{"id":1996,"date":"2026-04-20T19:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/?p=1996"},"modified":"2026-04-20T19:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:28:22","slug":"how-to-move-to-an-island-or-any-small-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/?p=1996","title":{"rendered":"How to move to an island (or any small town)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I recently came across this essay I wrote in 2009 – while this isn’t necessarily a literary essay in keeping with my usual goal for this blog post, I thought you would enjoy reading it. (I edited it just a bit)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirteen years ago this month we found our island home. After a dozen years of living here, from observation and experience, these seem to be what works when moving to a small town:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Don\u2019t expect the community to change, according to what your expectations are. It\u2019s great to bring in new ideas, but these folks have been here for generations, and you\u2019re from where? It\u2019s best to plant seeds, and if they grow fine. If not, it wasn\u2019t meant to be. Learn to know when to share your ideas and when to keep your mouth shut.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Barracks in transition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

-Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. Small towns often have very few people doing too much, so they are often eager for fresh blood to join in and give a hand. But in relation to the first suggestion, make sure you offer what is needed, and listen for a while before jumping in and overwhelming everyone with your great ideas. Also, beware of burnout. Often in an effort to help out it\u2019s easy to get sucked into doing too much too soon.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Time to caucus! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

-Rescue an old house. While this isn\u2019t always possible, it helped in our case. Our house had been abandoned, and was in need of lots of TLC. The community was happy to see that someone cared. One of the first things we did was buy a big green wreath with a red bow on it, and hang it in the window. A fellow islander thought it was a sign that \u201cgood people\u201d bought the house. Although our house will always be known by the previous owner, who had lived in our house for decades, people appreciate what we\u2019ve done with the house and garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A work in progress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-Don\u2019t talk about anyone, as everyone is related. This was a foreign concept to me, as my nearest immediate family member lives in the Midwest, and most of them are on the west coast. While the local people can gossip, it\u2019s not okay for you to. (I know this is generally good advice in life, but especially true in small communities).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Soup lunches are a great way to converse with friends and neighbors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-Be friendly. As my husband says, \u201cA smile and a wave costs nothing.\u201d One of the first things we learned was to wave, wave, wave, even when we didn\u2019t know the person. A friendly \u201cGood morning\u201d is certainly easy enough, and being pleasant is a great way to be accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Waiting on the dock for the ferry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

-Add a child to the school population. While we didn\u2019t do this, families are welcomed with open arms when they bring a child onto the island. It\u2019s also a great way to quickly become part of the community, as you have an instant \u201cin.\u201d If you don\u2019t have a child, a pet is also a nice way to gain acceptance. Our island community loves animals, and our Maine coon cat, \u201cRalph,\u201d was well-known in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Long Island Learning Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

-Laugh, and find humor in people and situations you encounter. We spend a lot of time laughing and not taking things too seriously. Don\u2019t sweat the small stuff, and go with the flow. Forgive and forget. These are all somewhat trite sayings, but really helpful in moving to a small town. The benefits of living with people who grew up together is that you learn to get over grudges and move on.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Celebrating together<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

-Finally, be yourself. People in small towns can spot a phony a mile away. I probably have a reputation for being a bookworm with my nose in a book when I ride the ferry, but everyone seems to be fine with that. Characters in small towns abound, so what\u2019s one more to add to the mix? No one seems to mind our quirks and idiosyncrasies, thankfully.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ho ho ho! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Island living has been wonderful for us, and I hope we\u2019ve been an asset to the community, too. Every day is an adventure (especially riding the ferry) and a pleasure for the senses, with characters and conversations that enrich our lives and make life more interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently came across this essay I wrote in 2009 – while this isn’t necessarily a literary essay in keeping with my usual goal for this blog post, I thought you would enjoy reading it. (I edited it just a bit) Thirteen years ago this month we found our island home. After a dozen years … Continue reading How to move to an island (or any small town)<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[726,723,724],"class_list":["post-1996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-island-living","tag-small-town","tag-small-town-living"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Post-office-ladies-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1996"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2008,"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions\/2008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liclblog.townoflongisland.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}