage whispered to her "a VOLCANO".

Since HI was formed from volcanoes, and Abbie knows this "because of Lilo and Stitch" (lol), she said it was her wish coming true that we are moving there. We found out about this potential move about 3 weeks after returning from the Disney trip. Crazy huh?

So, the active volcanoes are DEFINITELY on our "To Do" list!



Thanks Borismom - I think that would turn me off shopping malls too! Too much of a good thing, right?

Congrats!! It sounds amazing!!

So, you asked if anyone had some advice, and I do! DH is ex military and we moved several times, so I got to get a "system" down lol!

I bought a small binder and a pencil pouch that had holes so it could snap into the binder. Then I put a bunch of lined paper inside.

I wrote down all my important numbers and addresses for both for the old city and new:
electric and gas turn off and on
cable companies
hotels
post office numbers to make sure change of addresses go through


I googled to death the new city and wrote down good places to stay, eat etc so that we had addresses readily available when we got there.

Then in the pouch I saved all my receipts for the whole trip so that I would be ready at tax time and if you need them for military (we did a DITY move, not sure if its the same if they do it).

I found this worked way better than trying to use the gps, cell phone etc. on the road and sometimes you might not have internet for a bit when you get there.

Hope that helps just a bit!!

"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." ~Oprah Winfrey

OH MY GOD!!! Congrats!! Wow, moving to Hawaii sounds like a great change in scenery! I'm so excited for you

*I wouldn't bring a car you don't plan on driving, as they drain all fluids from cars when they transport them. It is kind of pricey to get all the liquids back in them, and they sort of never seem to run right afterwards.

I would also bring a few winter clothes. I currently live on a small island close to the center of h*ll, as it gets sooo HOT here. However, I wish I would have brought a few winter things, as on occasion it has gotten cold. Plus, traveling during the winter months has been limited, because we don't want to purchase new winter clothes.

Most of the US military bases have websites, where you can find helpful information. You might even be able to get a welcome package from militaryonesource.com.

I am insanely jealous of you, with any luck we might get Hawaii for our next duty station.

Congratulations and how exciting!

Morning glory has some real words of wisdom here. We moved from the UK to Australia 10 years ago and EVERYBODY decided it was their new holiday destination!

They all expect us to drop everything when they come over and be their personal tour guides, which of course, we don't mind doing up to a point. Everybody expects to stay with us and a couple of our friends complained that it was after 6pm and we hadn't offered them drinks and NORMALLY when they are on holiday they have had drinks by now!!!

I think although it is exciting to have friends and family visit, it's good to set some ground rules right from the beginning. I wish I had had some of the advice you are getting!

Good luck

Anyone care to share their thoughts on a good cell phone provider in the US? We want a decent plan, if we're getting phones again. I want to figure that out NOW, so I can save up the deposits, etc, needed. (We won't have credit history in the US... we are starting from scratch because of that.) We own iPhones, but they're locked to a Canadian provider. Not sure if we can unlock and use our phones, or if we have to buy new ones all over again. Fun times!



Thanks DG! Sound advice there! I have to write down numbers of places there, etc, because we won't even have a cell phone when we get there. Our Canadian phones will be cancelled before we move, and we have to secure new ones once we arrive there. AND we don't have credit history in the USA (yet), so we have the added "bonus" of the "bad/no credit stigma" while we hunt for new phones, etc. We do have a cheap Walmart throwaway phone with minutes on it - we bought it for emergencies while on our Disney World vacation last year.

We get to go on a "house hunting trip" in HI for a week or two later this spring, prior to the move. So I'm sure we'll get all the numbers for HI things, like the gas/electrical companies at that time... I'll be sure to bring a binder with me to start writing them down.



Very true, Hadley!



Thank you very much, kmlan! I'm really looking forward to the change!



Hi Jayhawk, Thanks for the militaryonesouce.com website. I'll look into it this morning. We tried calling the MWR in the area, and they said they had no resources for me. I just wanted brochures, helpful information about the area, etc, but kind of got stonewalled no matter who I called.

As for shipping the vehicle... we don't have much in the way of options. We bought it a year ago, can't sell it for nearly what we owe... and our only other option is the Canadian military storing our car here, but the fluids will dry out over the 3 years (no one goes in to change them, or even to turn the vehicle on for the entire time we're gone)... and then when we get back, they go pick up the vehicle from storage, turn it on, and drive it onto the truck to return to us. We've had friends have their vehicles severely damaged (head gasket problems, cracked engine block, seals broken all over the place) having them turned on after being shut off for 3 years.

So, we may drive it down there (if we can get it registered, with plates, and US insurance), or if we have to store it there, at least we can turn it on every once in awhile and be sure to keep the fluids in good shape. Sigh... I think this might be the losing battle. Maybe I'll just put it up for sale, and hope someone wants to pay enough for it. If not, take my chances moving it.

Good idea about bringing some winter clothes. My DD has just outgrown her winter coat, so I'll just plan to purchase a new one if we 'vacation' elsewhere. But pants/sweaters we can still bring.

And hey, you mentioned you're jealous we're moving to HI, but that you're currently stationed on an island that's really hot... well, now I'm just curious! HI sounds HOT to me. What's hotter than that? OMG, I'm not sure I could handle it.