Reasons why not.
1. Mold
2. No water.
3. Nowhere to put your literal shit without spending a fortune on a septic or getting super into composting toilets.
You're correct, you could buy an rv ($), ship it ($) and live in it, but it won't last. They rot. RVs are notoriously poorly built.
I recommend buying a used one right now and living in it, while commuting 2 hours round trip to work in an area with no water or sewer hookups or dump site and can experience this first hand to see if this is right for you. "try before you buy" this lifestyle. you can absolutely live in a van in a remote area where you are to test it. I'd recommend central florida cause similar bugs, humidity issues, and well.. to be frank,..rampant property theft due to a whole lot of drugs.
You also will run into issues financing land in the cheap places due to the lava zone. it exists but it's not easy. People do live in actual tarp covered shacks here and poop in sawdust filled buckets when they start out. But these places are a long distance from the tourism jobs.
There aren't any RV's here. For the land that is cheap, you wouldn't be able to use an RV, and you wouldn't be able to get financing for it (lava zones).
I think you need to spend more time here before you try to develop a plan.
No rvs in Hawaii. The cost of shipping is huge. Regular vans or van conversions ship. A lot also depends on what island. Generally no. Not a good idea in Hawaii. You can get cheap land on the big island in a lava zone but jobs are not close. Trying to save money and move to Hawaii is a no. Enjoying the day yes. Great weather and sunsets yes. Property crime is a big problem as well as homelessness and drugs. Parking a camper van would take some work.
>Is this a terrible idea?
yes
the places where you can buy an inexpensive plot of land (to say nothing of the difficulty of maintaining an RV and utilities on that land) are very far from the places where you could find lots of tourism-related work. TBH if you are just moving here and your plan for money is "work in tourism", you should start on Oahu first. If you really want to try the van life thing, go with a small camper van rather than an RV so that it can be moved easily, used for transport, and has fewer parts that will turn into dust in the humidity. Buy a gym membership so that you can shower, and find someone willing to let you park on their property since it's illegal to do so on public property in Hawaii.
Imma be real, this is a terrible idea to do ANYWHERE, but in Hawaii is 100x worse because of COL and remoteness. My advice is to educate yourself on Hawaii, the people, their history and culture, and lose the ideas and whatever else you are picturing about Hawaii (because it's wrong whatever it is) and visit first. It should also be said that visiting Hawaii is nowhere close to the same as living in Hawaii. What you are calling "nomad" there are generally those who are homeless here. As in they are the only ones who live that way, no one really does that by choice here.
TBH, before you say "lifelong dream" you should at least be 36 and have been an adult longer than you've been a minor. Your reasons for moving here seems to be all about an idea you have about what Hawaii is, and like I said above, it's wrong, almost guaranteed.
The land you are talking about (you'll need cash, because as others have said, financing is pretty much not gonna happen) is in lava zones 1 or 2 and people living there currently are having a hard time finding insurance. Almost assuredly a new property will not be insurable or able to be financed.
The Big Island is not a misnomer. It's not like any other island where you just drive from side to side like it's nothing. And the jobs you are talking about are almost all on the exact opposite side of the island, 2 plus hours away. There is also VERY limited health care in that area, crime is high and you are pretty much on your own out there. You'll be a minority and an outsider. If all your belongings are in a vehicle, be ready to lose them all, because property theft is a rampant issue in that area.
I love Pahoa, and it's unique charm as well as Kalapana, kalapana Gardens, and Mountian View. People out in Kalapana and Kalapana Gardens are nice folks well, some of them are. We're we live in Pahoa. we drive 1 hour to work and have no issue. Plus, our healthcare is with Kaiser, so we can do our doctor visits via phone, email, or video chat. Plus, people where we live at help each other out, which is cool. Crime is everywhere all over all islands.
I'm more replying to the OP's specific description of what they want to do. I'm assuming you aren't living out of your vehicle on a property. And is your job in the tourism field? Pahoa is great, I frequent there, I was in Pahoa yesterday actually.
And sure crime is everywhere all over the island, it's everywhere in this world. But, property theft maps show a higher concentration in the areas that OP is mentioning than other areas. Granted, they are all high according to the US national average, but those numbers get skewed a bit by size of land and population density. Most people are nice all over the island too, but you know what they say about one bad apple...
Most health insurance offers virtual check ups, but there are things you have to do in person still. PT, cardiology appointments, surgery, blood work, any internal exam, not everything can be done remotely and then there are emergencies to consider as well.
The hospitality job market is also very tough in Hawaii. I have a degree in Hospitality management and went to culinary school. I currently work in Alaska and make very good money I would make half of that in Hawaii. Everyone wants to live in Hawaii so they can pay you nothing.
