For those of you who live Elswhere, I think this article well addresses the reality of living on Kauai. Before I moved here 7 years ago, I lived in Seattle, which is a pretty pricey place to live, but at least has reasonable employment opportunities. AND opera, which I enjoy.

I heard 2 consistent comments when I said I was moving:
1. You’re following your bliss! I admire you for that.
and
2. It’s so expensive there, how will you make a living?

And the answers are:

1. I love it here, I never want to live anywhere else, no matter how many problems attend our life here. This island is magical and beautiful even when it’s been slogging down rain for weeks in a row and I have cabin fever so bad I can taste it in the back of my mouth.

2. We call it the “price of Paradise”. Everything Andy said is true – rentals are very expensive and hard to come by, good-paying professional jobs are scarce, the average person cannot afford to buy a house and pay $3K a month for a mortgage. When people ask us what they should bring when they move here, we say “MONEY” and it’s not a joke. There is a real disparity between the rich who are buying up all the available land and houses and the rest of us. Kauai’s average home price is now $750,000+. That’s a cheap house on Kauai now.

I came with savings which are long gone. I work a lot and my husband is now working 2 jobs. Money is tight for us, it’s always an issue. We’ll never buy a house, because we can’t afford it.

We’re not “locals” and never will be, but we’ve made friends. It’s probably similar to being an expatriate anywhere, except that English and the American dollar are official currencies here. It has been my experience that the local culture respects people who are what they are and are proud of it. I’m an American from so far back that I can’t really say I’m Scotch-Irish-English-Danish anymore. I’m a haole from the mainland, I don’t pretend to be anything else, I have a lively appreciation for Hawaiian culture and join in hula and other activities that I enjoy. People seem to accept me for who I am, even though I may not have entered their inner circle of friends.

What do we get in exchange? Kauai. My friend Fern put it so well – “Kauai is for people who need beauty right in their face every day.” This island called me here, and has never stopped talking to me since. I may not get to the beach that often, or out on the trails, but when I do, it’s so glorious that it makes up for the days I don’t. I could be living with 2 million other people in Seattle where it’s darned cold 10 months out of the year – and barely warm the other 2 – and NEVER get to swim in Hawaii or walk the Kuilau Ridge trail, or dash up Nonou Mountain to the picnic overlook.

I feel “lucky I live Kauai.”

The neighbor’s yard has a lot of mature trees, and they handle the drought better. We have Zoysia grass which doesn’t need much watering, it’s the herb garden, flower garden and all the newly planted trees that need to be watered when we don’t get any rain. I’m sure the fact that we installed drip lines and bought a faucet timer helped to make it rain so much.