Island sold!! My new life of freedom.

Congratulations, Ian!!! I so love hearing of how you are doing and your wonderfully written updates! Would love to see your face and meet Vanessa sometime if you ever travel to this part of the world again! Fair winds and following seas, dear friend! 🙂

Congratulations of living the adventure. Can’t wait to read more of where you’ll be, what you’ll see and do.

Hi Ian, great to read about your adventurous life. You remind a lot of my uncle, George Maciunas, who is 1968, together with at-time-unknown Robert Deniro, decided to buy an unspoiled island in the Virgin Ilslands called…. Ginger Island. The plan fell through, not just because the owner died a few weeks before the final closing, but because Uncle George had many adventures that ll pretty much failed, and then he finally died at a young age of 46, after which, it became progressively clear, over the years, that what he attempted to do was incredibly inspiring to many artists, in particular. If you google his name, you will find his interesting connection at the founder of the Fluxus art (or “anti-art”) movement of the 60’s and 70’s. I am an American Lithuanian who has been living in Lithuania (the homeland of my parents and uncle) for the past 15 years, and in about a week, we will have a public, biographical get-together to discuss my uncle’s life and the meaning of “Fluxus” which is a way of life, more than an art movement. I wanted to show a picture of Ginger Island as an old dream of his, but wanted to make it come alive – as a dream that lives today, and is available- today. Ginger Island is still for sale, at over 20 times the price that it was going for back in 1968, but that island has remained unspoiled and uninhabited ever since. It’s interesting that the person that just bought your island off the coast of Panama, has renamed the island “JinJa Island”. Is there perhaps a connection with the Ginger Island in the British Virgin group? perhaps they had considered buying Ginger Island, but found your island much more practical and liveable (hospitable), thanks, of course, to all your hard work of clearing the jungle and replanting edible fruits and vegetables. My uncle had a similar plan to plant groves of nuts and fruits on the island, but unfortunately, it never materalized. He also had a plan to sail around the world in an old out of commission minesweeper with a team he had carefully picked, but they all abondoned him at the last moment and “chickened out” as we say in New York. His other schemes were to buy the lighthouse in the safe harbor of Block Island near Martha’s VIneyard, planning to provide a much needed launch service, which was unavailable in the summer of ’75, when I , as a 16 year old joined the fun in checking out the place (even having to swim ashore to retrieve our lost dinghy in shark-infested waters (the film “Jaws” had just come out that summer and I had just seen it, so yeah….) His last project, was to start a commune, together with John Lennon and Yoko Ono on a sprawling farm in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. That only fell through due to his succumbing, in ’78 to Pancreatic cancer. It was a tragic end to a life well-lived, and right in line with the spirit of what I detect is happening in your life. I see that you have been enjoying great success. God has really blessed you with His grace. That house-sitting idea is already getting me going. Thanks for the tip ! Let God keep blessing you by the Love and Mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen ! -Andy (avalaitis@yahoo.com)

Once again, God bless !

Hi gel in January, we would like to go to Panama, look around. I saw a program in which you were the main character. I envied that I want to settle down. If I’m right, you’re selling the island? I would like to ask for more help, I want to buy something like that, like yours. can you help me with it? Thanks Gabor (Hungary)