Sports Writer, Wailuku, Hawaii

If you're planning on applying for the job, just remember, you have to get up early on Sunday mornings. NFL games in the East start at 7 a.m. Hawaii Time.

 

Well you don't HAVE to get up early. You could just sleep through the first games.


Again, I highly recommend this for anyone who isn't tied down. Fantastic place, great boss, lots of leeway. Probably not a destination job, but a great detour on your career. And why not get paid to live in Hawaii?

 

TiVo works in Hawaii, you know.

 

I have Tivo also, but it's still not the same as seeing it live and I use Tivo mostly for the replays and to freeze action.

 

I'm still just dreaming — not sure whether I could actually apply or not — BUT help me dream a little more: I've never been to Hawaii. Is Maui and this town in particular a place you'd want to be, relatively speaking? Is there much real civilization there, or is it 100% tourist? Is the whole state 100% tourist or is Honolulu a little different? You think you could live in Honolulu and commute to Maui? It doesn't look too far on Google maps for a canoe or a good swim.

Really though, how hard is it to get between the islands? (I was kidding about the commute, by the way.) Is going to another island an evening trip, a day trip or a weekend trip?

Thanks.


----- EDIT: after a little research I realize you'll probably laugh at my questions. It looks like swimming to work is out. Damn. I had hoped to windsurf to work too. And it looks like going between islands would get expensive. Anyway, I'd still appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

 

There are plenty of inter-island flights, from between 25 minutes to 45 minutes depending on which island.
I have no use for Oahu anymore, but I grew up at the beach. Waikiki is no different than Huntington or Miami, crowded beaches and ugly traffic.
Maui is getting more crowded day by day. Wailuku and Kahalui (where the airport is) are like regular cities, most of the residents live there. The other "towns" are smaller, beach-oriented. Maui is big enough to have some cultural diversions. There's a culture center in Lahaina and an auditorium where they have plays and concerts. But, indeed, it's a tourist based economy.
The other islands are more rustic with less to do, and that is a good thing.

 

Maui combines the best of Honolulu and Hanalei, although if I had to pick one island to live on it would be Kauai. Maui, particularly the western and southern coasts, is touristy but has enough normalcy not to seem stifling. Again, this would be an interesting job for an unattached, outdoors-oriented journalist. But milk costs a ton.

 

Milk does not cost a ton. As it was explained to me, if you buy milk at the 7-11 type places, it will. But it does here too. If you buy it at the grocery store, it's slightly more expensive. But it's not much worse than it is living in NYC or LA or any big city.

Besides, re: the NFL starting early, think about it: Nearly every national wire story will be moved by 7 p.m. local time. Only local stuff to deal with on deadline. Wake up, spend your day on the beach, go into work, put out a paper, get done early. Wheeeee!

 

Does anyone here know Brad Sherman?
I could swaer I know him ... but I have never dealt with anyone in Maui (which is an Ogden paper?).
Did Sherman work at an East Coast paper before going to Maui?

 

Don't think so, Orv. But it would seem to be a not-too-uncommon name.

 

I couldn't live on Kauai. Beautiful place, absolutely stunning, but the entire island shuts down around 9:30 and good luck trying to get something to eat after that.

Trust me on this. I was there last November and had the misfortune of landing at 9:30 p.m. and trying to eat at 10. After nearly a six-hour flight, if it wasn't for room service, the pillow was looking rather tasty.

I haven't been to the Big Island, but have heard enough stories about Oahu from people who live there that the traffic is beyond insane. An AP writer I know there lives 25 miles from downtown Honolulu and it takes him nearly 80 minutes to get to work -- the same amount of time it can take me to drive the 61 miles I face... and I live in SoCal.

I've been to Maui the last three years for an event and absolutely love it. As SoCal Dude points out, it has a little bit of everything. The only drawback (other than the cost of living) is there are few highways on the island, so if one is closed for whatever reason and you need to use it to get somewhere, you're hosed.

 

if you're single and even halfway tempted to apply for this job, do it. i've never been to maui, but i took a similar post at this shop a little more than a year ago only to turn it down two days later. brad and staff mad me feel at ease about the move and offered to help with any adjustements necessary coming from the mainland. he wasn't the SR at the time, but he was very thorough in the few phone conversations we had and couldn't have been a nice guy.
ultimately i backed out becuase my wife and i decided it wasn't the smartest move to make with a soon-to-be 2-year old. with several friends and family visting maui since then, we often wonder how much fun it could have been working out there for a while.
like i said, you put in your hours, but the staff paints a pretty picture on your downtime and a family-like feeling in the office. (after i said i was in, they even offered me a place to stay until we found something permanent.)