Adventuring

As we hit the road in the truck with the trailer in tow, it was a surreal feeling. We were leaving behind our LIFE–everything and everyone we knew–and traveling to a place we barely set foot on and where we knew no one.

We originally planned on driving to LA, first dropping off our stuff at the freight forwarder warehouse, then dropping off our Uhaul trailer, then our truck, and then taking a shuttle to the airport, all in the same day. We had everything scheduled down to the minute. But a week before D-day, the airline canceled our scheduled flight and moved us to a flight on the next day. Yikes.

At the time, we were upset. We had our whole itinerary finalized and now we had to sit around in a hotel killing time. But in hindsight, it was a good move because it was absolutely crazy getting everyone and everything where they needed to be.

Dropping Off the Trailer

There are several ways you can ship stuff to Hawaii and all of them are expensive. We decided to pay a company to ship our stuff by “weight”. In hindsight, we probably would have chose a different option (because we seriously underestimated how much “weight” we ended up shipping), but after considering all the options, we eventually had to pick something and move on. (We’ll do a deep dive on shipping options to Hawaii in another post.)

Dropping off the Vehicle

After returning the Uhaul trailer, I drove to the port to drop off our truck. It costs $1500 to ship a vehicle to Hawaii, no matter which company you use. We decided to ship our van a few weeks prior so that it would be there waiting for us once we arrived (we had it picked up in St. George by the shipping company). Doing so would save us some on car rental costs. So that left us with just truck the last few weeks in St. George and is what got us and our stuff to California.

The vehicle drop off was super stressful because the Port of Long Beach, which used to be open 5 days a week, was now only open 3 days a week due to Covid. Our flight left on a Thursday, but the port was now closed Thursdays and Fridays, which meant we needed to make the the 6 hour-drive from St. George to LA on Wednesday with 4 young kids, drop them off and the luggage at the hotel, drop off all our stuff at the warehouse, return the Uhaul, and make it to the port before 4pm with no more than a 1/4 tank of gas (anything more they refuse the vehicle). If we missed that cutoff, I would have had to stay behind until the following Monday, which I did not want to do.

Luckily, and miraculously, I made it to the port with about 15 minutes to spare. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief, hailed an Uber, and drove back to the hotel. “Wait, is Uber even available?” Yet again, one more unknown, among dozens of other questions just like this, that we had to look into and research ahead of time to ensure smooth sailing.

This is what I found when I made it to the hotel:

We had made it. The first leg of our journey was complete. We just hung out in the hotel room the rest of the day. We did get outside to grab a pizza from the place next to the hotel. They were only letting one person in at a time, and you had to have a mask. It’s funny how that feels so normal and expected now, but at the time, it was such a strange and uncomfortable experience.

The next morning, we loaded up on the free breakfast and got ready for the big day.

LAX

Our flight was in early May, which is right around when Covid-19 restrictions really started ramping up (at least in California). We were a bit anxious about the whole trip and didn’t quite know what to expect. Was our flight going to get canceled? Do we need masks? What kind? Are there going to be people on the plane coughing on us that we need to avoid?

The best way to describe traveling during Covid-19 is “eery”. LAX, the 3rd busiest airport in the world, was a ghost town. The airplane ended up being nearly completely empty. We had several rows all to ourselves.

Luckily, the trip went as smoothly as it could have. The kids did great, thanks to lots of fruit snacks, veggie straws, and in-flight entertainment.

After landing, we got our temperatures checked (that was a first), filled out some paperwork, grabbed our rental car, and took off. At that point, we could finally relax. It had been an absolutely chaotic 2 days. It was so nice to finally be in the driver seat again.

It was a strange experience driving towards our new home, the property we just bought sight unseen, in the dark. We weren’t quite sure what we were going to find there. Would the lights be on? Does the water work? What’s the wifi password?

The Arrival

We found the house just fine and the kids immediately ran inside (the ones that were still awake). I brought up the rear with some luggage and could hear the kids running around excitedly. Turns out the kids weren’t just excited about the house, but also about what they found INSIDE the house.

A room full of FOOD!

Our realtor knew we were coming from the mainland and that we weren’t going to arrive in time to buy groceries, and that we also needed to quarantine for 14 days (Hawaii still has this requirement in place for anyone coming from the mainland). And so he made a Costco run that probably filled up 3 shopping carts and that would last us at least 2 weeks.

