storytelling:chapter 3 obsession~part 1

...continued from storytelling:chapter 2 out of sight, not out of mind~pt 7 


It's now summer and Frankie and Candy Darling have begun their first round of vaccinations for Honolulu. I'm sure you've read enough on that, so I'll move on. Hubby's been working non-stop and I've got a couple months before I start working on Fashion Week for Spring 2009, in late August.


I was hoping my mom would be coming to the east coast for her usual summer visit, however, she said she doesn't think she wants to come again. Summer's too hot and winters too cold and she may instead come for Fall Foliage with her friends, flying into Boston and traveling by car north, up the coast. Meaning, she wouldn't be coming to New York, not even for a stop-over. Plus the fact the last time she was here last summer really did her in. I noticed she was a little slower in her moving about and the climbs up and down in the subway were too much for her. We'd taken a lot of taxi's last time around and that was a sign that mom's age was showing. We'd use the car on the weekends as there would be no problem finding parking in NYC. Don't get me wrong, she's still got a lot of step in her. She's only 75 and she's a powerhouse up at the crack of dawn and ALWAYS running about town and around Los Angeles, but she's not really use to walking to get from here to there. She loves driving to where she needs to go and then doing her little walks. Her car is her mobile freedom. When you're use to driving all your life and then switch to riding buses and subways, it's a huge adjustment of your lifestyle. 


The majority of my time during the spring and summer months, in fact, since the beginning of 2008, was spent on Craigslist Honolulu. I was constantly looking into apartments to rent and employment at every spare moment I had. 


As I was looking into housing, I found that rent was comparable to NYC. Well, sort of. For a 500 sq. ft. apt. in Honolulu, it will cost anywhere from $700 on up, depending on what your needs are. But I'm talking no frills. A decent one bedroom, kitchen, living room and parking. This does not include utilities, cable, phone or in some instances, laundry facilities. If you choose not to have a car, you can catch The Bus. It's $50 for a monthly pass.  A consistent air temp of 75* year long and friendly people. You get to live in beautiful Hawaii. It's a dream for some.


In NYC, you can get a 500 sq. ft. apt for $1500. A bare minimal studio. You could possibly live in a one bedroom IF you have a roommate, share utility expenses, your bathroom (no thank you), the kitchen, your food and possibly your personal stuff (yuk!). You don't have to worry about having a car or parking because there's really no street parking and the prices for parking in a lot are double your months rent. Nice! Not! The cost of a monthly MetroCard is $81, if it hasn't gone up again. Most people in NYC have cell phones, so there's no need for a home phone. They usually have the use of landlines at work. You don't have to worry about joining a gym, although most New Yorkers do, because after a long 10 hour day at work, you can lug all your days belongs in that 20 lb. designer satchel that you've packed to work, along with your laptop, in a really cool carrier! Let's not forget your handbag with the all the really important stuff you need: a daily planner, water, keys, sunglasses, gum, tampax, wallet, coin purse, holder for your subway pass. You think I'm joking? Next time your in New York take a good look around you! So anyway, all that daily schlepping will have you seeing a chiropractor after you see your "shrink". OK, I'm getting off track now.


Where was I? Oh, yeah, what you're paying for is a big chunk of "I live in Manhattan". Living in a one zero zero zip code. Unless you're rich and live in $10 million unit, you can keep it. You can pay $1500 for rent in Honolulu if you want to live in, lets say, Waikiki, Kahala or Manoa. But you certainly aren't breaking your back lugging all your crap around, like New York. 


I had to sit down and make a list of what I'm currently paying for rent, all my utilities and any other monthly payables: car insurance, cell phone, petro, etc. What will I be able to afford to pay for rent in Hawaii? House or apt? One bedroom or two? What neighborhood do I want to live? Am I shipping all my belongings plus my car? How much is that going to cost? How long will that take? What am I going to do for work? Am I going to continue working as a Production Coordinator or a new career? I read that the cost of living in Hawaii is the same as NYC, however, the salary of any work you pursue will be 7% lower than NYC. Realistically, I think that that figure is a little low. After living here over 6 months, it's more like 15%- 20% lower than New York. There's so many factors to look into when making a huge move, especially when moving to an island in the Pacific. 


I had to ask myself if after the first year will I be able to make a living there or will I even like living in Hawaii. Should I put all my  belongings in storage?  How much would that cost? All these questions and more became a sick obsession. 


to be continued...