By Lisa Keys - Weekend Magazine - July/August, 2006

No matter how bucolic the location, most second home owners complain about the noisy neighbours, Saturday-night traffic and the telemarketers who are still within reach. So how can you really get away from it all? Consider an island of your own.

…”You have to prepare a bit more, but once you’re there and you have everything you need, it’s a really nice feeling,” says Krolow, whose passion for islands led him to create Private Islands Online, a company that markets private islands. The site currently has about 300 active listings for mini (and not so mini) island fiefdoms around the world.

…Privacy is usually the primary reason to buy an island, but you need to think about what might happen when you’re not there.” Fewer eyes on your property means fewer people are looking after it,” says Krolow. Some less affluent private island owners opt for temporary structures that can be removed when not in use; wealthier owners, on the other hand, usually hire a caretaker to help maintain the property year-round.

If you’re serious about a particular island, be sure to conduct due diligence - as with any real estate purchase, that means hiring a professional to inspect the land and researching local zoning laws. You should also question any nearby island owners for helpful hints - and do some soul searching, too. Is total isolation really your idea of bliss? Are you willing to live part time in a place that’s only accessible by boat or plane? Are you organized enough to plan ahead for a weekend’s worth of entertainment, meals and emergencies, or are you too dependent upon your local multiplex and 24-hour grocery store?

Most of all, try before you buy…

(Weekend Magazine’s article included Seldovia Island as its opening photograph. Alas, this beautiful island was not credited in the photo. So for anyone who is wondering about the island, here it is.)

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