For Anyone Feeling Homesick for Hawaii (as someone who lived away for ten years)

[@HelloFromHawaii]

I'd love to hear other ideas of how to not feel homesick while being away from Hawaii. Also, tested out a new camera filter for this video. Eh, didn't really work for me, but lesson learned. 🤙

[@eddenoy321]

One of the greatest travel writers of all time lives on the North Shore. Paul Theroux.He was writing long before the internet was a thing. Do you know him ? He is over 70 and still surfs.

[@Lopezflies888]

I'm away from Hawaii. You gave a really good description about what's the different homesick or missing Hawaii . I get so depressed here I don't even want to leave the house it's just a mainland people. Everybody's serious. It's cold it's weird. But I got to keep in mind my daughter is getting a top-notch education and that's all that gets me through

[@ssakimoto7817]

Where did you move to? I think it's the cold and chill to the bone that makes me more miserable. Keep strong, sista!

[@Lopezflies888]

@@ssakimoto7817 Pacific NW.. plenty Asians here but they're different from Hawaii. We plan to move back in May. But she's doing so well in the school's out here I'm worried I'm going to be stuck a while

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Glad to hear that she's getting a good education. And the Pacific NW has a lot of Hawaii-related things. I know it's not the same, but much more access to Asian food than, let's say, Kansas.

[@makulewahine]

My favorite song is Honolulu City Lights. It always brings back good memories. I miss the Hawaii I grew up in but really appreciate those experiences and cultural traditions that still serve me well. I love where I am now.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Great song. 🤙

[@pdeforest]

I first came to Hawaii 40 years ago. Have been back nearly every year, and to every island. So many wonderful memories. 4 years ago, I realized my dream and moved to Oahu. As we all know, Covid turned our lives upside down. At one point, I was headed to the airport, leaving, perhaps never to return. Island Style came on the radio, and I admit that I pulled over and cried at the thought of permanently leaving this wonderful place and my friends. Thankfully, I’m happy to be back “home” for good.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Mahalo for sharing. That song is so powerful. Perfect words. 🤙

[@dennistani1986]

As a person born, raised, and have lived in California for 63 years of my life, I can honestly say I don't miss california. Basically what it comes down to is, I hate that place. But I do miss my family and friends, some have come to Japan to visit us. Take care and good luck!

[@HelloFromHawaii]

That's a big change, from California to Japan. At least some friends and family have visited.

[@ssakimoto7817]

Moved to CA 2 1/2 years ago and miss home so much. After 60+ plus years on Oahu, I miss the aloha from people, smiles, being called "aunty" by strangers, the food...oh, the food, and how safe and beautiful the land is. Treasure what you have in Hawaii, it's special, and I've been more depressed than ever since moving. Hawaii is a special place. I wish people from HI had a group to reconnect for those of us feeling homesick.

[@Billy23562]

Move back

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Mahalo for sharing. That must be a big change after living on Oahu for a long time.

[@rudelantonio]

Brah u hit that on the nail. Living in Vegas now and yes . Missing Hawaii lots cuz I just got back visiting last week. Thank u for the pointers . One of which I still follow and that’s still listening to music artists from Hawaii whether old and new. Makes it’s easier living here. Currently living in Vegas doing on 7 years soon! Mahalos braddah 🤙🏽🤙🏽

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Glad you were able to visit. And I'm sure there are plenty of local people in Vegas. And now two Zippy's (second one coming soon). 😆

[@tasatasat]

I'm not even from Hawaii but my wife, kids and I lived on Oahu for almost 4 years. I miss it all the time. I'm hoping to move back some day.

[@EvilTheOne]

