Interesting things are afoot...We may have an opportunity to relocate to Honomu (very soon!), rent out our Alaska house for a year, and do our research (for our dream coffee farm) from right there on the island. Thing is, we're not that familiar with the Honomu area. We've spent most of our time in Hilo and in South Kona.

What's the area like? We're comfortable with isolation; I'm just curious to see what more experienced folks think.

Lisa

Honomu is that little town on the way to Akaka Falls. It is very, very small, but they've got cute touristy shops on the main drag. I think it would be a fun place to live. And it's not a long drive to Hilo, so you're not TOO isolated. Our subdivision on the south end of the island is four miles from the closest town, which is probably the same size as Honomu, and over an hour to either Kona or Hilo. We don't mind the "isolation" at all. I'd say go for it!

I love Honomu, it's a cute little village but much smaller than Discovery Harbour. In addition the the touristy stores it also has one of the best pizza place on the island. However, you couldn't pay me enough to live there. It's not just the isolation, it's the community too. They are like the people on Molokai, "Visit but don't move here!"

Hmm...so, beautiful but not especially friendly. That's too bad. We should know within a week or two if the opportunity will come to fruition. If it does, we need to get our act together FAST. Eek!

Actually, John, I was thinking of Naalehu when I said "the closest town is about the same size as Honomu". Alaskan, I still say give it a try. If you are living there rather than just passing through, maybe you will find the community to be welcoming.

You are correct, the two are about the same size! Both are cute little villages.

I say go for it! Honomu is beautiful and old and quaint.

If it comes through, we'll definitely pursue it. We've lived in other communities that were, in theory, unfriendly. We've both lived in Native villages where it took a year before anyone really welcomed us. That's fine. One has to understand why people feel the way they do. There's usually a reason--history/experience.

I'm not feeling like this particular opportunity is actually going to develop, but there will be others if this isn't the right one.

Thanks for all of the input!

Well, this particular opportunity didn't come through for us. But, I firmly believe that things happen as and when they're supposed to. So, we continue our research and continue to look forward to our mid-September trip over to the BI.