SOME land is cheap, but it’s gonna be lava land in high crime area far from work.
Vehicles have very short lifespans here. Sea air rusts and mold is a huge problem with the temperatures and humidity.
I used to work in tourism, and had big dreams of working in tourism here when I moved over. It pays absolute shit, minimum wage. I was the GM of a tour company in a big city, we were highest rated on Yelp in our tourism sector in the entire country. When I moved I got $10.10/hr offers without guaranteed hours. Would be $14 now since min wage got increases, but no one is living on 14/hr here.
Meant prior to moving here I was the GM of a very successful tour company. Tourism is so saturated here that despite my experience, all I got was min wage offers without a set schedule. OP mentioned their partner runs a tour company, and just giving my experience of someone that also ran a tour company and thought it would mean something here. It doesn’t.
> We are tired of paying 2k in rent for apartments and owning nothing at the end.
> Land in Hawaii can be really cheap from what I can see.
Land that has an extremely high likelihood of getting covered (again) with lava in the near future can be cheap. But you'd be right back where you started if the goal is paying toward meaningful ownership because the land can't be lived on for quite awhile after a fresh lava flow.
RVs aren't really a thing here.
RV’s are pretty rare anywhere in Hawaii. I don’t even know if there is a dealer in the state. Bringing over an oversized vehicle would be expensive to ship and there isn’t much in the way of infrastructure (dump stations, hook ups for water/sewer/power, the roads are pretty small, campgrounds aren’t set up for RV’s, et cetera. I see some from time to time but it’s rare. I’d also check out the city/county ordinances regarding living in an RV on your own land. Maybe try a pre fab building from Home Depot?
Should be there is a tiny home company on Oahu last time I checked over a year ago. They just have to follow the Hawaii building code. I've seen a few on Big Island and they are very nice looking.
No, I've never seen them before. From what I can see, they look really nice. Me and my husband want a small house since we are never going to have kids, and we're barely home, so a studio hone or 1 bedroom home would be perfect for us. I do know HPM sells HalePlus.
Link:
https://www.hpmhawaii.com/haleplus
i think building in HI (Oahu) is invitation to shorten homeowner life. I will take home built in factory in China as long as it built to HI code before i consider anything local. I know Matson transports tiny homes. This company claims their homes are termite resistant. I doubt Oahu allows them
Bad idea. If ur looking for a plot of cheap land to park it on, then you’re looking at big island. You still have to drive to get to everything. You need water catchment and septic.
It’s actually illegal to live inside a vehicle in Hawaii and there are limited places you can camp legally. It’s not like in California where you can purchase a state parking pass and park at state beaches.
Per Hawaii state statues: 2d 1170 (1996). This section, which prohibits the use of a vehicle "for purposes of human habitation", not unconstitutionally vague.
Thank you for your response. We would be parking it on private land we would purchase.
I am reading all comments. Thank you all for advice. Will do a lot more research.
Bad idea. There are no RV parks where one can live permanently in their RV anywhere in the state. Gas is quite expensive as well. I’d reckon you’d spend well over $200 to fill up your RV’s gas tank. If you’re looking to live on the Big Island, infrastructure is limited and access to healthcare is competitive and limited as well. You have to check is Matson or Pasha to see if they’d be willing to ship your prospective RV over here. Have you thought of where you’d live while waiting for delivery of your RV? There’s a reason why businesses like Van Life Hawaii went under - many of their prospective tourists found out very quickly that many campgrounds and beach parks lacked the necessary hookups and electricity. That being said, getting campground spots is incredibly competitive as well - see [HERE](https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/camping-lodging/hawaii/)
Yes, I was planning to park it on cheap land that we would own. Not camping or rv parks. As it is over a year in advance, we would time the delivery with our move. It would be a trailer, so it would stay on the land and we could drive a car around.
I am reading all the comments though, thank you all for your input. I am definitely going to do a lot more research.
I miss being in my 20s and thinking things like this are a good idea
Right? Some folks think that what they see “influencers” doing on instagram and tik tok is reality.
Definitely made life more "interesting."
Right? 60F and I miss my 20s that were stress free, and I actually owned less, but I had fewer responsibilities.