Chris, like you, I only felt homesick once...it was on day nineteen (19) from the time I initially left. By the way, the 'no' your mom said to you was speaking to you as an adult, not the teenager that just left the islands. In one word, she said "you got this". - Choices: One thing that helped me not getting caught up in homesickness is remembering why I made this life 'choice' to venture out. Even if someone needs to write a letter to themselves at the point of the initial decision...do so. Remembering is like a small dose of cold water in your face when you need it. Going back on your decision, returning to the island, AND THEN remembering why you left might be the decision you'll live to regret. - Remaining busy: Totally agree. It's the lonely times when we get to reflect on past moment and things we may be currently missing is what plays tricks on our head & heart. - Stretch & embrace new things: By expanding what you do and all that you are capable of starts to unveil a side of yourself that you didn't know existed. You start to view yourself as more than the person who once left the islands. You realize that you may not have experienced these things had you stayed and lived only in Hawaii. - Music: Trust me, the one song you don't want to listen to when you feel the slightest bit of homesickness for Hawaii is "Honolulu City Lights" by Keola and Kapono Beamer...bring on the water works. One song that did pick me up and be reflective of Hawaii was "The Island" by Allan Thomas. - Times have changed: My final thought is the fun one. I went away for my decade back in the 1980's...no cell phones. So writing a letter to Hawaii and getting prompt answer was going to take two weeks. And since there were no cell phones, a long distance phone call was going to cost you about $10 per half hour. Which right now doesn't sound like much, although the minimum wage at that time was just over $3.00 an hour. So for someone working at a minimum wage job, after taxes, that would be working about four (4) hours for that 1.2 hour conversation...ouch! Times have changed... Lastly, exist and get immersed in that moment of where you are living at any given time. That'll lessen the times you are exiting somewhere else in your heart and mind.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Mahalo for sharing. Great advice. And great insight on the "No" my Mom said. I was growing up 😅

[@EvilTheOne]

@@HelloFromHawaii As your mom occasionally gave you medicine that didn't taste that good, the same can be said when she said 'No'. Wasn't good initially, although it set you on a healthier path going forward.

[@tetama2agani]

As someone who is very attached to his homeland I have to say that your story is truly relatable and I think a lot of Pacific islanders can relate to this✨✨✨I spent 5 years in Tahiti far away from my island Raivavae and 2 years in France😢😢and honestly in France I got depression because everything was new to me I had no one that I knew even the environment the climate I was not used to all of it all I did was going to college than go home and looking at the ceiling while lying on bed😢😢but what made me overcome my depression was praising my island my culture and language especially from some events where students had to share about their origins✨✨sharing my knowledge my personnal experience my culture was a way for me to get rid of my depression and to connect to my hegnua (land) while being far away from it❤❤and it gave me the chance to make friends and to stand out from the other students✨✨thank you for sharing your experience that was cool and so relatable✨✨and I love your tips that's what I did too✨✨

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Mahalo for sharing. Glad you were able to share about your home culture at those school events. 🤙

[@andymartinez9446]

My favorite song is " Honolulu City lights" left the island in 1986 that song always takes me home.

[@byronharano2391]

Me a well. Mahalo

[@CatherineMartin-z8t]

Brah, i have my Hawaiian Jamz. Kealii Rachel, Kalpana, C&K. The music in Hawaii is totally about Aina and Ohana. I miss that. Especially the food.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

C&K 🤙

[@byronharano2391]

Mahalo Chris for sharing your experience. 96744. Mine in 1983 was different. I enlisted in the US Navy after graduating from Castle High School. I had no time to be "home sick." Oh, I do miss da 'aina, even today here in Arizona. Home sick, no...however, yeah...Hawai'i no ka'oi!

[@christopherturco197]

Lots of good suggestions to get over homesickness, Chris. One thing I would add to that list is to surround yourself with things that remind you of Hawaii. Decorate your home with pictures or posters of Hawaii on the walls and have Hawaiian objects like lei, hula implements or calabash bowls around your place. It's not everything, but it helps. If you're into candles, get some that smell like plumeria, pikake or sandalwood to help create the sense of home even. Anything to help make your home on the mainland feel like Hawaii by creating your own little "Hawaiian island."🤙🌺🌴🥥🏝

[@HelloFromHawaii]

That's a great suggestion. Those small little things around the house help. I used to have koa bowls and postcards.

[@isaacjk5]

Playing volleyball with you and the other Hawaii people definitely helped me get over my homesickness. Cheryl helped too, obviously. What a time, yeah? Pre-smartphone . That pretty much says it all. Lol

[@MKKSeabreeze]

Did the same and went to school on the mainland. I was ready for the adventure so didn't get homesick much. BUT the one song that made me feel homesick was Honolulu City Lights. To help with that? Connect with old friends and family. It helps! 😊 Aloha!

[@milessakauye8819]

Hi Chris, thanks for the vlog! I know some of my friends the moved up to the mainland got home sick and went back home. I since lost touch with them, but I'm sure they are doing well. I don't remember ever getting home sick. But I did miss the Hawaiian culture and really craved local food. But that was satisfied by going back home a least once a year.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Mahalo for sharing. I do wonder if any of them moved back to the mainland in subsequent years. And if so, I wonder if the experience was different and they didn't feel as homesick.

