Are you trying to escape from a stressful life?
Remote location is not the answer!
We’ve all been there - keeping a busy schedule, having poor work life balance, trying to meet constantly shifting city life demands and managing an overwhelming amount of responsibilities! Sometimes something just snaps and we need to escape, leave all that behind, find a new purpose. A vacation in a beautiful remote location is ideal as it calms the mind, disperses stress and often helps put thoughts and feelings into greater perspective. A trip to the mountain tops, a forest, a lakeside or a remote island might be just what many people need, but is moving to such a location permanently really the answer to all your long-term problems?
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18 months ago James and I left a capital city in South Wales where we had full time jobs to come and settle into our new life on a remote island in Orkney. For as long as I remember we always had a dream to live in the countryside and have a smallholding where we can become a little more self-reliant and achieve a greater quality of life together. I can actually find email conversations James and I had back in 2010 where we mention that living on a remote island would be a dream come true! I guess dreams really do come true!
Land in the UK is pretty expensive so Orkney was a great opportunity as the property prices due to its remoteness are fairly reasonable. The move was great and we quickly settled into our new lives, so moving here turned out to be the best decision we've ever made. We now live surrounded by sea and open fields, untamed wildlife, beautiful nature and we both feel that we found home that we were looking for. Many of our neighbours have become our best friends and I think we all agree that our island is a small piece of paradise on Earth!
However, during our time here we have met many people seeking similar life who sadly didn’t find what they were hoping for. Some people came and then quickly abandoned their plans and left and some people came but now can't afford to go back anywhere else so become noticeably sad and withdrawn. I was observing this trend and wondering to myself why that happens.
The main reason things don't work out for many people is that they think that coming to an island paradise will solve (or absolve them of) all their problems. It seems perfect - tranquil, quiet, remote, private - I can definitely see why someone would think that coming to Orkney (or in fact, any remote place) will be their escape. However, I noticed that more often than not people bring their own poor attitudes and feelings with them and realise that the problems they were faced with were never external, but derive from their own actions, words and feelings about various aspects of life.
Coming to a remote island to escape problems only seems to intensify feelings of stress, fear, inadequacy or loneliness. The island offers no amusements or distractions and people are often left alone with nothing else to do but to face reality and their inner feelings, which can make them feel even more confronted by their unsolved (childhood / financial / relationship / self-esteem / you name it!) issues.
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It is sad to see, but from my observation and experience, I learned that wherever you move or whatever you do, you will always have your own thoughts and feelings with you and unless you learn to cope with your issues, there is nothing you can do to escape them. The key to a happier life is not finding a peaceful or tranquil location, but finding peace and tranquillity within yourself.
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