I live on a little island off of America. Ask me anything.

[Stimmyplip]

Due to living in a small island I'm frequently bored. Hence the thread.

I think a lot here don't enjoy it lol. A lot were born here. Some moved for relationships. Quite a few are moving from other parts of the country though. Issues that are becoming an issue in other states aren't here. Water shortage, violent crime, dangerous weather.

Nobody locks their doors here. Even on the mainland. We go on holiday and leave the keys in the ignition of the car the whole time.

To save your place in a cafe people put their phones down. I'm sure all of this will change but coming from London I find it bloody lovely!

Also, when someone has a baby or is sick, people set up meal trains and the community delivers lunch and dinners to people they don't even know.

I worry a little about fire. We have three fire engines but we're the 2nd most remote house on the island. Our road in the winter is shocking. Crime I don't worry about at all. Our cop knows everyone anyway! Medically we'd get airlifted in an emergency.

Kids have much greater freedom here. More like when I was a kid and kicked out in the morning and told to be back by dinner. Some teens love it and it's the making of them. Some just don't do well. Dh's sister was very bullied and suffered mental health problems. If you don't fit in you're in trouble.

Some kids go to the mainland for school.

For schooling it's amazing. Our large tax base means the school is very well endowed and equipped. If you want to play the tuba, they'll buy you a tuba. There's a pottery studio, big art department etc. It's more like a private school.

Sports can be a problem though. Not enough kids for teams and only play basketball and soccer, you have to travel to the mainland if you're interested in anything else.

The scholarships when you graduate are huge though. Most kids leave with their uni fully paid for.

There is a HUGE opioid problem in Maine though. That scares the crap out of me.

I do feel an affinity with other islanders. It can be wonderful but it can be tough. Only other islanders know the panic of missing a last ferry with your monthly food shop in the car!!

Sounds Idyllic.

Does your island start with A? If so I have a friend who grew up there.

My sister lives on the main mainland coast. Beautiful part of the world x

Maine mainland

No with an i.

I love my friends stories of growing up on A.

Sister in a town starting with K and known for its port.

Op (or anyone else who lives somewhere similar) I don't suppose you are looking for a new friend to come and visit? 😁

This is winter so you can see why fire engines are a worry! That's a sheer drop to the ocean on one picture.

If it's the K I'm thinking if it's lovely!

@SequinsOnEverything

Hello

How much is your health insurance? Who would pay if a patient gets airlifted?

What happens if you fall out with a fellow islander?

It is a famous K so yes probably :)

Hoping to get there next year.

Do you get film crews there?

The Maine accent is also characterized by dropping the final "g" in words ending in "ing" , so speaking becomes speakin. It also has some unique vocabular - "ayuh" means yes or okay. Here's a bit of a sample:

OP, I just got back from my son's graduation party. Out of 29 people, 17 chose a Maine style lobster roll for their dinner. They were fabulous!

I do love that you can choose lobsters from a tank at the start of your grocery shopping, then pick them up steamed in a 'to go' bag at the end, and it's about $6/lb.

I'm currently sitting in my dooryard watching my son drink some Moxie :-)

Here's a bit of a sample:

Muthah!

Muthah!

That's another Maineism - "er" endings become "a" or "ah".

The scholarships when you graduate are huge though. Most kids leave with their uni fully paid for.

I may have to move! Mine starts uni this fall and his sister is two years behind him.

It's a good time to be looking for scholarship money in the US. The size of the applicant pool peaked a few years ago and this year was about 200,000 students below that peak, so schools are offering more scholarship money to get the kids they really want. I'm sure it helps that kids are applying from Maine. The colleges love geographic diversity.

The whole scholarship thing is a big reason people move to the island. And the tiny class sizes.

We don't have insurance. When I broke my foot last year it cost us over $10,000.

If we were really in dire straits there's a community fund which would help out. We also have an old people's home on the island that's lovely and free for islanders.