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this LA nestie wants to move to Kauai...
Hi ladies! So I'm looking for advice from the peeps who really know 
I've lived in LA my entire life and I hate it here. I don't feel like it's home and that I belong here. I was so lucky to have a roommate in college from Oahu and was able to visit in '03. I seriously fell in love. I was so close to choosing UH for grad school, but glad I didn't because it would have meant leaving my future husband back at home. I always had it in my mind that I would eventually move. I would tell Greg that when we visited Jas he wouldn't want to come home. He never believed me...until we landed in Kauai for our honeymoon. He felt the same way I did. The CLEAN air, long days, quietness, and general invigorating feeling to be somewhere beautiful. Our dogs would love it. We've been "homesick" for Kauai since we landed here. I feel like I found the place I want to be, to live, to work. No bumper to bumper traffic, smog, dirty and COLD beaches. I seriously don't want to raise a family in LA. They say with the air quality nowadays, when you're 50 your lungs will be like those of a 2 pack p/day smoker! No thanks.
Anyhow, we've really started looking into it. Checking out jobs, places to live, what it costs to get our belongings and dogs out there. It's really expensive to live in LA, so there's not much difference in cost of living. We might as well get what we want, right? What do you ladies think? Do you like living on the ocean? Is it a great place to raise a family? Any words of advice? Encouragement? Thanks!
Re: this LA nestie wants to move to Kauai...
I love living in Hawaii. It's why I returned home after living for many years on the Mainland. But living here is definitely different than just visiting -- because even paradise becomes ho-hum and full of the daily bump and grind.
It's expensive to live here, and the pay is usually significantly less than it might be in urban areas on the mainland. In DH's former career, for example, moving back to Hawaii cost him about 40% pay wise, for the exact same work. So things cost more (housing, food, gas, you name it...) and wages don't keep up.
On the up side, we don't spend nearly as much on entertainment and the latest trends... we live a lot more simply than we used to. One year-round wardrobe. BBQs and hiking rather than fancy dinners and shows. Surfing for free instead of snowboarding.
I'm glad I'm home to raise a family, but I'm not happy that our education system is in big trouble and that DH and I are already saving to send our kid(s) to private school. I lived in California for a while and really admired how there were some really great public schools and awesome universities available to residents -- really wish we had that here.
Could you take another trip and scope it out more? Not so much of a vacation as a practical trip to meet more locals, look into job prospects and housing, and all the other practicalities that'll inform your decision? It's a big move and it could work out either way. Good luck!
EVERYTHING lola said.
I love living here but it doesn't come without sacrifices. I did a ton of research before coming out here. I was lucky to have my job pay for our move and put me in corporate housing for awhile. I did take a pay cut to come out here as well. On average, HI pays 30% less than the mainland with a higher cost of living so it's actually gonna be a lot more expensive than LA.
Everything costs more here...basically add shipping to all goods sold on the island.
A good website to check out is: http://www.city-data.com/forum/hawaii/ It was a great resource for me when I was scoping it out. No one sugar coats it and you get a real feel for what paradise costs.
HI also has its ugly side as does everywhere else. As lola mentioned, the school system in HI is not the best, almost a joke for both primary and secondary. I went to UW Business School and am now at the UH Business School for my MBA...so glad I got my BA at a top notch school because the quality and facilities are definitely not comparable.
Jobs here are very hard to come by so I would not even think about coming unless you have one secured or can live without working for about a year.
If you don't have family or friends here, it can get pricey and time consuming going back and forth to the mainland...6 hours to the next closest airport.
We came with our pets and only one made it. The quarantine process is tedious and stressful on the animals. If you have older pets, think twice.
Now on the flip side, it's amazing to wake up in the morning and I have Diamond Head staring me in the face and can see all the surf spots in Waikiki. I ride my bike to work everyday, rain or shine. 79 degrees is cold
Once you have your water gear: boards, snorkels, kayaks...it's all free! I walk two blocks to the beach to lay out and take naps 
Overall, I love it here and have no intention of going back (Seattle). It's a tough and expensive move so I highly recommend you come again to check it out. Good luck!!!
I've vacationed in Kauai for the past 25 years...going every 2-3 years for 2 weeks at a time. I was married there. I've had family time there. Needlesstosay, I feel it IS paradise on earth. And every single time I come home I ask my husband how we could move there. But we always come to the same conclusion...visiting a place is NEVER like living there. Even if it is paradise. I'd never want to ruin my love of Kauai by getting bogged down by the daily grind there...scraping by with 2-3 jobs each to be able to afford living there (now if we won the lottery and came into some Oprah-level money that would be a different story).
That said, I wouldn't want to live in LA either (I was born and raised in SF and lived the majority of my adult life in the Bay Area)...so I hear you on wanting to move.
You've gotten some great advice here from the ladies who live in HI (many of us on this board were only married in HI but live elsewhere)...I'd definitely recommend lining up jobs BEFORE you make the move. MH and I relocated to Tulsa, OK two summers ago and I cannot imagine having done that without having a job lined up first. I started work immediately and it took MH another 3 months to find something (and he's a server at a fancy restaurant). I would seriously look into how the economy has impacted Kauai and what their jobless rate is...unless you have some very specific skills that they need (like nursing or emergency room physician which I remember reading were needed throughout Hawaii).
Good luck! I hope it works out for you!
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Aww, I actually love LA! But it's because I love food too much and LA seriously has some of the best foods I've ever had and my favorite restaurants are there.
But I hear ya on the traffic and smog. I was originally going to go to UH for graduate school but I ended up turning it down for USC because MH proposed and I wanted to stay close. Then, I had a job offer in Honolulu last year but because of the pay cut (we still have a mortgage on a house here on the mainland that we needed to be able to take care of), I had to turn it down. I think employers know that many people would take a pay cut to live in beautiful Hawaii (I would if we didn't have the mortgage here) so jobs are still hard to come by even if they don't pay as much.
I don't have any advice on actually moving there because I never ended up living there (given the two chances I had) but if you end up making the move, I hope it goes smoothly! GL!
P.S. Btw, are your dogs huskies? (I'm just guessing based on your Nestie icon by your name) We have two huskies and I always thought it might be too hot for them in Hawaii =P although I know they would love the place otherwise...
Ditto what all the other girls above have said. Another thing to keep in mind is that things will be more expensive on Kauai than Oahu because everything pretty much comes through Oahu before getting distributed to the outer islands. It may also be harder to find work on Kauai too.
But on the positive side, Kauai is absolutely gorgeous and there's so much on that island that would keep us content and busy if we lived there.
I grew up in Hawaii and think that I took living here for granted until I moved to Japan for 2 years and realized what I was missing. Hawaii really is a special place and I feel blessed to be able to live here.
Good luck with your decision!
thanks for all the great feedback! i realize that it wouldn't be a piece of cake to make such a move. i would also NEVER do it without having a job secured first. that would just be crazy. we do want to keep this as a goal. even if it's a long term goal. i really appreciate your opinions!
p.s. we do have 2 husky mixes. and living in LA sucks for them. it's always so hot here! at least in the islands they have the sea breeze and rain that they LOVE. [&]