Answers to Contest-Part 1

Paul B. from Gallant, Alabama asked: Living in what many, including myself, would consider Paradise, what is your greatest hardship??

I've been trying to think of the easiest word to sum this up, and I still don't know that it's the best one, but Dallas and I both feel the greatest hardship is 'accessibility'. Whether we need parts to repair gear like the truck, trailers, boats, kayaks, or camping gear (anything and everything in between), or we are just wanting to go to a movie (no theatre), buy a fresh set of sheets for our beds, indulge in some Fast Food (none on the island) or a specific brand of a certain item...it's just not easy to do down here. One of the funniest things some of my friends and family have been shocked over is the fact that there is no Wal-Mart here! LOL, always gets a reaction. Sure, there are somethings that we can get here that would fill the needs we have, but we would pay a lot more for something that may not be higher quality, if we can even get it, and then, you don't have the choices...you either buy it or you don't.

Now, having said that, I honestly don't mind have only one or two options on things like spaghetti noodles or baking flour, or milk, because having 15 choices for each item you are shopping for isn't always a good thing. It often took me a lot longer to shop with that.Quick example, I have about 2 choices of deodorant down here. Neither of which I am crazy about if I can help it. So, I like to buy my deodorant when I'm back in the states or over in Nassau. I spent literally 15 minutes trying to pick out my deodorant the last time I bought some because of all the choices. It was so overwhelming to see so many. And I grew up in the US, so the island life is still relatively new to me in that sense...but it is crazy how soon you learn to adapt to your surroundings and then get overwhelmed by something that used to be the norm.

 This photo above is of one of our mail boats that comes from Nassau twice a week. This is the LIFELINE of our little island. This boat brings our milk, groceries, mail, building supplies, cars, people...pretty much everything. It even brought us our Christmas tree a couple weeks ago :) We have another boat that comes directly from Florida each week as well which brings a lot of stuff that you can get in the US and not in Nassau, or if we order something online we can get it to us that way (after spending a fortune of course). I ordered an office chair for me so I could have a real desk to work from, and a rug for the boy's room well before Christmas. They got to us last week, and after I had to pay the $87 shipping fee, $50 broker fee, and the $176 Customs & Duty fee, I definitely paid more to get the items here than I did for the items combined. SO THAT REALLY STINKS!

Obviously, this is a topic that can sort of send me off on a tangent if I'm not careful, so I'll leave it there :) I think you get the idea though. We have also obviously chosen to live here and run our business from here and raise our children here in spite of this hardship, so it's one of those things that we eventually learn to deal with and figure out ways around it. For instance, I was recently shown a website for free woodworking plans online, and I've been drooling to get going. I've completed my first project, and am over half-way through my second project... so I may  not be able to buy the nice furniture that I would really love to have (I wouldn't be able to do that in the states either though), so I'm learning to build some great pieces that I will appreciate more for the hard work going in to them.

Hope this answers your question Paul... I'm making my way through the others!