I tried to buy an island once.
Well, I say try. I mean threatened.
Back in the late 90s, just before the first dot com crash, we were all going to be millionaires. And, as farcical as it sounds now, at the time, we were watching it happen. Employees all over the Pacific North West were working at a successful dot com until their stock options vested and then, see you later alligator.
So, because it was the 90s and we were twenty-something assholes, whenever work got too stressful, we made it a point to bring up windows with both the current share price and whatever it was we were going to do with our millions.
Me, I was going to buy an island. Now, the two things you need to know are, one, it’s a lot cheaper to buy an island than you’d think because, two, developing and maintaining a residence on an island is a lot more expensive than you’d think. But it was completely doable if you were a late-90s dot com millionaire.
But let’s suppose that you, with your dot com stock options cash out, made it to millionaire status but the thought of spending your entire fortune figuring out how to get fresh water to your island sends you into the cold sweats, because, ugh, management.
Then you might start looking at, say, Belize1. Specifically, newly developed cays in the gulf of Mexico with satellite t.v. and high-speed internet. And did I mention the nearby golf course, year-round SCUBA diving, and easy access to American banks? Well, this beautiful, carefree expat lifestyle could be yours for a mere three-hundred thousand dollars. A pittance, really, when you’re a late 90s dot com millionaire.
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