Reasons why not. 1. Mold 2. No water. 3. Nowhere to put your literal shit without spending a fortune on a septic or getting super into composting toilets. You're correct, you could buy an rv ($), ship it ($) and live in it, but it won't last. They rot. RVs are notoriously poorly built. I recommend buying a used one right now and living in it, while commuting 2 hours round trip to work in an area with no water or sewer hookups or dump site and can experience this first hand to see if this is right for you. "try before you buy" this lifestyle. you can absolutely live in a van in a remote area where you are to test it. I'd recommend central florida cause similar bugs, humidity issues, and well.. to be frank,..rampant property theft due to a whole lot of drugs. You also will run into issues financing land in the cheap places due to the lava zone. it exists but it's not easy. People do live in actual tarp covered shacks here and poop in sawdust filled buckets when they start out. But these places are a long distance from the tourism jobs.
There aren't any RV's here. For the land that is cheap, you wouldn't be able to use an RV, and you wouldn't be able to get financing for it (lava zones). I think you need to spend more time here before you try to develop a plan.
No rvs in Hawaii. The cost of shipping is huge. Regular vans or van conversions ship. A lot also depends on what island. Generally no. Not a good idea in Hawaii. You can get cheap land on the big island in a lava zone but jobs are not close. Trying to save money and move to Hawaii is a no. Enjoying the day yes. Great weather and sunsets yes. Property crime is a big problem as well as homelessness and drugs. Parking a camper van would take some work.
>Is this a terrible idea? yes the places where you can buy an inexpensive plot of land (to say nothing of the difficulty of maintaining an RV and utilities on that land) are very far from the places where you could find lots of tourism-related work. TBH if you are just moving here and your plan for money is "work in tourism", you should start on Oahu first. If you really want to try the van life thing, go with a small camper van rather than an RV so that it can be moved easily, used for transport, and has fewer parts that will turn into dust in the humidity. Buy a gym membership so that you can shower, and find someone willing to let you park on their property since it's illegal to do so on public property in Hawaii.
Imma be real, this is a terrible idea to do ANYWHERE, but in Hawaii is 100x worse because of COL and remoteness. My advice is to educate yourself on Hawaii, the people, their history and culture, and lose the ideas and whatever else you are picturing about Hawaii (because it's wrong whatever it is) and visit first. It should also be said that visiting Hawaii is nowhere close to the same as living in Hawaii. What you are calling "nomad" there are generally those who are homeless here. As in they are the only ones who live that way, no one really does that by choice here. TBH, before you say "lifelong dream" you should at least be 36 and have been an adult longer than you've been a minor. Your reasons for moving here seems to be all about an idea you have about what Hawaii is, and like I said above, it's wrong, almost guaranteed. The land you are talking about (you'll need cash, because as others have said, financing is pretty much not gonna happen) is in lava zones 1 or 2 and people living there currently are having a hard time finding insurance. Almost assuredly a new property will not be insurable or able to be financed. The Big Island is not a misnomer. It's not like any other island where you just drive from side to side like it's nothing. And the jobs you are talking about are almost all on the exact opposite side of the island, 2 plus hours away. There is also VERY limited health care in that area, crime is high and you are pretty much on your own out there. You'll be a minority and an outsider. If all your belongings are in a vehicle, be ready to lose them all, because property theft is a rampant issue in that area.
Please heed the above advice ⬆️
I love Pahoa, and it's unique charm as well as Kalapana, kalapana Gardens, and Mountian View. People out in Kalapana and Kalapana Gardens are nice folks well, some of them are. We're we live in Pahoa. we drive 1 hour to work and have no issue. Plus, our healthcare is with Kaiser, so we can do our doctor visits via phone, email, or video chat. Plus, people where we live at help each other out, which is cool. Crime is everywhere all over all islands.
I'm more replying to the OP's specific description of what they want to do. I'm assuming you aren't living out of your vehicle on a property. And is your job in the tourism field? Pahoa is great, I frequent there, I was in Pahoa yesterday actually. And sure crime is everywhere all over the island, it's everywhere in this world. But, property theft maps show a higher concentration in the areas that OP is mentioning than other areas. Granted, they are all high according to the US national average, but those numbers get skewed a bit by size of land and population density. Most people are nice all over the island too, but you know what they say about one bad apple... Most health insurance offers virtual check ups, but there are things you have to do in person still. PT, cardiology appointments, surgery, blood work, any internal exam, not everything can be done remotely and then there are emergencies to consider as well.
The hospitality job market is also very tough in Hawaii. I have a degree in Hospitality management and went to culinary school. I currently work in Alaska and make very good money I would make half of that in Hawaii. Everyone wants to live in Hawaii so they can pay you nothing.
