The town is called Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. There used to be Royal Mail Service from S. Africa and I think it was discontinued.

(I've seen some documentaries about it on TV).

Ascension Island is not quite as geographically isolated and has a bit more population but also in the middle of nowhere with more of a transient population. It's economy is a bit more vibrant than Tristan da Cunha, it has facilities manned by people fulfilling government and military functions (I believe for mostly the UK and US). Another documentary I remember watching once. And different from Tristan, it has a landing strip. Tristan doesn't.

I moved from Seattle to a tiny town in WA near the Canadian border and considered THAT to be in the middle of nowhere! Maybe 200 people, few ever moved in from elsewhere and they liked it that way. Interesting to think about the gene pools in isolated places, tho there are few as isolated as your island, at least geographically. I suspect that there are many places on Earth with limited mobility of their residents - who stay where they are for many reasons.

The entire population was evacuated in 1961 after a volcanic eruption. They were resettled in England not far from where I lived at the time. They returned home when the island was safe.

What language(s) do they speak? I understand there is an entire community of Welsh speakers in Patagonia.

I believe the answer for both islands is English.

I would never, ever consider living in a remote area, a rural area, a small or even "smaller" town, or anything of the sort.

I'm a denizen of populated areas. I enjoy taking advantage of the diversity of people and activities of all kinds, retail and restaurant options, access to developed and organized outdoor activities, entertainment and other options that populated areas offer and areas with substantially lower populations don't to the same extent.

Another factor for us was education options for our kids. It's rare for areas of lower population to offer a variety of higher quality schools that more populated areas more typically have. We didn't want to raise undereducated small town kids with small town perspectives. Nor did we live in a dangerous inner city. There's a balance, of course.

I wonder how those of you living in rural areas or small towns successfully dealt with this problem.

I'm like Elmer. I live in an area between two large cities, Seattle and Tacoma. I don't want to live "in the city," but I enjoy the amenities that large cities provide. Access to fine dining, theater, arts, music, entertainment, outdoor activities, etc, along with all the diversity that comes with it. Plus better healthcare nearby.

I would die of boredom living in a small town that didn't have the things I listed.

"Plus better healthcare nearby.

I would die of boredom living in a small town that didn't have the things I listed."

X1000.

Especially access to expert healthcare that becomes so essential as we age.

Living as I do in a relatively rural county north of Seattle living more or less remotely doesn't necessarily mean that. We have what is called the PNW bump. You can access amazing health care because really good doctors live here because of the ambience. My amazing surgical gynecologist lived on the sound where he could kayak off his property in a perfectly beautiful place. My original Oncologist would cause future doctors to drop their jaws that I had been his patient. And then there are the mountains. It is a beautiful place. If I had had kids I would have done plenty of home teaching to supplement the schools. Mostly to make sure they knew there was more to life than the local teachers would tell them. Today those limits are gone. We have the internet and education at your fingertips.

I agree Patricia, quality of life means more to me than living a longer life in a concrete jungle.

" I agree Patricia, quality of life means more to me than living a longer life in a concrete jungle "

What kind of professional occupation did you have?

" If I had had kids I would have done plenty of home teaching to supplement the schools. "

I forgot to comment on this.......

These sound like words of someone who didn't raise children, didn't have to spend time helping find for them better (and avoid poorer) schools, and lacked any personal background to assess the outcomes of kids whose parents who took a hands off approach.

And without such exposure to understand how the quality of the schools matters, was not in a position to assess poor outcomes and the train wrecks caused by parents who thought home schooling was a solution.

Circling back to the community Toronto Veterinarian posted about - I can’t even imagine living in that kind of isolation. An island with no airport. Can a helicopter land there? Would it have the range to fly there & back? Thinking about medical emergencies of course. That’s a problem if the only way out for help is a 3,000 mile trip by boat. That’s very different than living in a remote but land locked ”relatively rural” area. And yes - what’s the gene pool? It’s kind of mind boggling.

