Converations Overheard On The Island

In my experience living on an island, the stories people tell and the exchanges people have here are often different than most of the ones I remember from living “off-island.” Islands tend to be filled with destination movers, or people who move there for the place itself, instead of moving for jobs or family. This difference often plays out in, among other things, the discourse. I was reminded of this yesterday while out shopping.

We were in Dollar General, otherwise known as “The General,” or “The General, The General” in the Island family, for reasons known only to LCB, who could also be called He Who Renames Things For Entertainment Purposes. We don’t know why he does this, but we just accept it, much like one accepts a weird twitch that develops in a much-loved pet. It is what it is.

So, we were in The General, at the checkout lane behind a lady who was drilling the cashier about all the places she had lived before moving to our island. The cashier proceeded to list a series of places she had lived, all of them either islands or coastal areas. Then, they went back and forth for a minute, each explaining which places were their favorites and why. The cashier had lived for many years in Hawaii, which the lady in line had visited multiple times, and she made a comment about how she’d love to live there but would probably only be able to afford a room over a garage there.

“Oh, it wouldn’t matter. You wouldn’t care if you lived there,” the cashier said, and smiled.

“You know, you are probably right,” the lady agreed, after a slight pause.

When we were in the process of moving to our island, but still in Chicago, I felt like somewhat of an anomaly. In Chicago, we certainly were surrounded by people who had moved there from around the globe, but most had done so for things like careers or educational opportunities. And of those who did move to Chicago as destination movers, often loving the big city meets Midwestern mindset feel of it, many did so knowing the city fairly well prior to their move, often having traveled regularly for years from their smaller Midwestern towns to visit Chicago, and thus having a decent feel for it before they moved.

On the three Carolina islands I’ve lived on, however (more on that as the prequel continues), I’ve found myself surrounded by many who picked up and moved here for the place itself, sometimes with little prior knowledge of the island. These are people who are excited about trying something new, something foreign, something that sounds different and maybe more exotic than what they knew before.

I’ve heard stories of people who’ve picked up their inland businesses and moved them to the island, people who came for a summer and decided to stay, people who one day just decided they wanted to live where they vacation, and people who bought their island homes as second homes or investments and who, after a short period of time, decided to make it a more permanent relationship.

So, in the daily activities on the island, I’ve found it’s not uncommon to run into kindred spirits, people who know firsthand the apprehension you may have initially felt considering a destination move, the complete joy you felt in actually doing it, and the realization that the joy transcends the apprehension, in the end. And, islanders may love where they are and have no plans to leave, but they still tend to get excited by talks of exploring a new place, even if it’s a vicarious excitement more than anything. The naysayers, then, are few and far between.

So it is, with impish delight almost, that I listen to such conversations going on around me and even participate in many myself. There’s an energy here, a zeal for place that flavors the island experience.

Now that I think about it, you should try it, this half-baked idea of moving to an island.

Once you’re in, the water’s sublime.