February 13, 2010
When the "unsinkable" Titanic sank, there were not enough Lifeboats.
The lesson learned back in 1912 was - more lifeboats - which became Maritime Law.
The lesson evidently not learned was; the large and unsinkable can sink and they still are; evidence the true state of affairs in our homelands. The lifeboat concept makes perfect sense for unsinkable ships, so why not apply this sound lifeboat logic to unsinkable countries?
Big countries sink too.
History is full of countries going down, taking their populace with them. It is probably easier to count those countries that have not yet gone under than those that have taken their people into wreckage. The study of how and why that happens would take too many pages to get into in this short essay. Facts are; it happens sooner or later as history has shown and safety in numbers of passengers doesn’t apply to sinking ships. We are all in the same boat. Countries don’t provide lifeboats for their public, so that would have to be left up to each family or individual to secure their own.
Like the Titanic passengers, we are told that it was just a bump, and with a little "Change" we will steer right out of this chilling experience. To what degree is the damage to our homelands, there are a lot of arguments. There are many below decks that are scrambling and bailing, while others are still dining and dancing above, oblivious. Yes, fresh ice, just delivered on deck, how amusing. When you hear, "we’re shrinking, not sinking" we are suppose to feel better as that is just in opportunity, income, quality of life, security, and certainly freedom. Shrink or sink, when it starts to stink, why sit there risking the uncontrollable events as they will affect you? Consider a lifeboat, a safe haven from what may be unavoidable and looming.
What does a lifeboat for a sinking country look like?
Pick up any tropical travel or resort hotel brochure and note the white sand beaches, blue seas and balmy-palmy breezes. The life boat I am talking about is a place in paradise that for just $3,850 USD actually rivals first-class on the “ship of fools,” as some have called our homelands in these insecure times. That may be too harsh, or it may be truer than we want to believe. In any event, to have a safe and secure place that you can run to that is insulated from any homeland fall out, even "fallout," that you could immediately settle in and commence living like you were on a holiday, is a very good idea.
The naïve that thought that they were immune from calamity or losing their jobs that have met with that unfortunate reality may identify with this concept of having a back up or "lifeboat" at hand - just in case. Having a lifeboat haven offshore is a form of buying tangible insurance, a real place to live in paradise, and I know of one place that for under $4000 USD you will have a situate to build a home that very likely will be a substantial improvement over where you live now. Consider the irony of the lifeboat being more lavish than the ship. You can be assured that the clean air, clear skies, the view and ambiance will be a significant improvement.
This is how it happened to us. We left (what once was) an expensive home in our homeland, even with a modest view, and wound up in paradise with a multi-million dollar view in an area of sheer bliss and with more house than we needed, and more food growing for free around it than we could eat. And, the price was a fraction of what the typical home back home cost. A refuge sanctuary doesn’t have to be a hideout shack.
We decided to stay in paradise, found a fun way to make a little money, (you don’t need much) and settled comfortably in our lifeboat with feet up and glass in hand. We would regularly muse over our putting up with our constant bailing to keep from sinking back in our homelands. Of course, we didn’t know any better then. And then, when our governments started bailing too, that was certainly a warning signal to man the lifeboats. As it turns out, the lifeboat idea can become your new ship. While ships are shrinking and sinking, lifeboats are sailing off, leaving them with all their trappings behind. It’s like people with lifeboats in paradise are going to Heaven while those unaware of their sinking are - not. The difference between the two ultimate destinations is huge. Of course, you don’t really get that until you are paddling Madeline to the white sandy beaches of Utopia.
New friends, new adventure, and new found land are not really new ideas. New York, New Zealand and Newfoundland are examples that prove that point. These places were the lifeboats of an earlier time. History does repeat itself, which is the problem here that we are trying to solve for a savvy few.
Since your otherwise meager retirement check can go a lot further in purchasing-power in paradise, anyone with $1500 USD per month lives like the rich. Many live on less than $800 per month and you can live on less than half of that if you grow your own food and build your own home. Homes can cost from as little as a few dollars, if you gather your own materials (palm leaves) and build your own 100% traditional fale or bure as they are called out here. The costs go up from there for a more western style home, but nice to know that in the worst case scenario, you can go native and have a real roof over your head in no time should you have to jump into your awaiting lifeboat without notice.