[@dukeloo]

My first night in Phoenix we just made it work. Next day bought bicycles, furniture, found a place, then went to school on Monday. We got into foosball and ping pong, pinball and pool. Someguys played softball. We knew others from other parts of the states. Now being back in HI, I went to my 40th HS class reunion and told some of my classmates that they were my memories of HI when I lived on the mainland. I had a car in Phoenix, so we took monthly trips to Aloha Kitchen then only Hawaiian BBQ in Phx at the time in Mesa. 45 min drive. Got to know a lot of people from everywhere. Everyone wore shorts, shirts and slippers then the last trimester everyone wore suits for job interviews and to leave the wrong impression. Those guys in Phx were my brothers and sisters away from home.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

I also played ping pong and pool. Bought my own stick and balls since I was playing so much. 😅

[@matsugamer7960]

I went to the military right after high school and during those times, I was definitely homesick everyday- I was in South Carolina for my start in the military and during winter time and welcome sign of "Home of the Gamecocks" was not a wonderful how do you do- brah! totally homesick to da max!!

[@ZendreGlymph]

Chris, Thanks for perspective on homesick for Hawaii.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Mahalo for watching 🤙

[@thomasmatthew7759]

Kaneohe --> Greeley is rough! No shade on Greeley, but it's the farthest thing from Hawaii. The music is a big part of managing that transition. The whole E Ala Ē album was that for me. Tengoku Kara Kaminari is a bop, and listening to Hele on to Kauai once compelled me to buy a ticket back home. It's been 20 years on the mainland, and I still feel the pangs of homesickness, sometimes I'll need to pop on Bu Laʻia - I Luv It Wen U Call Me Bu Laʻia

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Yeah, Greeley was pretty different. At least we had a Hawaiian bar near campus called The Shack (pretty sure they closed down).

[@Billy23562]

I have distant cousins from Hawaii a 4th cousin from Hawaii a 3rd to distant cousin from Hawaii I have like 4 or 5 distant relatives in Hawaii

[@janclimo2284]

I moved away 35 years ago but … to the 9th Island! I found solace in other islanders and transplants in Vegas. I was lucky to have my parents who I moved to Vegas with and grandparents that flew from Oahu & to teach me how to cook for my Dad. Eventually I got hired on with an airline so I don’t get homesick AT ALL. Now I fly with my older cousins to & from the islands … so I still get snacks LOL 😂😂😂😂

[@miyakegaijin]

I think there is a difference in missing Hawaii between people forced to move to the mainland for cost of living and young students who temporarily move away from Hawaii to attend mainland college or test the waters of the mainland job market but they still have a bedroom available in Hawaii. For the students missing Hawaii they got to find the right mindset that it is a privilege for them to be able to study and experience the US mainland. As long as their mental and physical well being is okay they should tough it out and experience their new environment. I feel bad for people who were/are priced out of paradise and they miss their Hawaii family and culture. It’s easy to make video calls nowadays to help bridge the distance between families so that’s one improvement. I remember the old days of expensive collect calls so it could only be maybe once a week or once a month for a few short minutes of conversation. I’m not sure if social media helps or hurts missing home. I like social media because I can see mainland family in pictures quite often so I can see the relatives as they age. But i hear my relatives sometimes feels sad to see our Hawaii scenery on social media because they were never able to return to Hawaii because of the choice to live in the cold Midwest.

[@StigZeroOne]

I bet the smell of Greeley was enough to drive you back home to Hawaii, lol... I'm moving to Maui next year, hope to see you around!...

[@kathleenelliot5305]

I miss my home. I be back one day.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Some things have changed, but a lot will have remained the same. 🤙

[@islandsnow]

Also live in Vegas. Don’t get home sick once. Miss Hawaii? Maybe once in a great while but actually I may miss some of the food but there’s now so many Hawaiian food here that it doesn’t matter. I don’t regret it nor miss Hawaii that much. But that’s just me

[@nwboarder253]

Home sick for me is missing the culture. Getting together with other transplants helps. Music makes me happy or makes it worse. Ku'u Home O Kahalu'u brings tears every time. "But I fear I am not as I left you" is a real fear.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Beautiful song 🤙

[@FIRED13]

Yeh that longing for home is real

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

Adaption disorder is real. The city I live in is crazy-autocratic. It hates free speech and any variance of opinion. I am impressed that you had any free time at all to play cards and volleyball, while taking on academucally, what you did! You talk about getting to know mainland kine but, you never mention attending mainland parties games and stuff only hawaii kine. Am I missing something?

