It’s Hard To Make Ends Meet On Maui. Even If You Live In Your Car …With rent on Maui increasingly unaffordable, one couple moved into their vehicles.
As the early morning sun filtered through the coconut trees lining the roadway, the couple spoke in hushed voices, searching for their belongings in the trunk of their car.
It’s just after 6:30 a.m., and the homeowners in the neighborhood around them were just waking up. Every so often, a pedestrian or car passes by, on the way to work or to the nearby beach. But Liz Woodall and Rashawn Hunter don’t wave or say good morning. They don’t want to draw attention as they go about their morning routine.
That’s because they live out of two vehicles: a 2015 cargo van, where they sleep, and a 20-year-old Toyota Prius that they use to store their stuff and get around during the day because it’s better on gas. It’s illegal to live in cars on public roadways in Hawaii, but the couple has been doing so on Maui for the last three months, trying to blend in with the tourists who rent vans for up to $300 per day to travel the island.
The couple doesn’t stay there long. Hunter must leave for work by 7:30 a.m. for his construction job. Sitting in the driver’s seat of the Prius, he pulls on socks and laces up his shoes. Next to him on the passenger’s side, Woodall brushes her teeth, using a water bottle.