Some of these lifeboats not only have the view, but the look too. There are some bargain homes in these parts that would cost millions back home. So, there is something for everyone and every pocketbook.
You finally ask; where is this lifeboat located? Tonga is the answer. Google it up. While at it, go to www.cocomovillage.com and check the lifeboat out. You may not have heard of Tonga for it is not promoted like its neighbor island countries. This is good for a lot of reasons, and mostly because it keeps the prices down of about everything, to include the cost of land and living.
The benevolent Kingdom of Tonga is where you can afford to live and are allowed to live. Securing a beautiful place to build a home, even a modest one, is the lifeboat. There are lifeboat choices, but one stands out.
Cocomo Village on the beautiful island of Vava’u-Hunga is the choice where for only $3850 USD and $348 per year, you can secure an incredible place to live, to build a home with a view and security second to none on earth. The home sites on this island are located high up on the island’s huge barrier cliffs, out of harm’s way, yet with no one residing between you and the sea (or behind you either). These incredible home sites safely command awesome views of the ocean and island group of Vava’u.
So, why so cheap?
The prices are cheap for land in Tonga because, like so many places in the South Pacific, you can only long-term lease land in this country. 99-years is the maximum term allowed, but one can renew. With our personal longevity increased from living a more naturally stress free life, eating perfectly natural foods - who knows - see you in 2109 at the land office?
The offer at Cocomo Village is particularly inexpensive because it is basic with no man-made frills of promised Dubai style kinds of common areas. At Cocomo there are no non-natural community swimming pools, gymnasiums, huge halls, helicopter pads or any of the superfluities a developer might need to offset what nature didn’t provide in setting. In Cocomo Village, nature abounds and offers many swimming pool choices in the blue lagoons or the sea. The gym is working in your own garden, climbing the cliffs for fun and walking to the main wharf on the island. The huge hall/community center will be an open under the stars theater with a fire pit in the middle. No helipads, so, you might settle for a golf cart and a boat to ride around in. By design, Cocomo was established such that it cannot fail given there are no big promises to renege upon. Cocomo will not find itself selling people a pipedream of unattainable infrastructure and people paying for what may never be. At Cocomo Village, you get more than what you pay for, not less - nature sees to that.
To summarize this lifeboat concept at Cocomo, for some, just having a place to go for a holiday is worth the investment. The "investment" part of this offer at Cocomo Village is worthy of mention because it is probably more secure and more likely to go up in value than any stock shares these days. You even get ownership in the company that controls the estate when you secure a home site. The prices were set low to entice an initial few buyers and then, given the limited and finite space, the prices will go up incrementally with 20% or more increases on a regular basis. By the time the venture is fully booked, the lot prices will be more in line with what should be the market, about three times what they are now. If supply and demand doesn’t drive them even higher, the Cocomo folks are happy with this minimal plan. With only a few lifeboats available, and 6.5 billion people out there who could probably use one, they are likely to sell out if not by word of mouth, by some promotion being entertained. You can buy and resell the home sites at will.
There is no deadline or requirement to build in any timeframe so one can secure sites now and build later, when you may be better suited. In the divergent way, you can build homes now for resale with no limit except by the availability of sites. Readymade homes will sell as some folks just prefer to have it that way.
The need for a lifeboat in the form of a safe haven makes sense when you realize that in most of our homelands we are subject to peril in the potential loss of any of our lifeline connections to food, power and water. We rely heavily on nothing going wrong in a time when almost everything is going wrong. Homelands are ships of delicately balanced supply lines of our essentials that can easily be disrupted leaving us at the mercy of that which we have a difficult time trusting in good times. In our lifeboat at Cocomo, we have all of these critical things under 100% control since we live in abundance where there is more food than people and we make our own solar power for nearly free and our potable water is our own via the proven and age old catchment systems. In some way we are more advanced in these things than they are back home. When you realize how being in personal control of your necessities for life is part of the lifeboat concept, you will see the need for one. When you get that your homeland ship may be sinking, you buy a lifeboat (just in case). The downside is very tolerable and the upside is a lifesaver. In the middle, it is a money maker if all you do is resell it.
Cocomo is where to go when you see the curtains start to move.
See you in Cocomo. "Get there fast and then we will take it slow, that’s where we want to go…" to Cocomo.