[@HelloFromHawaii]

For the most part, the parties I went to on the mainland were Hawaii parties. I'm fortunate that I didn't have to work during college so I had a lot of free time.

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

@@HelloFromHawaii Did you make and keep friends from the mainland, Chris? You have advised other people here to reach out and make friends with people from The Mainland.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

@@SuiGenerisAbbie Yes, I had friends from the mainland. Still keep in touch with some of them, even after all these years. Those college years are so transient, but have a few close friends from the mainland even now.

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

@@HelloFromHawaii Da mainland kine and you stay friends? Nevah can diss dat!

[@brockjennings]

I grew up in Hawaii. The local food is what I miss the most. The diminished quality of life and high cost of living makes returning undesirable.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Have you tried cooking your own local food? Just need an Asian supermarket.

[@brockjennings]

​@@HelloFromHawaii I do make some island dishes at home but preparing something like Zippy's chili in your kitchen cannot accurately duplicate the genuine article 😊

[@alohastateofmind3565]

Worked out Tower Records off Keeaumoku and discovered Hawaiian music. Solid list of Hawaiian music suggestions.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

I still remember Tower Records. Used to get CDs there back in high school days.

[@wMerlinw]

I like reading about physics. Very rarely I will pick up fiction, but I really like physics. I'm one of those people that can randomly fact check your physics. Don't try to talk out of your butt around me!

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Interesting. I hardly read science books these days, although I've enjoyed biographies about famous physicists and scientists (Einstein and Oppenheimer).

[@jena2664]

I missed the donuts in Hawaii

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Which ones? Malasadas?

[@christopherturco197]

@@HelloFromHawaii Maybe andagi

[@Lopezflies888]

Thinking how are you on the street with no traffic in the background.....

[@HelloFromHawaii]

It was a Sunday morning. 😄

[@Lopezflies888]

@@HelloFromHawaii 😆👍

[@MrBoodie1]

I kno its hard being homesick, but fo me it was kind of easy, i had a goal to never return to O'ahu, because of shame, if i don't make it, but I MADE IT!, i retired from frito lay in Modesto CA, n own my home in Waterford n now im a sub mailman in Waterford California wer i live, so i don't feel homesick, cause i made myself to not to feel homesick n made myself accomplish wat i wanted to accomplish, i look n c every person as a human being n approach dem with my Aloha spirit (friendly, kind, helpful, happy,compassion, approachable, etc....) n from der, if dey don't like me den its ok, i jus move on, i made a lot of friends over hea, but u gotta do wat u gotta do to b happy n enjoy life, jus share dat Aloha spirit n love in your heart fo people n blessings will happen, I'm a member of The church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints n dats how through da teachings of da gospel dat i bcame da person dat i am tday, ❤️ u all

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Mahalo for sharing. Great story on how you made it away and shared the aloha spirit where you were 🤙

[@finned958]

I haven’t vacationed in Hawaii since the pandemic, but I can buy cookies from Honolulu Cookie Company in Costco.

[@Billy23562]

You grew up in Hawaii I’m guessing right

[@finned958]

Nope

[@HelloFromHawaii]

Any other local foods you can buy? Diamond Bakery crackers?

[@stellamarina4123]

Bloom where you grow.

[@JayD-p8i]

I've noticed in various other videos you're quick to insert a caveat on your opinions that it's the opinion of a local and not a native Hawaiian, sorta in an apologetic manner. Man.... don't pass that on to you're kids, don't instill in them an inferiority complex. They - and you - are just as good and have just as much a right to express your opinion as a native Hawaiian, and it's just as valid, especially if it isn't a topic very very focused on native Hawaiians, and that only affects them. The modern native Hawaiian experience, minus some minor affectations, is the same as your own.

[@mikeuptegrove]

Send them pics of the Ala Wai today so they remember why they left. Oahu pays taxes out the wazoo for utter fecklessness from the public sector, and the result is living in filth with inefficiency at the highest cost in the USA.

[@HelloFromHawaii]

lol. The Ala Wai wasn't looking too good after the heavy rains. Hope they figure out what to do with that.

[@apachekeawe-aiko4900]

BRAH My mom n dad still live haiku hale almost 40yrs

[@HelloFromHawaii]

🤙

[@tednguyen7258]

do u guys go to the beach alot?