With a Love for the Outdoors We Moved to Hawaii

Yep, you read that headline right. We decided to move to Hawaii! This is our story about one of many family adventures and why we moved to Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii in November 2020.

Why Move Again?

Long story short, we were ready for another change.

Todd and I get restless a lot. We’re not sure if we’re naturally wired that way or if the Air Force turned us into nomads or what. I guess it’s obvious by now that we like to move, explore new locations, and experience other cultures and lifestyles.

Let me give those of you who are new around here, the Cliff’s notes version of our backstory:

• In May of 2017, we sold our house, most of our belongings, bought a travel trailer and a truck, and hit the road full-time. We did all this in 100 days. You can read about that madness here.

• After 17 months, 36 states, 15 National Parks and 5 Canadian provinces, we moved back to Texas to settle down for a bit. You can read why we made that decision here.

• We spent two years living a stationary lifestyle. During that time, two of our kids flew the proverbial nest. That’s right! They got jobs, an address of their own, and we watched them turn into wonderful young adults.

One moved to Alaska and the other to Illinois. Both are so incredibly happy. That made me and Todd quite happy. It’s a beautiful feeling to realize we raised two little humans who became functioning adults. Yay us!

So Why Move to Hawaii?

Another major change that shifted our opportunity to reassess our stationary lifestyle was that our youngest enrolled in high school, got his driver’s license and a job, then decided public school wasn’t his thing. He shifted over to an online private school program.

Although we had been willing to hang up our nomadic hats and provide the stability we provided his older brother and sister, he didn’t want it. No, he wasn’t ungrateful – it just turns that out our son is as nomadic as his parents.

We knew full-time RVing with him wasn’t in the cards for a number of reasons. But we continued to discuss the when, where and how of a new adventure. We started throwing out other possibilities. Then one day our son said, “I’ll move anywhere it’s warm and there’s a beach.” That clinched it.

With a bit more research and a huge leap of faith, we chose Hawaii.

Our Love of the Outdoors

We landed on the decision to move to Hawaii mainly because of the outdoor lifestyle that is lived there. We love living a life outdoors, connecting to nature, the ocean, and hiking as many trails as we can find.

Our son was excited to enjoy the beach. He wanted to surf and skim board as least as many, if not more, hours as he spent studying to finish high school.

When we were full-time RVing, being outdoors was just a part of everyday life. You didn’t have to think about it or plan it because it is simply a part of the experience.

After we moved back to a stationary life, the time spent outside drastically diminished. That doesn’t work well for us.

Campervan Travel in Hawaii

Imaging the excitement we had when considering the possibility of renting campervans and exploring Maui, Kauai, Oahu, and the Big Island! No surprise we wanted to become immersed in an outdoor Hawaii camping lifestyle.

After we did some research on campervan rentals, we narrowed it down to a short wish list.

Had We Visited Hawaii Before? No

Well, I (Julie) had never been to Hawaii.

Todd spent a two-week deployment with the military in Oahu many years ago. He was working and living in a tent when he lived in Hawaii. During that short time, he rented a jeep and did a little bit of sightseeing for a day. It was just as you imagine Hawaii to be. Of course, he also has a great memory of enjoying the a delicious steak cooked up in the military kitchen. 

Was it Crazy to Move (Again) to a New Place?

Were we crazy to move to a place we had never been? Yes, yes we were.

But we’ve moved to a lot of places we’ve never been to before (including Alaska!) and have done a lot of crazy things we’ve never done before. You know, like selling our house, most of our belongings and moving into an RV to travel full-time. (Fun fact: we had never RV’d before. Do you see a theme here?)

Needless to say, we like taking chances and seeing where those “leaps of faith” take us. 

Our full-time RVing leap of faith took us to some of the most incredible destinations in the U.S. and Canada, gave us the opportunity to meet some amazing people we still keep in touch with, and gifted us memories with our kids we will hold on to forever.

We Love a Good Adventure

A big life change always brings a mix of both amazing and frustrating times. We approached our move to Hawaii prepared to face the inevitable inconveniences.

For example, at the time we had sold much of our furniture. Our living room was furnished with nothing more than an IKEA chair and an outdoor zero gravity chair (which we loved while RVing and continue to enjoy).

We expected to have to deal with a lot more than simply booking a flight from Texas to Hawaii. We were ready to put our efforts into:

• Maintaining an income through our small business that allows us to work remotely
• Finding a place to live
• Packing our belongings for long term storage
• Shipping our car to an island
• Setting up a workplace for our son to finish school
• Meeting new friends

And we we’re ready for whatever would be thrown in our path. Because we love a good adventure!

Why We Are Sharing This

Our reason behind starting TREKKN in the first place was to help others who wanted to make full-time RV living a reality. We want to be as open and transparent as possible so that the information we provide is practical and helpful to our readers.

Moving from a house to an RV wasn’t easy! It was a real life daily roller coaster ride. And we are so thankful for that experience.

So we’re sharing another family journey for two reasons:

1) in case you want to make a move – whether to Hawaii, another state, or down the block – and could use some inspiration, ideas, or basic information; and

2) to encourage you to go for it and to live life in a way that makes your dreams a reality.

We also want to take a moment to say THANK YOU! So many of you have sent us emails or provided comments and feedback to share how TREKKN has helped your full-time RVing, camping and hiking adventures. We love hearing from you!

We expect full-time RVing to be in our future again and we hope to see you out there on the open road!

Mahalo! 

Julie Bonner

Julie specializes in helping you whip up delicious meals in your tiny RV kitchen, as well as RV organization tips and helping fellow RVers make their RV feel like home. Her favorite RVing spot is in Banff National Park in Canada where yes, the water really is that blue and the people really are that nice.