In addition to everything on the table, he completely filled our fridge and our freezer.

When we said we would reimburse him for the expense (which was something we were planning on doing when we got here) he wouldn’t budge. He picked up the tab all himself.

We had been impressed with our realtor before all of this, but this gesture just took him to legendary status. The guy is an absolute pro and OVER delivered on everything.

If you’re looking for a realtor on the Big Island, let us know and we will put you in touch with Marco.

By this time, it was about 10pm Hawaii time, which was 2am Utah time, so we all crashed.

The next morning, this is what we woke up to. Our new home in the jungle.

We’ll give a tour of the property soon, along with a tour of the houses (the main and the Ohana).

As crazy as it might sound, moving to Hawaii was not an easy decision. We loved our life and were very comfortable with how things were in. So before we get too far into our Hawaiian adventure, we want to share a few thoughts about leaving the place we came to love.

St. George

We moved to St. George, UT in 2013 kind of on a whim. We rented out a vacation rental for a month thinking we could always move back if it wasn’t what we hoped it would be. We ended up staying in St. George for 6.5 years.

We loved it there, and we can easily see ourselves returning there someday. With its dry climate and mild winters, you can be outside year round. The city is clean and very family friendly. (I’ve never been to a city with more parks and splash pads.) It also has some of the best mountain biking and hiking trails found anywhere in the world. If you love the outdoors, it’s paradise.

Aside from the landscape, we were also leaving behind people we came to love. During our time in St. George, we lived in 3 different houses and we met some of the best people this world has to offer. People who give and serve and drop everything to help, no matter who it is.

We had so many friends who helped make the move possible. We could not have done it without their support and hours of help. Watching kids, loading the trailer, packing boxes, providing meals. We already miss them dearly (and hope they can come visit soon!).

And then there was family. Saying goodbye to your brother, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephews was the hardest. Our kids have grown very close these past few years. And this isn’t just any family. They are an “elite” family.

For example, here we are the day before our move, sitting in our garage on the last few pieces of furniture waiting to be packed, eating a home-cooked meal, made by my sister-in-law (which was still warm) and delivered by my bro. Elite.

These guys stepped in BIG time the last few weeks leading up to the move. They watched our kids for hours while we feverishly prepared for the move. Especially the last few days before we left. Our kids spent more time with their aunt and uncle than they did with mom and dad.

And then there were these snack bags, personalized with specific snacks and included a little love note on the front of each bag. Next level, right?

The Goodbye

Saying goodbye the next morning was not easy. But alas it was time to hit the road. My brother invited us to sleep at their house the last night, which made getting out the door the next morning a breeze.

This is what it looked like when we pulled out around 6am. Everything we owned was in the back of that truck and in that U-haul trailer. (We shipped our other vehicle a few weeks prior.) Everything else had been sold or donated.

We can’t thank our friends and family enough. They were seriously so much help and we could not have pulled off this move without them.

(Quick sidenote: Leaving during COVID was rough. We weren’t able to get around to everyone and do a proper goodbye like we had planned. It’s almost as if we snuck off in the night. But we want all our friends to know how much we appreciate all they did for our family. We already miss them tons!)

A New Chapter

We’ve always looked at life in “chapters”. Batching experiences together and giving them an overarching theme helps us remember those times better and also helps to prevent life from just running together.

So as one chapter closes, another one opens–the Hawaii chapter.

Next up, we’ll share what it was like traveling during Covid, and what we found in our house once we finally made it there (something we did not see coming).

Some people said we were crazy to sell everything and move to Hawaii with 4 young kids. Looking back, they may have been right…

This move has not been easy. We never thought it would be, but you never quite know what you’re getting into until the boat leaves the harbor. And once it did, there was NO turning back.

Although the move has been one of the hardest things we’ve ever done as a family, it has also been tremendously rewarding, memorable, and invigorating on so many levels!

We’ve been on the island for about 3 months now. There is SO much to share, and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been up to these past few months.

We’ve held off on posting anything mostly because we’ve been too busy! We underestimated how much work was waiting for us once we got here. (We bought a property with 3 acres of LUSH Hawaiian vegetation, sight unseen; yes you read that correctly.)

But we’re close to having things under control and we plan on posting regularly from now on. For now, here are a few highlights of life on the island thus far.

Lots more to come, including a recap of the actual move to Hawaii and a tour of the property. Stay tuned!

– The Richardsons