I live on an island off the coast of America - ask me anything

[catofdoom]

As requested @IdaBWells

There was a thread before but I can't find it. When Mumsnet has its brain fart a few months ago I could never get back in to my old account.

I live on a little island off the coast of Maine. I moved here after living in London for 15 years.

It reminds me of the Lobster Scene from Annie Hall

Do you know how your island will be affected by climate change? Rising sea levels etc?

Do you expect your dc to stay on island as adults? Is it commoner for kids to stay or go?

If all your dc left would you and dh stay on the island?

Can your family sail to mainland yourselves rather than take expensive ferry?

Do your dc have more freedom than living on mainland?

Do you blog from your island home? Because reading your replies here, you certainly should. People would love your stories and the tone in which you tell them.

@catofdoom do teens and young adults go to the mainland for social stuff?

You should start a blog with pics!!

Your life sounds quite idyllic especially in today’s crazy world. Sounds perfect for raising kids away from social media.

You should definitely start a blog - I'm slightly obsessed with island living at the moment having seen all of the beautiful little islands off the coast of Vancouver this month

I'm so glad you've come back.

Is there much diversity in the island? Or are people mainly white, heterosexual etc?

@chuffoff I think we have two types of snakes. Both totally harmless. We appear to have a nest at our house though. I counted 17 all sunning themselves one day. I like them but even I was a bit 'ick' at that!

@JaimeBronde we just have black bears in Maine. But never any on the island. I've never seen one yet.

There are lots of things we don't have on the island that they do on the mainland. Grey squirrels - we just have red. Possums, porcupines, rats, skunk, foxes, raccoons.

We have a ton of deer though. And a couple of years ago a moose mum and her baby. They walked through my garden but I missed seeing them by 5 minutes!!

Found your island, it is lovely. Like the islands off Scotland it is wonderful and awful in parts depending on the time of year, always think people who live like this are special and to be admired.

@JaimeBronde as the waters are warming up we are seeing sharks more. We saw a baby great white a couple of years ago (about 8 feet) and see Threshers and Makos often. Great Whites have been spotted in the town near here in the last week, a big one was seen in Kennebunkport last week!

We went whale watching offshore last year and saw a huge sunfish, it swam around the boat and was really interested in us. Amazing creatures!

@Atalune one of my old bosses decided I wasn't allowed to eat in front of anyone while I was working. Given I was working in Portugal, living with them and working 24 hours that was hard. I have to shove my head in the fridge when I went by it and cram things in to my mouth and chew quickly.

When the family and friends would all go to dinner at a restaurant she would loudly announce 'the nanny won't be eating' and I'd have to sit there and help the kids.

@Heymummee

Apart from family and friends the food! We're lucky to have some great restaurants near us but Maine is the whitest and oldest state population wise so I miss the food diversity that London has!

Crime is pretty non existent

Another Brit in Maine, I love how non existent crime is across the state!!

Is the lack of crime down to population density or lack of it in Maine?

@theGirlWithManyFaces I haven't been to either! I've very briefly been to the Isle of Wight though.

Could we see some pictures of the Island 💐🙈

@IdaBWells I wonder who could play me?

justasking111

Both, Maine is the size of the UK however it has a population of 1million. That coupled with the fact that Mainers are just nice people!!

Living in N Wales in a quiet area, we have low crime rate. Doors unlocked, cars left with keys in. I really believe when you have a high density population you have more unhappiness and crime.

justasking111

Agree totally, high populations always cause problems.

@themouldneverbotheredmeanyway

Do you know how your island will be affected by climate change? Rising sea levels etc?

Yes, we need to move our ferry. Where it is now will be underwater soon. There are already fields of dead trees where the sea water floods. More every year. Our house right now doesn't have a sea view despite being next to the beach, in ten years we expect to have a sea view. (Don't want one though as our taxes will go sky high!)

Do you expect your dc to stay on island as adults? Is it commoner for kids to stay or go?

Good question! It seems to be quite cyclical. Most kids go off to university, most then stay away for at least a few years more. In the last few years adult kids with their own children are moving back. Good internet and a daycare/pre-K has really helped make it more attractive.

I hope ds will come back here. We will build him a house so he can be mortgage free as an incentive. DH works with and is gradually inheriting his Father and Mother's jobs, it would always be an option for ds to do that too.

If all your dc left would you and dh stay on the island?

If ds moved really far away I'd probably move closer to him. But then he's five so I may cut the apron strings a bit more at some point!

Can your family sail to mainland yourselves rather than take expensive ferry?

We can. We have a power boat that gets there quickly but we're in the process of swapping it for a sail boat. That will take longer to get there but it's comfortable for us to sleep on so it saves on hotels when we need to stay on the mainland.

Do your dc have more freedom than living on mainland?

Not quite yet as he's 5 and still prone to do some stupid shit but in time, definitely. Kids walk to school on their own very early here. Already we can do things like let all the kids go off and play in the kids zone or playground while all the parents have dinner. There's no way that would happen on the mainland.

Kids from a bigger age range play together too. The older kids all look out for the younger ones. DS goes to daycare pre-K with babies from 6 months so kids grow up learning how to be more patient and responsible for younger kids.

Island kids are generally a lot more mature than their mainland peers. They also mix with adults more (no babysitters so they go to dinner whenever you do).

@TheoneandObi I used to! I should start again. It's nice to look back on!

@IvanaPee they do a bit. But they mostly stay on the island. DS has a lot more mainland friends than most of the island kids his age. I made a huge push to get to know other parents on the mainland when he was a baby.

They do need something for teens to do on the island. But then thinking back to the youth clubs I my youth, forced fun never really works!