As far as quality of life measurements - I think the proverb ’Different strokes for different folks” fits here. I also think that the things we count as important to our quality of life measurement change over our individual lifetimes. It serves no purpose to cast aspersions on where or how someone else chooses to live.

The population of Tristan da Cunha was evacuated to the UK because they were, and are, British citizens. They speak English. I remember seeing the women in their traditional white knitted stockings around the area. When it was deemed safe to return to their home they were given the opportunity to stay here if they wished. Most voted to go home. A very small number of youngsters stayed and started families here. The Island has its own website if people are interested in finding out more.

Tristan da Cunha Attractions https://share.google/M9oeqlvR5LEN1uOXQ

Sorry, Elmer, you can indeed raise well educated, well read, articulate, very well balanced children in very small towns and rural area. I know personally such children who have gotten into Harvard, Vassar, and my own son and his children are excellent examples of motivated, intelligent, knowledgeable and dare I say, impressive, people with very wide range of interests and skills, all from small towns in very rural areas.

You couldn't pay us enough to live in a big city.

Architectural Digest featured Tristan da Cunha here. Its history is so intriguing.

I think dismissing people who live in small towns as inherently undereducated paints with too broad a brush. It also overlooks the fact that some of the most specialized centers of expertise—like the Mayo Clinic—thrive in those very settings. It seems presumptuous to assume that success, intellectual depth, or sophistication are tied to population density. Surely, the definition of success is far more nuanced than a zip code.

" some of the most specialized centers of expertise—like the Mayo Clinic—thrive in those very settings. "

No, the Mayo Clinic "centers of expertise" aren't in any small towns in the US - those are medium sized cities of about 100,000 people. The Mayo Clinic Heath System owns a bunch of small family clinics around the country, but those are family clinics, not "centers of expertise".

A lot of this discussion is based on the very flexible definition of what someone considers a "town", a "small town", a "city", or a "big city".

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK - thanks for posting link to Tristan. Interesting reading the section on births / deaths. The obits provide a peek into how life is lived on the island. Seems the births take place in Cape Town so that’s where the islanders go for major medical. The obits reflect many living long lives. Also read many references in the obits to ”the volcano”. One man’s obit mentioned he & his brother were the only two members of his family to return to Tristan after ”the volcano”. Many references are made to the 1961 evacuation & ”after the volcano” or simply the ”period of 1961-1963”. The tourism links make it clear that tourism is an integral part of the island economy.

Elmer, there are school teachers who have no children. Some how they manage to teach.

Now you ignored the PNW bump aspect of my original comment. It is a verifiable reality of this area. Very highly qualified people live here because they want to live here. When I lived up valley we had professionals living in our area who commuted to Seattle for work. They did that so they could live where I lived.

We are supposed to be having a discussion here. You seem to be bent on taking exception to the experiences of the rest of us. Since you haven't lived even slightly remotely how could you possibly know what is possible. Well you could gain some knowledge from those of us who have. I have lived in a lot of different places and while none of them were more than a couple hundreds miles from someplace larger there would be people with kids managing just fine.

Living in a city does not guarantee stellar schools. I was finishing high school in one of the larger cities in Florida and the local school district lost their minds and were experimenting with an open concept elementary school. No class rooms, no inner walls and no designated schedule. Students were to follow their bliss and sit in with what ever group struck their fancy. My youngest sister went there. No grades. You would get placed in a "pod" or "Patch" like pea pod or carrot patch so you wouldn't have the stigma of being advanced or remedial. It took maybe a week for every kid to know the realities of what that meant. Local real estate plummeted as people were bailing to move school district. Interesting.

Elmer - your AH is really showing today.

I live 20 miles outside the metro area and can drive to one of the top medical school hospitals in the country in 45 minutes. My PCP lives 5 miles from me and doesn't seem to have a problem living rural. He prefers it just as many people do.

That wouldn't seem to be "middle of nowhere", likely within commuting distance to a presumably more robust job market and all the services, activities and opportunities that don't exist right down the road from you.

The plains states, including yours, have plenty of wide open spaces and remote communities that are more along the lines of what I was referring to in a discussion of remote places.

