The rise of remote work has been notable since the pandemic. People appreciate the flexibility of working outside traditional office spaces, whether from home or other locations like a local library.
In a documentary featured on the YouTube channel Exploring Alternatives, Marjolein provides insight into her life on an isolated island. She mentions, “about 5 km in diameter and there’s no villages or roads on the island so all the transport is done by boats.”
The footage reveals beautiful scenes that embody the ideal of a dream island. Marjolein appreciates the advantages of living entirely off the grid.
Discussing the Mentawai Islands, she notes: “the Mentawai Islands are a chain of around seventy islands.”
The remote setting offers the couple near-constant access to activities like surfing and swimming.
Marjolein highlights the benefits of her island lifestyle: “What I love most about living here is the sense of independence. We can provide our own electricity, our own water, our own food and that’s pretty cool.”
Their mutual love for surfing brought them together at a surfing resort. However, while their island life might seem like a dream, Marjolein candidly admits there are challenges.
One such challenge is finding reliable cell phone service, complicating communication with mainland friends and family.
“To actually order stuff from the mainland, we have to drive out with our small boat, find some better signal try and send a message to the shop on the mainland,” Marjolein explained.
“[Then we] hope that they’re online wait for a reply and yeah… that can take days just to order one little thing. So that’s why things don’t really go so quickly here.”
Additional challenges include unpredictable weather, the presence of dangerous snakes, and the scarcity of other people, which can make life isolating.
There’s also the aspect of loneliness, a factor often overlooked when envisioning ideal island living.
Marjolein reflects on the solitude: “Since we live so remotely it can definitely get a bit lonely at times and that’s not always easy”.
“I would say for me that’s definitely one of the biggest challenges of living here.”