The Nature of Islands

I lived in New York City for many years without ever meeting my next-door neighbours, and their apartment doors were literally feet from mine—in a shared hallway.

Islands are physically isolated by nature, but that kind of human isolation isn't possible on an island, where communities are more tightly knit, and everyone is interdependent. In a way, island living is a slice of human history frozen in time, from back when everyone lived together in a village for mutual survival. While many islands are paradises, most also have their share of hardships, from potato famines to hurricanes, tsunamis to volcanoes, droughts to floods, and simply obtaining “stuff,” other than fish and tropical fruits, is often tricky and expensive.

The power and cable and Wi-Fi go out more, the ferries break down, and things mainlanders take for granted, like getting their car serviced or going to a specialist doctor, can be major endeavours. In places like St. Barts, if you want your kids to be educated beyond grade school, you have to ship them off to another country altogether.