The Practice of the Theory of Relativity

In 1915, Albert Einstein formulated E=MC2 the Theory of relativity. It took the scientific community 6 years to recognize him for it, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921.

I read a fascinating account of his life in the biography written by Walter Isaacson, who also wrote the biography of Steve Jobs. We recently vacationed in Kauai where I had an opportunity to experience the theory of relativity for myself. My wife Elfa got timeshare through RCI to The Cliffs at Princeville. It is a nice condo-like resort located on the cliff, overlooking the ocean in the northern part of the island. The day after our arrival, we were invited to a customary orientation. The concierge introduced different vendors, who offered various local attractions for modest fees starting at $100.00. One of them presented a day-long trip, which included a water voyage, during which travelers could drink unlimited Mai-Tai cocktails. Another attraction was a boat tour to see a property from the water, which was recently purchased for $100 million (which I thought sounded like a significant amount of money) by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. The following day, a local friend told me that she visited the property before it was sold. It has 1,000 acres and a beautiful beachfront. In Hawaii, beaches are public, but you need to have access to them, which can be private.

The next day we drove by a property with a For Sale sign. There was a box attached to the sale post with a flyer, describing the property as 2.5 acres of land with a view of the mountains (and no house or water access), listed for $3.5 million. When we went to the beach, located in the Hanalei Bay, there was a nice custom-built house next to the public parking, with a For Sale sign. Later on I saw the picture of this property on the cover of “Homes and Land Magazine”. The asking price of the 4BR/3.5BA residence, with living 3.125sf, and 15.224sf land, plus a 1BR/2BA 1.051sf guest-house, was offered for just $11 million. As Mr. Einstein pointed to us 100 years ago, everything is relative. To be fair, the magazine also listed lots of properties for less than $400,000. But “you get what you pay for”. The real estate market in Kauai is hot and pricey. The vendor at the Hanalei Shopping Village told me that the most popular occupation among locals is selling real estate or massage therapy. Sometimes they are combined.