Living on a Scottish island

[Keeplookingforwards]

Tell me about living Island life!!!!!

How is Island living?
Would you recommend it ?
Up sides and down?

The best and worst ?
COL is it massively higher than say rural highland mainland
Is everyone friendly to “outsiders”

Would like as much chat/info as can muster lol

Not really an AIBU but here I am 😊

Not an island but we’ve just moved - and only part time- to a very remote spot; one immediate neighbour, next ones are 10 mins drive away and shops forty minutes away.
We’re hustling! Literally everyone we meet we’re ‘bringing our game’ being chatty asking questions.
We’re going along to every local event and working the room- I’m dragging non dancing DH to a ceilidh night because I know we have to mingle. Rocking up with a car full of ‘bought elsewhere food’ and isolating is not an option. Even if we don’t need anything we stop at the community shop (20 mins in the opposite direction to the shops mentioned upthread) every time we pass to chat and buy something.
In the Tamsin book she gets absolutely scrutinised about children. It’s a painful read but what the islanders mean is are you going to stay and will your children keep the school open.
I’ve stayed on Lismore and loved it- made me realise though that living and visiting are very different, I didn’t recognise much of what she talks about in the book- it’s not that she’s an unreliable narrator more that you don’t know somewhere until you’ve lived there.

We holiday on Skye regularly and often stay in a cottage which is ten miles away from the nearest shop and pub and an hour and a half round trip from the nearest decent sized supermarket in Portree. Brilliant for a truly get away from it all holiday but would not want to live there.

I think you've had some really good advice and pointers on this thread. I'm from an island, but I live elsewhere now.

I've recently moved from a big city to a smaller community and a lot of what is being said here could be applied to where I am. What I'm saying is that it's an issue everywhere, but certainly acute on the islands. I can afford a house here with my city income that a local person with their local income cannot. That's an issue that I'm part of because I'm priced out of the city, but I'm pricing out someone here.

My biggest piece of advice is to allow time, people might be a little standoffish because they might not think you'll last etc. I think just showing up to stuff, being consistent, being open and friendly will all help you integrate. But expecting open arms and to have a big group of friends in the first year might not be realistic, no matter where you move to.

Depending on the age of your kids, this might hold a key to meeting people. But if they get a bus to school, then your time at the school gates as it were is limited. Plus no one hangs about to talk in a howling gale and in the dark (it gets dark early in the winter).

I too had a very misspent youth, I drank a lot, went about in boys cars, took recreational drugs. I was bored out of my mind.

These days, they'll rely on social media etc

My mum sees a private dentist in Glasgow - on the rare occasions when the boat's running and my brother can pick her up at Ardrossan and drive her there. Fortunately she's only needed a check up recently, not any urgent treatment.

Don't underestimate how long it takes to get anywhere. We live near Bristol and it can take us 12 hours by road and sea to get to Mull. On the map what looks like A roads in the Highlands and on the islands are often single track roads with passing places and with sheep everywhere!
It's also multiple train journeys to get to the ferry port at Oban (Although I have known the ferry to wait if the train is a few minutes late).

@nameXname im so confused. 😂
I know it’s more than scenery
My dc has high ambition they would like to go to veterinary school . The comments on education unsettle me all over .
They are no stranger to gaelic so they would be in gaelic school
I think my job would help the community not so much as a dr or dentist but an advantage all the same .
My dc is sociable so would like clubs etc but not someone who needs to be with people all the time . Neither am I.

We love outdoors. .

I would just be nice not to be kept outside the community . I do see why islanders are protective .
I love Scotland and i feel the same about it .

I have no interest in changing anyone or their ways .

This! We’re just an hour from Glasgow which I remember as being a short drive to Oban. Thought about revisiting Lismore, which is the very near and accessible inner Hebridean island I’ve stayed in and it’s 4 1/2 hours away 🤯

@OP I honestly wish you and your DC all the very best - and I don't wish to be confusing!
Re education, as you know, that's a much wider issue across the whole of Scotland at the moment. I don't know about senior schooling arrangements on Lewis, I'm afraid, but hopefully other posters can provide up to date info.

