[JennInSeattle]

Any hints for me ladies? I plan to move to Oahu around July 31st and I'm still debating on what to ship and what to sell/leave. I hear there are many garage sales there because people leave the island and don't want to take things with them (true? not true?).

The only things I know I'm shipping/taking are:

Bedding
Clothes
All of Nathan's cloth diapers
the Computer
and pictures

From there I feel lost! lol Oh and how much do children wear shorts there? Just during the summer? All year long? I'd appreciate any help!

Oh and for the question at the top of the board, I'm 24.

 

[konamama]

I live on the Big Island - yes, kids wear shorts A LOT, year round - but your body does get used to the weather and you do wear jeans and long sleeves sometimes. what to bring - depends how attached you are to your stuff...I still have A LOT of my "youth furniture", not any real "pieces" that I feel I couldn't replace rather easily, so I would sell...and I'm 30

 

[zaiahsbeauty]

dont bring winter clothes. thats for sure. um, light warm stuff is alright. might get a little cold at night. but, its hot. so prepare for hot wheather. i think the stuff you are already bringing are fine. dont forget your car and um..when you get on the plane have a change of clothes, its humid here so dress for humidity. some days are cooler then others. bring what you think you'll need

 

[kama'aina mama]

If you're paying to ship it, I wouldn't bring much furniture. It's high season for yard sales... so if you don't mind mismatched, scratch and dent kind of furniture you should be able to put a household together before too long. And of course we do have stores here if you want anything new... for me a bed is a 'must buy new' item. Other people have different comfort zones, of course. Also some freight shipping seems to cost based more on size than weight (container cargo, that comes on boats) so some things that might seem crazy to ship, like dishes, pots and pans might cost less than you think if you don't mind waiting for a container ship to bring it.

On clothes... I live on the windward side and can't recall wearing anything heavier than sweats or a medium weight sweater except when camping up in the mountains in November. Do consider one good set of rain gear for each family member, though... particularly if you will live in a rainy area.

 

[mom2noah]

Woo-hoo Jen! I just moved to Hawaii from Seattle at the end of March! We didn't ship any furniture. We got an estimate of $3000, and decided for that price we may as well buy when we get there. We shipped the car which was $952. Then we mailed about 15 boxes full of books we couldn't part with, CD's, photo albums, special items etc. Everything else we sold, gave to friends, or donated to Value Village. Honestly, it felt great to "purge" myself off all the excess baggage. We shipped our stuff the cheapest way possible which takes 3-5 weeks. Honestly though, we had boxes arriving after two weeks. Remember, books, CD's, DVD's, and videos can all go Media Mail, which is the very cheapest. Don't load the boxes too heavy because the post office won't take anything over 70 pounds. (We made that mistake and my DH was SOO mad because he had to carry it in and out). We didn't bring our computer monitor because the darn thing is huge and would have cost a fortune to pack and ship. (We got quoted from UPS and FedEX). We ended up just wrapping the tower around many, many layers of the big bubble wrap, shoved it into a box, and prayed that it made there in one piece. It did and now we are currnetly using BIL's old monitor. I'm planning on buying a new one from Costco soon.
I shipped a majority of Noah's diapers but my wool and other favorites I put in the suitcase because I just couldn't bear if they got lost. I ended up using disposables for about 1 months while I waited for my diapers and I was so sick and tired of them by the end!

Although I got rid of most of Noah's clothing, I did pack his things that currently fit. He has not worn a single long-sleeve shirt, sweater, jacket or even jeans since we got back. They are just taking up room in a drawer. Around the house he just wears a diaper. When we go out I'll throw a t-shirt over him and make sure he is wearing a pretty cover or AIO. If I'm fancy I'll put on a trim diaper and a pair of shorts over it, lol. It's been extremly hot and it's very casual here as well. The Robeez have also not been used since we got here!
I'm excited that you are moving here, especially since out babies are close in age. After you finish the mad craziness of unpacking I would love to get together. LMK if you have more questions.

BTW, what part of Oahu are you moving to?

 

[3_opihi]

I second what everybody else says, except if you can, bring your car. I thought I would just leave everything in storage last year when we moved here, and just buy new when we got here, except --- everything is darn expensive here. So it'll probably cost about the same to buy or ship.

My kids don't even own pants. I had to have my sister pick up some stuff from Goodwill for them, when we go to Cali next week.

Good luck with your move! You should come to our Oahu moms meetup!

 

[mom2noah]

MamaMaya is right, everything is darn expensive. However, we live in Hawaii Kai which is a kind of upper-class area. I've been hitting the garage sales every Saturday and DH and I have found some really great items. The ticket is to look in the newspaper Friday or Saturaday in the Classifieds. I usually specifically hit the moving sales because they are the ones getting rid of good furniture and other things. I've found that the garage sales are usually just people's old junk,lol. I personally love to paint and fix things up so it's been fun for me.

 

[JennInSeattle]

Wow, what wonderful responses! I'm sorry it took me a bit to get back here! Nathan was sick the past week and I mod diapering so I've been spread pretty thin but I'm back! lol

We're still on for July 31st-ish. I really feel that we have some very good advice from you ladies! We plan to ship the car. I plan to take all of Nathan's diapers in my carry on and suitcase because there is no way I trust them being shipped! They are precious! We're headed to Goodwill this weekend with a bunch of stuff.. good to know about the moving sales, lack of pants and Robeez! Guess I won't buy him any soon!

We still haven't figured out where we'll be living. Dan's grandmother has a studio and will be getting to Oahu 2 weeks before us. She's going to do her best to secure us an apartment or studio before we get there by paying first, last and deposit but without a job I'm not sure that will happen. She's going to be paying for us to stay in a hotel until we can get an apartment if she's unable to find us something in time so that's nice.

Well.. I'm not sure what else to say but I will definitely need to get together with everyone, I will NEED a support system! I keep hearing aweful things about Hawaii coupled by people who loved it and frankly all the talk is scaring me! lol So I'm just trying not to think about it!

Well thank you again for your honest feedback and experiences! I can't wait to get to know everyone!

 

[3_opihi]

What about the Robeez? My kids wear Robeez all the time.

Anyways, Jenn...I think you'll love it here. It is really beautiful and the people are wonderful. Just remember that its a whole new culture and although its the US, its also its own country in a way. Give yourself time to adjust, become involved in your community, hit the beach ALOT and you'll be fine!!!

Aloha

 

[mom2noah]

Everything will turn out great!

I mentioned that DS has not worn his Robeez since he got here. I should have added that he is not walking yet so I haven't seen a need to put shoes on his feet. He used to wear them all the time in Seattle because it was so cold. I'm sure he will be wearing them again when he starts to walk.

 

[[email protected]]

interestingly we're considering a move to the seattle/redmond area

i was thinking of this last night whether its worth paying to move our beds, my car etc. what i decided is that if the company is willing to pay moving expenses i'll probably take most everything and then i have something i can sell for cash later; if they're going to give us a lump sum and we get to spend it however, i'll sell my stuff here and buy a real couch out there

ps - do you know about this ? http://seattle.craigslist.org/

 

[mom2noah]

Lol, when we moved from Seattle DH sold just about all our stuff off of Craiglist. You can post for free and keep your email anoymous. We had really good luck with them.