Living on an island and enjoying a carefree existence is the kind of life that a lot of people might fantasize about and even think is attainable if they bother to save, scrimp, and do their research ahead of time. To be quite honest it is a possibility since enough people have done it that the reality is there staring us in the face. But the show Island Life is more of a fantasy than a reality when you get right down to it. Those that watch the show are no doubt entranced by the idea of living on an island paradise, away from the maddening hustle and bustle of the mainland and the everyday grind that goes on. Unfortunately what we’re shown isn’t always as serene as it might seem.
Island life is indeed a lot different than living on the mainland and carries a lot of pros and cons with it that are experienced by those that decide to live on an island. The show gives us just a slice of what it might be like, usually omitting a lot of what really goes on and what it means to live in this manner. For instance, if you hadn’t already thought about it, many islands that people seem to want to move to are rather isolated by their lack of proximity to the mainland, and are therefore cut off from the amenities that the mainland offers. Power grids, services, goods, all of it has to be prepared in advance and in some cases has to be shipped in on a regular basis. It is possible for an island to have its own power grid and to become self-sustained, but as it’s been seen on the mainland this tends to take up a great deal of space for the production of the needed and desired goods. What this means is that there is likely to be a finite amount of goods on an island at any given time, which can affect the price of said goods. In other words, there’s a reason why things are so expensive in an island setting.
This goes for homes as well. If you’ll notice it’s usually only people that can afford half to a full million dollar budge that are seen trying to make the move to an island. Land and space in an island environment understandably come at great cost since there isn’t quite as much as either when it comes to allocating space for neighborhoods, businesses, and other ventures that are necessary to maintain a community. The cost of living on an island is bound to be enormous, meaning that even those with big bank accounts are going to be likely to feel the pinch when they make the attempt to move. It’s one thing to shell out a great deal of money on the mainland when you know very well that prices will fluctuate and possibly go up or down, but on an island the prices only seem capable of going up.
One thing that might be touched upon but never fully delved into unless it’s felt to be necessary is the weather. As you might expect, islands are bound to get much worse weather than the mainland since there are few if any natural buffers that keep them safe from any storm that happens to sweep in and wreak what havoc it will. No matter the season those islands resting on open water are bound to take a bit of punishment now and again as one storm or another decides to come calling. Many island dwellers are no doubt wise to this and have taken precautions, but for those just moving to an island this would undoubtedly be a very big adjustment and not something that would be taken lightly. Most of the time when you see the show it’s all sunshine and smiles, but storms on an island setting can become rather miserable.
A great deal of Island Life is staged on purpose to make it seem more appealing and of course to maintain its popularity as one of HGTV’s more impressive programs. If not for this one and many like it the channel wouldn’t have much of interest to show anyone. But the idea that living on an island is easy is relative to be honest since some people can do it and weather it quite easily, while others might find it a bit isolated and even difficult to adjust to. Between the need to ferry between the island and the mainland from time to time and the fact that an island is a closed system that relies on the mainland more often than not, this is the kind of life that some folks get nervous just thinking about. But on TV it becomes a dream for those that love to fantasize about the good life.
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