This remote island sounds idyllic, but it is very hard to move to
When it comes to finding your dream home, you have to take several things into account.
Firstly, you’re going to consider how commutable your house is from work or if there’s good schools nearby for your kids – if you have them, of course.
So, how about a place where it takes six days on a boat to get there and is approximately 6,407 miles from the UK – though it is still technically part of Britain?
After all, you’d still have a British postcode if you moved here – but it appears as though you’d need more than just UK citizenship to settle down here.
Fancy moving almost 6,000 miles away from the UK? (Dimitry Malov/Getty Images)
The island we are talking about is Tristan da Cunha, which is located in the South Atlantic Ocean and is extremely remote.
It is 1,732 miles away from Cape Town in South Africa and 2,454 miles away from Mar del Plata in Argentina.
As you might expect, the island is sparsely populated, with only 236 residents, according to their website.
All of the inhabitants carry British Overseas Territories citizenship, and with only 10 families living on the island, everybody is pretty familiar with each other.
Because of this, residents feel very comfortable in regards to the island’s safety.
When being interviewed for a BBC documentary, Britain’s Treasure Islands, in 2016, one resident said: “You can let the children go anywhere, I mean anywhere.
Tristan de Cunha has only eighty families currently residing on the island (David Forman/Getty Images)
“We don’t bolt the door or lock the door, we leave our windows open, we leave our doors open. There’s no locks at all.”
Sounds pretty idyllic right?
Well, don’t start looking up visas just yet as it appears that the only way you’d be able to call the island home is if you have an existing ‘family connection’ there.
On the island’s official website, it reads: “Immigration to Tristan is not possible unless you already have a family connection with the island. Even then, there are certain restrictions on residency. It is not possible to buy real estate or property on the islands.”
Moving to the island is an extremely tough job – and that’s because there aren’t any there.
According to the website, very few expatriate jobs are available and they’re fixed term contracts.
These contracts generally last for two years and are professional jobs such as doctors, education advisors, and conservationists.
Job vacancies are shared between two to three times a year, but applicants must be in good health, speak English and have the qualifications required.
If you were thinking you might want to visit Tristan, then it won’t be smooth sailing to do so.
The only way to get there is via boat.
Most ships heading to the island depart from South Africa and take almost a week to arrive.
