Paula Lenny, age 51: Yeah, I miss being able to get in the car and go see new places. That, and I miss our extended family on the mainland.
But here on Maui we’ve created a family – an ohana – of our own. Your ohana is everyone that’s close to you – family, friends and neighbors. In Hawaii, everything revolves around your ohana because that’s what brings those who are close to your heart closer to your home.
Sounds like paradise, right? But even here we have normal lives. I wake up early, get my coffee, and Martin makes me a nice breakfast (hopefully!). I’m an occupational therapy doctor, so I’m at the clinic by 7:30. If I’m fortunate, I’m finished at 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. I’ll get home and we might throw the paddleboards in the truck and go for a downwind run, have a nice dinner at home, and be asleep by 9 o’clock. We work hard, play hard and go to bed early.
Maui is challenging for a lot of people because of the cost of living. Some people work hard, while others choose to live simply so they can be here. There’s always the story that people move here and within a year, they’re either taken in or they leave. It’s tough to put your finger on why it works for some people and not for others. It’s definitely not for everyone. It has its own unique challenges. But we’re in. We could never move. We’d miss everything about Maui.
