Wild We Roam | We Moved To The Jungle @WildWeRoam | Uploaded 2 years ago | Updated November 19 2022
It feels so nice to have you finally up to speed in our life!! The last 4 months especially have been a whirlwind for us, but ever since we arrived in Hawaii on August 1st things have been falling into place with such ease. We’ve met the kindest people from the two locals who helped us fix our truck at the beach, to the man who runs the hardware store who’s been helping us figure out how to get our garden running to the old friends we’ve been able to reconnect with. Our landlord has really taken the cake though with his welcoming effort: picking us from the airport, giving us fruit from his prized mango tree, to letting us make this place a home and build our own garden. We’ve said it a lot lately, that it’s hard to put a feeling into words, but being here really is impossible to describe. After so much change over the last few years, moving from van life, back to my parents’ house, then embracing boat life, it feels like we’ve been in a constant state of transition, and for the last few weeks we’ve been soaking up the slow life more than ever before.
I’m guessing that some of you might be wondering how we picked Hawaii? It’s so far from our families and weren’t we so excited to be home? And have we thought about our impact as non-native white people moving here?
Well these are all really big questions and ones we have been thinking about a lot and with time I think we’ll find a way to express ourselves elegantly on the subject. We really considered moving back to the East Coast and trying to build out a farm there. But over the past few years we’ve realized that for us, while it would be so nice to be close to loved ones, the idea of building and working in the winter outside on a homestead didn’t appeal to us. We spent the last two winters doing a lot of manual labor outside and craved warmth and sunshine the whole time. We’ve had the luxury of experiencing a lot of different corners of the world during our travels and knew that for us to thrive we wanted to try and settle down in a place where health, nature, and the ocean are central aspects of life. Lou and I have been talking with friends and family about moving to Hawaii to set up a homestead since our Berlin days and realized during our ocean crossing that we didn’t want to wait any longer for our biggest dream.
As for our impact as non-native people moving here, we are still figuring out how to be helpful members of this community. I don’t think this is something that happens overnight. It’s a relationship that takes time to build trust and we’re learning more and more every day being here. Our goal right now is to study the situation in person, and then find ways to address these issues head on, from a place of respect for the land and the people here. For now, we’re trying to be responsible and respectful residents and listening to the people we meet here on the ground—and so far, the people and the island have given us the kindest, warmest welcome.
Oh, also we plan to start volunteering at local farms, so we can not only help but also learn from people who have such a long history with this land. I’ve already started at a local animal sanctuary where I’m gaining confidence with taking care of big animals like pigs and goats and horses. One of the lessons we learned from the boat experience is to try to ease into things slower. Instead of jumping in and trying to get a big loan on a house, buying a bunch of animals, or launching some sort of other crazy venture, for once, we’re easing into this (at least we're trying to haha). Renting for now, learning to garden in a small garden bed, but believe me we’re still dreaming big :) We have really high hopes for what we can do living here and can’t wait to share them with you. I’m really looking forward to reading all your comments and hearing what you think of this big decision. We have so much to learn so if you know of any good resources on Hawaii, on intersectional permaculture/environmentalism, and on tropical gardening, I’d love to read them!
Sending all our love,
Dana (& Lou)
..........................
Our eBook Live Creatively at https://www.wildweroam.com/store
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wildweroam
Music - 30 Day Free Trial: http://share.epidemicsound.com/pl2WQ
www.instagram.com/wildweroam
It feels so nice to have you finally up to speed in our life!! The last 4 months especially have been a whirlwind for us, but ever since we arrived in Hawaii on August 1st things have been falling into place with such ease. We’ve met the kindest people from the two locals who helped us fix our truck at the beach, to the man who runs the hardware store who’s been helping us figure out how to get our garden running to the old friends we’ve been able to reconnect with. Our landlord has really taken the cake though with his welcoming effort: picking us from the airport, giving us fruit from his prized mango tree, to letting us make this place a home and build our own garden. We’ve said it a lot lately, that it’s hard to put a feeling into words, but being here really is impossible to describe. After so much change over the last few years, moving from van life, back to my parents’ house, then embracing boat life, it feels like we’ve been in a constant state of transition, and for the last few weeks we’ve been soaking up the slow life more than ever before.
I’m guessing that some of you might be wondering how we picked Hawaii? It’s so far from our families and weren’t we so excited to be home? And have we thought about our impact as non-native white people moving here?
Well these are all really big questions and ones we have been thinking about a lot and with time I think we’ll find a way to express ourselves elegantly on the subject. We really considered moving back to the East Coast and trying to build out a farm there. But over the past few years we’ve realized that for us, while it would be so nice to be close to loved ones, the idea of building and working in the winter outside on a homestead didn’t appeal to us. We spent the last two winters doing a lot of manual labor outside and craved warmth and sunshine the whole time. We’ve had the luxury of experiencing a lot of different corners of the world during our travels and knew that for us to thrive we wanted to try and settle down in a place where health, nature, and the ocean are central aspects of life. Lou and I have been talking with friends and family about moving to Hawaii to set up a homestead since our Berlin days and realized during our ocean crossing that we didn’t want to wait any longer for our biggest dream.
As for our impact as non-native people moving here, we are still figuring out how to be helpful members of this community. I don’t think this is something that happens overnight. It’s a relationship that takes time to build trust and we’re learning more and more every day being here. Our goal right now is to study the situation in person, and then find ways to address these issues head on, from a place of respect for the land and the people here. For now, we’re trying to be responsible and respectful residents and listening to the people we meet here on the ground—and so far, the people and the island have given us the kindest, warmest welcome.
Oh, also we plan to start volunteering at local farms, so we can not only help but also learn from people who have such a long history with this land. I’ve already started at a local animal sanctuary where I’m gaining confidence with taking care of big animals like pigs and goats and horses. One of the lessons we learned from the boat experience is to try to ease into things slower. Instead of jumping in and trying to get a big loan on a house, buying a bunch of animals, or launching some sort of other crazy venture, for once, we’re easing into this (at least we're trying to haha). Renting for now, learning to garden in a small garden bed, but believe me we’re still dreaming big :) We have really high hopes for what we can do living here and can’t wait to share them with you. I’m really looking forward to reading all your comments and hearing what you think of this big decision. We have so much to learn so if you know of any good resources on Hawaii, on intersectional permaculture/environmentalism, and on tropical gardening, I’d love to read them!
Sending all our love,
Dana (& Lou)
..........................
Our eBook Live Creatively at https://www.wildweroam.com/store
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wildweroam
Music - 30 Day Free Trial: http://share.epidemicsound.com/pl2WQ
www.instagram.com/wildweroam