Give it up Elmer.

First you cant keep moving the goal posts. Why do you get to define what remote is?

You do not get to dis my experience because you have none.

What do you call limited resources. Did I not give you an example of living in a major city and still lack resources? It can happen anywhere.

The idea of aggrandizing, or augmenting you child's education is not some sort of one off. People do this all over the world. Living in an unusual environment would certainly be worth it for the kid. To grow up knowing there are other ways of being is priceless. Book learning is easy. My knowledge is first hand

Patricia, save your energy. This happens on most every thread. Putting down other people's experiences, mansplaining, criticizing, etc. And the arrogance at a life and experiences that he thinks are better than others. No matter how many times he's called out for it, he just doubles down and returns for more provocative jabs.

I know it's hard, but like it's been said repeatedly on other threads that he's dominated, it's best to just ignore and scroll on by. He responds to comments calling him out with more vitriol, so I'm really confident that my comments will provoke him to continue that pattern. He isn't capable of scrolling on by himself.

No, seph. You tend to have different temperature settings, this one is not hot.

patricia, is there a term that expresses without respect the opposite of "small town mentality", the phrase that refers to uninformed, provincial or even insular perspectives? Why might there be one and not the other?

I'm glad I live in "color" and not in "black and white". I prefer nuances in my life. Variety is the spice of life, as the old saying goes. There is no one way to be.

I know but I still have to say it. Someday........

My favorite is explaining we all cant live where Elmer lives. If we did even he would not want to live there. He never gets it. I guess in his mind we are doomed to an inferior experience no matter what. Oh well.

FLAG!!!!!!!

Patriciae, see, told you. So predictable. Knew he couldn't not return to continue sniping and insulting. We just need to accept his opinions of everyone here and realize we're pathetic and second class. Someone with as great a need to be right is never going to respect anyone else's perspective or ideas.

Why he continues to come here to belittle and insult - mostly women, is baffling. Inferiority complex comes to mind.

Elmer, I read your comment to DH and he said Heh??? I do not get what you are talking about. and he couldn't explain it to me either. ?????? What on earth are you talking about.

apparently I have missed something here though. Gad.

Education, exposure to a diverse range of things, training, experiences, all shape the adult. I'm sorry, living in an area with limited developmental opportunities limits what a child is exposed to and how they can be nurtured to soar.

my son was raised in a tiny country town of 1500 people. it's as rural as it gets. i can safely say that he was most assuredly NOT exposed to a diverse range of things, training experiences, etc. he had a grand total of 25 in his high school graduating class. he went on to go to law school. upon law school graduation at the top of his class, he landed a job with the attorney registration and disciplinary commission where, after a couple of years there, he was offered a job as a research staff attorney for the state supreme court.

after a few years, the director of the research department retired and my son was offered the job. he loves what he does and he's very good at it. he works closely with the supreme court justices when they are in session. he's been at his current position for 28 years now and will very likely retire there.

he would scoff in the face of someone who might "feel sorry" for him because he missed out on opportunities that someone thinks he needed to become well-rounded.

" You seem to be bent on taking exception to the experiences of the rest of us. "

Same old, same old.

As I said, the geographical distriburtion of intellectual potential is of course spread from sea to shining sea and everywhere in between.

Is your son's Supreme Court place of work in your town of 1500 people? His law school?

Elmer, why does that even matter? Are you living in the house you were born in? Probably not, not that there's anything wrong with that. If Ninapearl's son received a good enough education in her small town, what does it matter what he does next? I don't understand you. Even people living in teeny tiny towns can have fabulous lives. What does it matter?

Even for those not wanting to acknowledge my points, I really have nothing more to say.

I will take that to mean that you read everyone's responses and decided you were wrong but you don't want to say so. It doesn't hurt to say you were wrong and are sorry.

Wrong conclusion on your part.

Is your son's Supreme Court place of work in your town of 1500 people? His law school?

your only response to my post is a couple of sarcastic questions?

"I really have nothing more to say"

Promise? 🤞

And yet another of 10,000 threads that end up being all about him.