Since we have been social distancing for almost five months, it has made our lives feel disconnected from each other. A whole season has passed.

Recently my family traveled by ferry to access a small island of less than a thousand residents. Our hope was to be able to have more freedoms to enjoy a vacation.

The hotel was family owned. They just had to rebuild destroyed parts of the hotel from a hurricane last year. The island had been completely covered in four feet of water.

The residents own and run the businesses there to support the tourists. There are no schools. Children on the island go to school online.

There are no hospitals or doctors offices. Residents have to ride the ferry for an hour to go to the doctor or hospital. or be airlifted out.

There is no large grocery store just a convenience store, so residents grow a lot of their own food.

The fire department is volunteer staffed by residents if the need arises.

Jobs are created by the ferry which runs back and forth every half an hour, or by the hotels, restaurants or stores that are on the island.

The island is small enough that you can ride your bike everywhere on the island or get around by golf cart.

The stores are filled with local artisans. There is local musical and literary talent as well as wood and pottery working and all natural beauty and health products.

The residents live simply. Life is focused only on the important things that are required to sustain life or involve personal relationships.

The island is so isolated that pirates hid among the small islands there. You have to be a content happy person without a lot of outside sources to depend on for your personal happiness to thrive in this type of environment.

So why did it take a pandemic for the rest of us to figure out what was the most important priorities of our lives?