My First Visit To Hawaii in 2014

I had settled in California and had no plans to move anywhere, until I came to Oahu, Hawaii, in August of 2014. For the first time, I found the expanded sky that was more clearer than the sky in San Francisco. For the first time, I found grass greener, the air more pleasant, the joy of swimming in the ocean, and the comfort of walking around in my bathing suite. I hardly used any of the clothes that I brought with me. 

My First Visit to Maui, Hawaii, in 2015

The honeymoon was not over yet when in one of our regular family gathering in my sister's house in Sacramento, the idea of a family trip to Hawaii came up. We took a roll call and of who's in this trip and made it possible, but there was one issue. My husband and I wanted to go to Oahu again, but my sister insisted to visiting Maui since she would be able to rent her boss' condo for less, if it was Maui. We all agreed, and a total of fourteen of us, including my parents and my husband's mom, arrived on Maui in June 2015 for a seven day family vacation.

At first, Maui seemed to bigger, dryer and boring, but by day three I knew that there's more to Maui that I would be able to see in one visit. I decided to save some of the attractions and experiences for the next trip and soak in every moment of the family bonding on the oceanfront condo. I just couldn't get enough of the singing birds, the flowering trees, the warm ocean, the cold outdoor showers, the sunrises and sunsets, as if I was in living in my dreams. 

While the family was uuing and ahaing over everything and had great time sharing food, laughter, poker table, and caring for the ones who had sunburn, my husband would sneak out and visit local businesses in industrial parts of the island. He was looking for a picture frame shops, sign shops, and restaurants to learn more about the job market or doing business on the island away from the tourist areas. Then, he came up across a picture frame shop that was for sale. He held on to the owner's business card day dreaming about buying this local business and the move to Maui. 

Before the Move

My daughter, her husband and her one year old daughter, Lena, were temporarily living in the house with us until they were able to buy their own place. My son, who graduated culinary school in San Francisco a year ago and recently quit his restaurant job, also was living in the family house and working at our family business, picture frame shop. When the idea of moving came along, we discussed it with our daughter and son, who both promised that they'll be okay to run the business and take care of the home in our absence. My son was taking over the business with my supervision & remote assistance, and my daughter will help him in any way she could. They gave us the reassurance that we needed to make the move happen.  In a matter of a couple of months, we negotiated and finalized  a deal to buy the picture frame shop in Kihei, Maui.

Emotionally, I was tired of the routine and was due for a change. My life was consisting of work, traffic, cooking in a hurry, weekend family gatherings, and sleeping. My husband and I commuted from the East Bay to North Bay through San Rafael Richmond Bridge six days a week. We drove over an hour every day a distance that was not more than half an hour in normal conditions. We both were working on the family business, Blue Dot Picture Framing, that went through its ups and downs, but it was in a good shape around the time we left the business. The steady work flow and income was sufficient to pay the bills and nothing more.

Physically, my husband was diagnosed to be diabetic and I was at a pre-diabetic stages. He had just recovered from a surgery where they removed a small part of his kidney due to a small cancerous tumor the size of a pea. He was lucky that it was detected early and without any follow up therapies like chemotherapy or radiation or anything.

Spiritually I was ready for a change as my life routine and my lifestyle was not satisfying any longer. I wrote my book, “How to Live with 7 Treasures You Own” in 2013, and I wasn’t motivated or inspired by my life to write more or to even practice what I was writing about. I was in search of finding myself and time to relax, read, and live peacefully.

Practically, life had taught us a good lesson through our past experiences to understand that if we want to make something happen, we can do it. My husband is a hands-on person that could create a business from scratch and earn enough to make a living. I, on the other hand, was his back-bone with all my analytical, philosophical and practical knowledge and skills. Together we make a good team to create and carry on all our tasks towards achieving a single shared goal.

Financially, I had about twenty thousand dollars of retirement from my working years from the County of Marin and as soon as I hit fifty, I was able to cash it out without penalty. I had the option of leaving the money in a retirement account and receiving $250 monthly retirement income or take it out and do something with it. It was the perfect timing. That was the money that we were about to buy this business and bring us to Maui.

What was my expectations? 

I thought we would come to Maui, rent a condo for a week, then find a long term rental, and start our business the same week of our arrival. We planned to rent a car for a week and then pick up our own car that we shipped to Maui a week before departure. We were ready to take over an established business from the first week and generate income immediately. However, as we were getting close to our departure date, the owner of the business in Maui was insisting on transferring all of the money to her, to which we said it has to wait until we come down and meet and take possession in person. We did ship some of our used or duplicate framing equipment to Maui to be used for the business as a good back up plan. 

Packed our clothes and some of books, and my son dropped us off to San Francisco Airport, as you see on the image, early morning of September 22, 2015.