Of all the roads I’ve traversed in my life, I feel like they’ve all led to where I am now: the North Shore of Oahu. I’m settled and it feels permanent, and here’s why:
It’s all or nothing out here
Forget hiding out and skirting away your life—the entire energy here exposes you. It all starts with the body—the heat forces you to be half naked, jumping in and out of the cool ocean when you can. Being more naked in turn forces you to be comfortable with yourself and around others. The comfort then forces you to question the kind of person you are.
I don’t see how long someone who is not comfortable with who they are inside and out could sustain living here (money and income questions aside). One exception might be someone who is on drugs and has to turn to crime to survive, but of course that’ll catch up with anyone sooner or later.
People judge you on your character
Finally, I say! Unlike the Big Island where people sugar-coat life to cover up their obsession with net worth, or San Franciscans who base everything on the grand projects you’ve worked on, the North Shore boils down to character.
You will not hear the quintessential “what do you do?” but rather are you a good person, and do your actions reflect that? People won’t actually say that simple because it’s expected.
I’ll write more on the character of character of the North Shore as time goes by.
Outdoor living prevails
When you live somewhere—or at least the extreme-ish places I’ve been—it’s mostly indoor living, which means basing the bulk of your life indoors. Not the case here. You have to be outside to get into this place. In fact, you have to be in the ocean. In the barrel, to be exact.