By Holiday Trip
As I’m writing out this blog post on the way home, my trip at my second home in Hawaii has come to an end. I took an extra day off and flew out on Wednesday. Which, this year, was the day before the 4th of July holiday. Always looking to optimize my spending habits, I wanted to start saving money on car rentals. I have taken a number of trips to Hawaii in the past without renting a car but ended up getting an airbnb at a reasonable price. Every time I’ve done this, it was usually for a run. Yep, a run – a 10k, half marathon, or a full. Unfortunately, in those cases, I didn’t save any money as the money I saved on car rentals went towards the airbnb. Historically, I would always stay at one of my best friends’ houses if possible.
Recently, I met up with a the local ChooseFI group in Honolulu. A couple in attendance had mentioned Turo. Turo allows people to rent their spare vehicles automobiles to make extra money. I’ll have to check out that site, and possibly use Turo on my next trip.
I was hoping to find a nice road bike at a reasonable price this week. So, I browed craigslist and went to meet one person that was selling a bike that met my search criteria. One issue, the gears were set up in a triathalon config. Short story, the gears are in a different place and also operate differently than on a regular config. I don’t plan on doing a triathalon any time soon, if at all, so I told him I would have to mull it over and get back to him. I went to meet a different person the following day but they never showed up. So the search will go on.
A couple meetings I was looking forward to.
On Friday, I met with Connie who is also a past Chautauqua attendee. She’s a transplant, just like many other people here in Hawaii. Oahu, which is one of the islands of Hawaii, likely has the most transplants. Honolulu, the state capital, is the biggest city and located on Oahu. It is the most populated of the islands and also known as “the gathering place”.
Connie and I had a nice simple lunch downtown and talked about FI and Chautauqua. . She found out about FI/FIRE after visiting a travel points website and went down a rabbit hole. Luckily she has a couple friends that are also part of the local FI community and convinced her to punch her ticket to a past Chautauqua. We’re both in agreement, that while the cost of living in Hawaii is higher than many places it’s hard to beat the gorgeous scenery and the quality of life, especially, if you love the outdoors. One interesting fact, her husband leads a travel business. It’s called Wasabi Tours Hawaii . If you are planning a trip to the Big Island, which is actually named Hawaii, check it out.
After lunch, I decided to get recharage with some coffee. Thanks for the recs Connie! I ended up trying an expresso mule at 9BAR. It was different, probably won’t order it again.
On Saturday, I met up with Reese. We had met before, at the small coffee meetup the week prior. However, we didn’t get to chat at the meetup so I reached out and asked if he wanted to get lunch. He obliged and we met up at a local spot called Jimbo’s. Reese was born and raised on Oahu and went to college on the mainland. He is big into the stock market and was actually introduced to it by his father when he was younger. He was telling the story of how his father would point to all the stock prices in the newspaper. Man, I completely forgot about that and how back then there wasn’t any online brokerages. You couldn’t sign up for an account, transfer money, and purchase stocks within a relatively short amount of time.
As our conversation continued, I asked about what he thought about real estate and if it was a good or bad decision. We discussed some of the pros and cons of investing in real estate and what was unique about local real estate market in Hawaii. After all, the amount of land in Hawaii is limited compared to the contiguous states in the US. We discussed the constant increase in rent prices over time and how there are a lot of older buildings. I, for one, like the older buildings as I think they give the area character. There’s also a lot of house hacking in Hawaii. It’s common for folks to rent out rooms, or have additions, like an in-law unit or guest house to rent out. It’s also common for multi-generations, or sandwhich generations as my friend Tae would say, to live under the same roof.
Reese and I exchanged FI books we’ve read and podcasts we’ve listened too. Reese picked up the tab this time along with some points on that Chase card! Haha! Next time, lunch is on me. Reece has a side hustle with photography. Check it out if you’re on Oahu, or planning to get married there. https://www.fleetingcaptures.com/
Most of the time, if not all, I meet and talk to someone about FI, we talk about life and it’s awesome! It usually turns out to be another reminder of how money is a tool. It gives us options. The people I meet think outside the box.