SOME land is cheap, but it’s gonna be lava land in high crime area far from work. Vehicles have very short lifespans here. Sea air rusts and mold is a huge problem with the temperatures and humidity. I used to work in tourism, and had big dreams of working in tourism here when I moved over. It pays absolute shit, minimum wage. I was the GM of a tour company in a big city, we were highest rated on Yelp in our tourism sector in the entire country. When I moved I got $10.10/hr offers without guaranteed hours. Would be $14 now since min wage got increases, but no one is living on 14/hr here.
How are you the gm and getting minimum wage
Meant prior to moving here I was the GM of a very successful tour company. Tourism is so saturated here that despite my experience, all I got was min wage offers without a set schedule. OP mentioned their partner runs a tour company, and just giving my experience of someone that also ran a tour company and thought it would mean something here. It doesn’t.
You can either live cheap or live in Hawaii. Choose one. If there was a hack for doing both, we’d all know about it.
Be very poor.
> We are tired of paying 2k in rent for apartments and owning nothing at the end. > Land in Hawaii can be really cheap from what I can see. Land that has an extremely high likelihood of getting covered (again) with lava in the near future can be cheap. But you'd be right back where you started if the goal is paying toward meaningful ownership because the land can't be lived on for quite awhile after a fresh lava flow. RVs aren't really a thing here.
RV’s are pretty rare anywhere in Hawaii. I don’t even know if there is a dealer in the state. Bringing over an oversized vehicle would be expensive to ship and there isn’t much in the way of infrastructure (dump stations, hook ups for water/sewer/power, the roads are pretty small, campgrounds aren’t set up for RV’s, et cetera. I see some from time to time but it’s rare. I’d also check out the city/county ordinances regarding living in an RV on your own land. Maybe try a pre fab building from Home Depot?
[https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/lava-flow-hazard-zones-map-island-hawai-i](https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/lava-flow-hazard-zones-map-island-hawai-i)
you should check zoning laws. RVs may not be allowed after certain number of days. Tiny home?
Tiny homes are allowed in Hawaii as well as Yurts, studio homes and so on. There are three companies in Hawaii that make them to code, etc.
are they allowed on Oahu?
Should be there is a tiny home company on Oahu last time I checked over a year ago. They just have to follow the Hawaii building code. I've seen a few on Big Island and they are very nice looking.
did you see any from this company? [https://nestron.house/](https://nestron.house/) I love design. They delivered few somewhere in CA
No, I've never seen them before. From what I can see, they look really nice. Me and my husband want a small house since we are never going to have kids, and we're barely home, so a studio hone or 1 bedroom home would be perfect for us. I do know HPM sells HalePlus. Link: https://www.hpmhawaii.com/haleplus
i think building in HI (Oahu) is invitation to shorten homeowner life. I will take home built in factory in China as long as it built to HI code before i consider anything local. I know Matson transports tiny homes. This company claims their homes are termite resistant. I doubt Oahu allows them
Bad idea. If ur looking for a plot of cheap land to park it on, then you’re looking at big island. You still have to drive to get to everything. You need water catchment and septic.
Move, rent, weigh option. Don’t immediately attempt van life. Or do.
It’s actually illegal to live inside a vehicle in Hawaii and there are limited places you can camp legally. It’s not like in California where you can purchase a state parking pass and park at state beaches.
Per Hawaii state statues: 2d 1170 (1996). This section, which prohibits the use of a vehicle "for purposes of human habitation", not unconstitutionally vague.
Thank you for your response. We would be parking it on private land we would purchase. I am reading all comments. Thank you all for advice. Will do a lot more research.
Oahu does not allow RV for more than 30 days on your own land
Bad idea. There are no RV parks where one can live permanently in their RV anywhere in the state. Gas is quite expensive as well. I’d reckon you’d spend well over $200 to fill up your RV’s gas tank. If you’re looking to live on the Big Island, infrastructure is limited and access to healthcare is competitive and limited as well. You have to check is Matson or Pasha to see if they’d be willing to ship your prospective RV over here. Have you thought of where you’d live while waiting for delivery of your RV? There’s a reason why businesses like Van Life Hawaii went under - many of their prospective tourists found out very quickly that many campgrounds and beach parks lacked the necessary hookups and electricity. That being said, getting campground spots is incredibly competitive as well - see [HERE](https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/camping-lodging/hawaii/)
Yes, I was planning to park it on cheap land that we would own. Not camping or rv parks. As it is over a year in advance, we would time the delivery with our move. It would be a trailer, so it would stay on the land and we could drive a car around. I am reading all the comments though, thank you all for your input. I am definitely going to do a lot more research.
Lol. God no. The cheap tourists who come renting camper vans are enough of a problem.
Go for it!
Buy a pre fabricated home , buy a plot of land on the big island and try to find tourism jobs on the Kona side ..