Knowledge of Gaelic = a great advantage. It's great that your job will be community based. I didn't wish to suggest that you personally would want to 'improve' things, but it's surprising how many newcomers have tried, over the years. And blocking off footpaths to ensure 'privacy' is a really big issue, though perhaps more in the Highlands than the Islands.

@Kerflapperty's advice is excellent.

@Kerflapperty I too had a very misspent youth, I drank a lot, went about in boys cars, took recreational drugs. I was bored out of my mind.

Much Anxiety over this already lol
The highlands I feel has the same worries.
My thinking, it says central mainland then what temptations and obstacles are there .

Is there more for kids to do or more temptation.
I supppse my rationale thinking tells me having a. Teenager anywhere is terrifying tbh .🙈

The problems faced by local people living in places where lots of "outsiders" want to come and live/have a second home/want a holiday home to let out/visit as tourists, etc, are of course widespread and well-documented.
The Scottish islands are the issue in this thread, but the same problems exist in places like Cornwall, the Lake District, and places outside of the UK such as the Canary Islands where local residents have been protesting.
Local people with "ordinary" jobs who aren't high earners are being priced out of their home area by wealthier "incomers" buying up the properties.
But what occurs to me when I read about this subject, is this - "aren't local people who sell their homes to non-local people, part of the problem?
By now, homes being bought by "outsiders" may be being sold by people who were originally "outsiders", but at some point back in time, a local will have sold their home to an "outsider", and started the ball rolling, as it were.
And people will say that if they can get more money that way, who can blame them?
But the fact remains that, at some point, locals began selling to non-locals.
Local councils make rules to try to deter non-locals, like doubling council tax for second/holiday homes, but I don't know how this problem can be fixed, or whether it's even possible to do so.

Teenagers will push boundaries no matter where you are, I guess just be aware that you don't escape it there. We had to travel miles to get into trouble, but we did it!

@KimberleyClark i know Skye well . I wouldn’t chose there tbh .When I went 25 years ago I loved her place dancers in the street, bag pipes in the local pubs it had a great feel .
Now I don’t feel it has much there . It has a whole different feel .

It’s very popular with tourists now for sure .

I wasn't making any comment regarding who is to 'blame' for this, just pointing out that it can be an issue, and of course you are correct it's not only an island issue.

Exactly this.
Teenagers are teenagers wherever they live and if they want to push boundaries they will do it!

Rave in a shed anyone?

'You must know what I mean ?
Richard Branson may lol and a few others

I suppose I just think we live in a beautiful
country and why can’t we enjoy it whichever part they may be. .

Im not going back to the history of the highlanders loosing their homes or talking about the main subject on everyone’s lips these day , the second home owners .

I mean it’s a free country .Its really not for anyone to dictate. . Richard Branson may lol and a few others

I suppose I just think we live in a beautiful
country and why can’t we enjoy it whichever part they may be. .

Im not going back to the history of the highlanders loosing their homes or talking about the main subject on everyone’s lips these day , the second home owners .

I mean it’s a free country .It's really not for anyone to dictate.'

This is an entirely egocentric and arrogant answer and I suspect you may be the sort of incomer that does NOT get on particularly well with the locals . If you can't wrap your head around the issues these island communities face and how romantic minded 'tell me the positives, I've watched a great vlog' incomers can have a negative impact then you're really going to struggle. You need to go to these places open and flexible - not deciding you already know best

Exactly this

Re: “we should blame villagers for selling their houses at high prices to outsiders, since they could, after all, just choose to sell at a lower price to a local instead.”

Let’s say I choose to be altruistic and sell my house to a local person at a low, fair price.

Maybe six months later, that local then turns around and decides to sell it at a high price to an outsider, making a huge profit. So the house I originally owned has still wound up being sold to an outsider anyway - all my altruistic gesture has done is made me look like a bit of a mug.

This kind of altruism will only work if everyone trusts everyone else to do the same thing.

I think people replying to this thread need to be clear about whether they currently live in a Scottish island community, have done previously, or are merely stating opinions based on other experiences (a lot have said, but some with strong opinions haven’t).

I live on a Scottish island. I have children. I work here in a key worker role.

