I sold everything I owned on eBay to buy deserted island in the Caribbean & have no regrets – but here’s what I missed
A BRIT who sold everything he owned on eBay to buy a desert island following a divorce admits he has no regrets but admitted he missed some things.
Ian Usher, 60, sold his Australia home, along with his possessions and used the six figure sum to buy an isle off the coast of Panama in the Caribbean.
He was left with just shy of £200,000 and decided to fork out on the island off the Central American coast.
There he lived an unconventional life – having to grow his own food and do without water or electricity but he insists he had a blast.
He explained on Channel 5 documentary Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild that he missed his family and wanted “a better internet connection”.
Ian, from County Durham, confessed he missed “an evening out with family and friends at a good English pub on a Friday night”.
His partner Vanessa joined him to live on the island shortly after the pair hit if off while meeting back in the UK.
The whirlwind romance saw the two, who met on a brief trip to London, shack up just two months after meeting.
He sweetly revealed that Vanessa moving in with him made solitary island life much more enjoyable.
Ian also mourned the loss of his jet-ski but Vanessa was more fussed about missing out on a “London-style cappuccino”.
“There isn’t really much I miss at all. I enjoy living a relatively simple life.”
He revealed he had 10 chickens roaming free on his island to leave him with “totally organic” eggs.
When he didn’t fancy sorting his own food out he’d have a local fisherman visit his house to sell him fresh produce.
“Sometimes the locals will bring freshly caught fish to the dock for us to buy.”
He also admitted: “We’re not completely self sufficient here on the island.
“We do grow coconuts, pineapples, yukka, sugar cane and almonds but we haven’t yet perfected the art of growing other vegetables on our land.”
The self-described “adventurer” says he enjoyed a lot of time pursuing outdoor activities such as climbing, canoeing and diving” on his island.
Quick to embrace island life, Ian spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach and waking up between five and six in the morning.
Ian had access to two nearby supermarkets and the pair would go every 10 days to stock up, just a 20-minute boat ride from the nearest town.
In 2015, he sold the island to go travelling with Vanessa after seven years.