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How to let go - Becoming a Free Spirit in Hawaii

Kim

Updated: Dec 6, 2024



picture of us

Aloha, I'm Kim. The guys with me are Rocky (husband and co-owner) and our son K.


It’s been a crazy few months of non-stop work to get to the point we’re at today, and now I’m finally relaxing enough to sit down and write this blog post.


While Free Spirit Hawaii started up a little over a year ago, our journey to becoming free spirits goes back a whole lot further.

Our lives were a whirlwind in California. I was immersed in my role as a business coach in the fashion and beauty industry, traveling all over the US I was constantly on the move for nearly a decade.


Meanwhile, Rocky was running his own successful remodeling business. But despite our hard work and accomplishments, something was missing. As a family, we felt like ships passing in the night, barely crossing paths.


It became clear—we needed a lifestyle change to bring us closer together. We needed to slow down and spend more time together as a family.

Rocky and I have spent a significant part of our past living and exploring many areas around Thailand and Southeast Asia.


We previously owned a wholesale business that imported Karen Hilltribe Silver jewelry and beads from Thailand. We worked closely with hill-tribe families, ensuring fair trade and helping them export their intricate silver beads to retailers and jewelry makers in the West.


Our love for Thailand and the travel lifestyle has never faded, and we longed to share more of the world with our son.


At the same time, we felt it was the right moment to reconnect with Hawaii. Having lived and run businesses there for many years, we deeply missed the laid-back Hawaiian way of life that had once been such a big part of our journey.

orchids made into a heart shape lying on the ground

Hawaii had never left our hearts.


So we decided we were going to make a BIG CHANGE....and we did!

I quit my job, Rocky finished up his last home remodel. We sold our house, car, and everything except a small pallet full of sentimental or collectible items. And, we set off to travel!


For Rocky and I, our home away from home is in Thailand. We have spent the last 20 years there off and on again. Besides Hawaii, Southeast Asia has our heart, and we wanted to share it with our son, who also caught the travel bug early in his life.


So in 2019, we set off for the trip of a lifetime! Little did anyone know at the time - how different life would be in the coming years!



a large dragon sculpture overlooking the mountains and ocean of DaNang, Vietnam

We started in Vietnam, my son's birth country. Vietnam is a gorgeous country, full of vivid landscapes, rich art and history, kind people, and fantastic food.


After about a month of traveling around central Vietnam, we went to Malaysia and, then to our favorite place Thailand, to take a much-needed break.

People often ask me how I find such beautiful items to sell.


The discovery of new things is my favorite part of this business!

Having done business in Southeast Asia before, I have met so many amazingly talented people.

Thailand, like Hawaii, has an out-of-this-world art and craft scene. It's also a place full of young, talented, entrepreneurs trying to get their businesses off the ground.

For me, places like these are ideal for doing business. They offer the perfect blend of art and commerce, aligning seamlessly with my skill set.

I love helping new entrepreneurs achieve their dreams, and my experience in the world of small business and art is a perfect match.


Our first haul of inventory

While on this trip, I took a lot of time to just walk. I walked through villages and shops off the beaten path.


I was starting to meet some incredible people and had begun to collect quite a few gorgeous items on the way!


Actually a lot of gorgeous items....see the madness


At this point, it was now late 2019. Before starting the trip, we weren't sure when we would head back to Hawaii.

However, we were making such great connections and starting to really get to know some of the families. We felt another business was taking shape out of the blue!

These talented artisans just needed help understanding how to not get taken advantage of and how business is done in the West.

Most artists, especially those in remote areas, are often not aware of what their goods are worth to the Western world. Or that they are not being treated fairly. Fair-trade practices are not taught to small business owners or artists in small villages.

We felt we could really start something special and help some wonderful new entrepreneurs change their lives!


This was how our journey to becoming Free Spirit Hawaii began.

At this point, we knew it was time to come back to Hawaii. We had curated a full collection of new designs and gorgeous items we had purchased from local artists.

So it was time to head to the Big Island, Hawaii, and, get to work! When we landed in Hawaii, we not only needed to start a business but find a place to call home.


We have always been interested in building sustainable living, off-grid home and wanted to downsize our overall lives to make traveling easier.

We wanted to try living in a much smaller home than we were used to and more importantly, we wanted the house to be completely off-grid. This means self-contained solar, catchment water and, not relying on public systems for our home.


Rocky building our house

So again, we jumped in with both feet and worked to build an off-grid home out of a small starter structure on a piece of land.


The perks of being married to a builder are, that it didn't take us very long, and we had a place to call home again.


During this time the Coronavirus had started to take hold of the world.

The pandemic was reshaping the landscape of business and tourism, not only in the Hawaiian Islands but across the globe.

After all, we never intended to stay in one place for long. Our plan was to return to Thailand after establishing a shop in Hawaii. However, the travel ban quickly put those plans on hold.


So after starting up Free Spirit Hawaii (which, at that time was named Tiger Lily Trading Co), we had to shut down for almost a year.

Off with a bang and, then, a screeching HALT!

As the world adjusted to the change, we focused on the graphic design portion of our business and started to make a plan for what to do when the world went back to normal.

We realized pretty quickly we needed to build a website.

So here we are in 2021, currently slowly getting back to business here in Hawaii.

As tourists are coming back to the islands, we see many new families moving here. Having time to think during the pandemic changed many people's perspectives on what was important and what they wanted to do with their lives.

The ever-changing world has made many people decide they don't love their overworked, under-appreciated lives and they would also love to make a big change.

For some that means moving to Hawaii, for others, it means traveling or having more fulfilling life experiences.


woman doing yoga at sunset

We understand what it's like to want a big change and the uncertainty that comes with that.

We started this blog to give people a positive, informative place to come for info on all things Hawaii, travel, and inspirational dialog.

We get a lot of questions about the island. What it's like to live on the island?


How did you make such big changes in your lives, and about our travels and living abroad?

Here on the Free Spirit Hawaii blog, we blog about living a free-spirited lifestyle.


We share info on Hawaii and Thailand, local cultures, ono (delicious) recipes from Hawaii and Southeast Asia, helpful travel tips, gorgeous places to visit, and more.

We hope you will join us on our blog to see more gorgeous things, fun places to travel, and new discoveries. We promise it won't be boring and you will discover some beautiful things along the way.


Aloha nui loa and a hui hou,

Kim

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2 Comments


donandtinash
Aug 02, 2021

Your blog is interesting and informative. This lifestyle is amazing. Continue following your dreams.

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Kim - Free Spirit Hawaii
Kim - Free Spirit Hawaii
Aug 03, 2021
Replying to

Mahalo for your interest in our journey! We are excited you stopped by and joined our tribe!

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