For some of us it is just a dream to live on some far away exotic island. We think it would have to be like paradise. The beautiful beaches, the palm trees, the wild birds and hidden animals screeching in the day and night, must be an ideal life of leisure surely. When we envision it we would be lying about in the sun on a hammock, swaying gently between two trees enjoying the warm ocean breeze. We think we would wile away the days picking up shells along the shore without a care in the world and everywhere else would be insignificant to us and our island life.

There are islands in the world where that kind of life still exists, but one would probably die from eating only coconut and heaven help you if you did not know how to fish. If island life like that was so perfect, then why do portrayals of people marooned on them always indicate how desperate they are to be rescued? The truth is that most of the islands in the world today are crowded with people for the most part. The Hawaiian Islands are some of the most loved in the world and many people move there to live permanently. The solitary, peaceful life we dream of might be a little hard to find there because many of those island are so populated and have busy cities like Honolulu.

Living on a small island anywhere in the world might seem dreamy, but actually it could be frightening and dangerous. The Hawaiian Islands specifically are formed from volcanic eruptions and there is still activity going on there today. The risk of some wild tropical storm is always possible. How much would it take to wipe them completely out? When you look at a world map and see their actual size, it does not look like it would take too large of a disaster to do just that.

There are risks to take with a natural disaster of some kind almost anywhere in the world you might choose to live. Desert areas have extreme droughts with no rainfall. Tropical jungles have a threat of wild animals, mosquitoes, and tainted water. Mountainous regions have big snowfalls and freezing temperatures. Areas near rivers and oceans alike can be flooded. Even in sunny California or the beautiful state of Tennessee you can live on fault lines where an earthquake can happen without warning.

When you stop and think about it, an island surrounded by water is likely to be as safe to live on as anywhere else. Evidently millions of people world wide think it is because they would probably not want to live anywhere else than there small spot of paradise no matter how vast the amount of water is that surrounds them.