Grow to be A Castaway: Rent Your Own Island

“Look what I have produced. I have made fire!” I know, it is cheesy, but I can’t help bursting out that line from “Castaway” each and every time I get a campfire going. At least, far more often than not, I’m being a dork in front of far more than just a volleyball (if that’s any consolation).

Regardless, so quite a few stories like that ignite our fantasies, do not they? None a lot more so than our superior friend Robinson Crusoe (hell, Gilligan even had a dedicated fan base, suitable?). Who wouldn’t want a tropical paradise? Let’s see . . . a white sand beach all to your self as far as you can see, crystal blue waters at your toes, and no possibility of overhearing any late night shenanigans coming from the honeymoon bungalow next door. It appears dreamier each time I think about it.

That’s just it. The easy adventure, great isolation, and pure freedom have a real alluring sense of romance about them. The Sydney Morning Herald took a look at how possible becoming a modern-day Robinson Crusoe in fact is. It turns out, this concept may well be easier than we thought. So get your old volleyballs ready, we may well be sipping piña coladas out of coconuts just before we know it.

You can take your pick of islands all over the world — in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, off the coast of Canada and Africa. There is even a range of accommodations, from low-key beachside bungalows to pimped-out, five-star individual resorts.

Let’s start there. According to Private Islands magazine, The world’s most expensive island is Six Senses Soneva Gili Resort in the Maldives. For a cool $1 million bucks, 100 people can live for a week in their pick of one of 44 over-water bungalows, eating gourmet feasts and scheduling massages in the glass-floor spa.

Not your style (or cost)? Me neither. How about Wilson Island on the Great Barrier Reef (how’s that for the Castaway theme?). 12 men and women can split the $4,134 per night cost tag.

Still too much? Our own Luke Armstrong rented the small gem in the leading picture. “On a boat tour on lake Nicaragua, the tour guide offered to rent my friend and me an island on the lake. We accepted. Then went to hostels and bars and got about a dozen people to come to ‘our’ island for $10 (we pretty much got the whole $200 bucks paid for) and everyone got genuinely drunk. I do not don't forget a whole lot, but I bear in mind wondering if this guy with out shoes genuinely owns the island . . . and bug bites, I keep in mind lots of bug bites.” Luke, I can only imagine what that invitation may possibly have sounded like.

The bottom line is this: whether or not it’s a lighthouse island in Norway, eco-islands near Zanzibar, or even that island Richard Branson rents out in the Bahamas, just know that it is attainable — for the appropriate price.

Before you jump at the chance, though, just a couple of words of guidance may be in order: do not forget the bug spray, practice some really annoying (but fitting) movie quotes just before you go, and do not ever forget that you’re on a deserted island (you’ll have to ask Luke about that one).