My opinion is that you should treat yourself like ‘an incomer’, for your own sanity. This is all about ego after all - you ARE an incomer. Why do you want to be otherwise? I am an incomer. Both my mother and my father’s families come from this island, and…..? I am an incomer. It’s not an insult. I think a lot of the pain comes from this desperate need to be seen as a local. In reality, it only takes one generation before you’re forgotten, enjoy your life. Of course you’ll be accepted if you integrate and get involved. Will this make you a local? Who cares! That’s different. You’ll have friends, acquaintances and neighbours and if you’re a decent person they’ll appreciate you and you’ll appreciate them.

Practicalities are important, but mainland life isn’t that easy either (I believe winter also happens there) so it’s about what kind of sh*t sandwich you’re willing to eat, based on your own needs and preferences.

Transport - I’d think seriously about moving somewhere you’d like to regularly leave, as life with kids means to a certain extent you’re staying where you are. Inevitably ferry issues happen over school holidays (esp the much needed Feb half term). How adaptable are your kids to last minute cancellations of trips? Island life does require (and also breeds) a certain resilience to change.

Kids - mine are happy at the moment and that’s all we can ask. I think as long as you pay attention, most issues can be headed off. Potentially kids may leave home sooner than I did for example as I stayed at home for uni, that’s sad but maybe good for them.

As for wider issues, housing etc, that is something that will affect you as much as the current residents and it’s something to be sensitive about. I’d head to Twitter and join the local FB groups as it won’t get much worse that that! These are not true reflections of day to day life - even the locals will eye roll at the moaning threads on there, but there is always a grain of truth.

You’ve said it’s Lewis you’re thinking of - join the Hebridean Hub on FB.
Follow the author of the National article posted above and read the replies to her posts.

Ultimately you’ll probably have to try it and there are no guarantees of acceptance anywhere, I think you’d be fine.

@KeinLiebeslied54321
.........I didn't use the word "blame", and I certainly wasn't "having a go" at you - I'm truly sorry if that's how it came across.
I was just thinking about how this problem may have started, and putting the issue into a wider context.
It's a complex issue, but FWIW, I'm firmly on the side of outpriced locals, and actually feel anger on their behalf.

@user1477391263
You haven't quoted me verbatim, but you have got the gist of what I was saying. I was trying to put into context how this problem may have begun way back, because at some point locals will have started selling their homes to non-locals, so they were/still are, part of the problem.
But you're right of course. What I believe should happen is totally idealistic, (and, as you say, altruistic), and won't happen - doesn't mean to say it wouldn't be nice if it did!
We do have to live in the real world, not some magical kingdom where people are always nice to each other!

I have to say reading this would put me off ever going to the western isles!

I'm born and bred Orcadian but moved away to go to University and never went back to live, however my family still live there so I go back regularly. The ferry service is reliable (I checked the figures, 3 % of Northlink crossings are cancelled, usually due to bad weather), and I've never heard of food shortages due to the ferry being cancelled, unless you're talking about minor stuff like the supermarkets (Co-Op, Tesco and Lidl) running out of a particular kind of salad leaf.

I recognise the distrust of outsiders but if the OP and her family are from the Highlands she would be treated with far less suspicions than e.g. a couple from Surrey. A southerner marrying into a local family is OK as well. Agree about being useful to the community. Teachers, doctors, dentists, and vets all welcomed with open arms. But if you're living in the town of Kirkwall (population ~10k) that's a different experience to if you choose to live on North Ronaldsay (population 72).

It'll be a helicopter flight too, for medical purposes.

I didn't think you were having a go.
I just wanted to point it out as an issue without starting a debate on why.

@JaninaDuszejko our local co op and then the next one are down to very little in high season so something that’s pretty normal already .
Its sounds more extreme though if a ferry delivery is cancelled .

Some people could never live in the highlands, I suppose when you make these decision it’s because the good highly out ways the bad .

What on this thread outs you off ?

I know highland life can be tough but it’s something I’d tell everyone to do if they could .
I think I expected a few posters to say how lovely it was ( maybe they don’t want to tell anymore people ) 😂