You are very lucky to be reading this right now (wink!), because it means I didn't decide to stay in Maui and try my hand at living there. But I really came close to refusing to get on the plane. Three times. But here I am, back home, with highway sounds coming in through the windows instead of ocean sounds. Oh. Well. I couldn't have afforded to live in Maui, anyway. We talked to a couple from New England that had moved to Maui 8 years ago with a plan to live there for 6 months. 8 years later....they are still living there. The guy is an underwater photographer of some really amazing stuff: turtles, humpback whales, tropical fish, etc. They live in a three-bedroom apartment with four other people and their share of the rent is $1750. Waaaaaay more than my monthly mortgage payment (and car and groceries and utilities all put together!). We talked briefly about switching our house with their apartment room for a year until I realized that I couldn't tolerate four other people living in my space. If I was still in my college years or early twenties, maybe, but I'm so settled in my ways I don't think I would deal well with unfamiliar people sharing my living space. I have enough of a difficult time sharing space with strangers at the grocery store, and that only occurs once a week. So to the mainland I returned. Still, if I had the right offer...
Anyway, I was in Maui vacationing for two glorious weeks due to the kindness and generosity of my in-laws. Yup, that's right. My in-laws. I REALLY lucked out with my husband's parents. They are very much like my own parents and it is very easy to get along with them. I had a great time in Maui.
The resort we stayed in had beachfront condos, and WE STAYED IN ONE OF THOSE. Penthouse, probably, on the fourth floor. I cannot describe the interior of this condo in a way that would do it justice, but it was decorated in an Asian/ocean motif with original paintings and tile mosaics, as well as with ancient artifacts and wood carvings. I almost laughed at myself each time I placed something of mine into the safe before venturing downstairs to the beach. Almost nothing I own could match the value of the items in that condo.
I hear Jennifer Aniston recently bought a place in Maui, and I know Oprah, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan all have quite expansive sprawls there, too. If only we were friends...But really that is actually causing quite a bit of distress in Maui. According to the locals we had the privilege of meeting, celebrities and other obscenely wealthy people are buying up Maui land that could be (and has been) used for farming and ranching and are building massive vacation homes on them that they only stay in for a few weeks a year. One would think that it's a good thing, boosting Maui's economy and all. But according to the locals it's making living there nearly impossible especially for native Hawaiians because if the land disappears so does work, and the price tags on the compounds drives up real estate costs making land/house ownership unachievable. There is no middle class there anymore, just the filthy rich and the dirt poor. This is really very sad, but we've become a nation of people who place importance on celebrities and professional athletes and that's where all the money goes. It's very unfortunate. In fact, my husband and I noticed almost immediately after leaving the airport in Maui that there has been a lot of development since we last visited four years ago. It has become very commercial, which definitely takes away from the pristine natural beauty that beckons so many visitors.
I'll probably be devoting the next couple of entries to Maui because we did and saw so much that I have to go slow so that you can fully appreciate the wow-ness of Maui! The photos are incredible.
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