Our Shawshank…

On Monday February 27^th, 2017, I handed a letter to my boss. I immediately felt the sun on my face and heard the birds chirping and waves gently rolling in. As she read my resignation letter, I could see her face drop, the color draining from her cheeks, and then, after a moment, she smiled as she realized it was happening.

We pulled in my team’s co-workers and filled them in. The shock of the announcement was apparent as they were both happy for me but also aware of what my departure meant for their newly increased duties. I gave my boss about 10 minutes to inform her boss before I would start telling the rest of my co-workers in the company. As I went around and told people I had resigned, they all shared the same shocked expression, mouths open in utter disbelief.

Tammy, my wife, and I had been dreaming of this day and the days after it for several years and I could barely contain my excitement. I had just quit my job and we were moving to Maui!

A little history…

Everyone I’ve ever talked to has been on vacation and dreamed about what it would be like to actually move to their own paradise, but rarely does anyone actually do it. They picture what life could be like somewhere they can wake up and be in complete awe. But something stops them from making it their reality. I had been visiting Maui since 2004 and immediately realized that for me, there was something special about this island. I had been to other places that were beautiful, but nowhere that immediately slowed my heart rate and relaxed my mind. Every time my vacation ended and I left Maui, I could feel the tension to begin rising again. I literally thought about Maui every day, dreaming of what life would be like in my own personal paradise.

In 1866, Mark Twain traveled to Hawaii. He spent a few months exploring, relaxing, and taking in the scenery, later writing about it stating exactly how I felt…

“No alien land in all the world has any deep strong charm for me but that one, no other land could so longingly and so beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a lifetime, as that one has done. Other things leave me, but it abides; other things change, but it remains the same. For me the balmy airs are always blowing, its summer seas flashing in the sun; the pulsing of its surfbeat is in my ear; I can see its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore, its remote summits floating like islands above the cloud wrack; I can feel the spirit of its wildland solitudes, I can hear the splash of its brooks; in my nostrils still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago.”

When I started dating Tammy, I hoped she would share my love of Maui and fortunately she did. We were married on Kapalua Bay beach in west Maui. Just us, our Hawaiian Pastor, our wedding planner and a ukulele player softly strumming as we expressed our vows as the golden sun set over the horizon. A truly perfect, unforgettable day.

Like everyone does, we discussed what it would be like to move to Maui. As we talked, we realized it could be true. It would take planning and some sacrifices but how incredible would it be to wake up everyday in your dream world??

We started brainstorming on how we could do it, formed a plan, and set it in motion.

Back to February 27^th, 2017…

One of my co-workers said, “everyone in the company is talking about you and can’t figure out how you did it! It’s like Shawshank Redemption…you’ve escaped, and we all just woke up still in jail!”

We all laughed but I could tell that several people were really taking it to heart.

If you aren’t familiar with the Movie “Shawshank Redemption”, (Shawshank Redemption – imdb) the basic premise is that Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, is sent to prison, and over the years plans his escape in secret. He works everyday to implement his plan and tells a close confidant, Red Redding played by Morgan Freeman, all about his dreams of his own paradise. Andy eventually escapes and a few years later, Red is released from prison and searches out and finds his friend in paradise.

Later that day, Tammy and I announced our exciting news on Facebook and comments flooded in congratulating us on our new adventure. People were inspired and started asking how we did it. My daughter and many others said, “You’re so lucky!”, I replied, there was no luck to it. We planned for it and made it happen. The good news is, you can make your paradise happen for you too!

Follow our blog as we reveal how we planned it, how we prepared for it, and how we finally made it happen. I hope you will begin thinking about what your dream life would be and hopefully our tips will help you achieve it. Please feel free to forward this page to your family and friends and maybe they can find their paradise too! Also, comment below if you have any thoughts or questions.

C’mon Red, join us in Paradise!!

You can find me online here on Facebook and here for my Real Estate page. We also have a closed group specifically about moving to Maui here.

Please let us know if you start pursuing your Nohona. We’d love to hear your story and answer any questions you might have. I might even interview you for one of my blog entries!

Aloha y’all!

Nohona Don and Tammy-lani