I've spent a fair deal of time in Hi, as my wife is from there. Pa is expensive, but Hi is even more so. SOme things, like gas, milk, real estate are really high. Talk to some of the 808 guys on the site here. But, at the end of the day, it is Hawaii. Dude, when you step off that plane into the open-air airplane terminal in Honolulu, smell the smells, and soak in the colors, which are as vivid as the postcards you've seen, you'll know you are in a special place (puts on Hawaii chamber of commerce hat).