A woman has moved to a tiny island so remote, she has to take a plane to return her ASOS parcels. Lydia Eakin moved to 2,342-acre island Inis Meain off the west coast of Ireland for her university placement year.
The island has just one pub, a village shop, medical centre, small airport and church. But despite this, Lydia loves the new relaxed pace of life and now takes more time to read, walk and wild swim.
The fashion and textile student can walk the entire length of the island in just 40 minutes. However one of the inconveniences appears to be the small island's remote nature that forces Lydia to take a short seven-minute plane ride over the Galway, Ireland, if she wants to return an ASOS parcel.
The island which has a population of around 200 people is in the middle of the three main Aran Islands in Galway Bay. It has a post office in the village shop but Lydia was unable to get the free return unless she took it to the mainland.
She took the 25-mile journey in a seven-minute flight costing her €15 to drop the parcel at the post office in Galway before taking the 40-minute journey back by ferry. Lydia, a fashion and textiles student at Ulster University, Belfast, said: “It’s my childhood dream to live on an island, but it does take a long while to get deliveries.
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“It took 12 days for the ASOS parcel to even get to me in the first place. I couldn’t return it at the village shop if I wanted to get the free postage, so I decided to fly to the mainland.
“It’s a really quick flight and then I took the ferry back. It’s a very different lifestyle.
“We don’t get any wi-fi but I pay for unlimited data that I can get all over the island.” Lydia moved to the island in June 2022 and has been lapping up the alternative lifestyle.
She said: “I go open water swimming after work at the knitwear company on the island, and sit on the beach and read a book. There is one pub, and they sing traditional music on a Friday.
“The shop and pub are on a road called Main Road.” The village shop has essential provisions, but locals have to place a delivery to get other food shipped over by boat.
Lydia said: “You just put in an order, and it will get delivered to your house. There is a medical centre, but the doctor comes once a week.
“I miss going for a coffee, but it feels very relaxed here. No one is in any rush.
“It’s like getting a break from life. I love having a weekend for myself.
“University life was exhausting. I would spend all week studying and go back for the weekend for my Saturday job and see my family before starting it all over again on a Monday.”
But Lydia now loves spending time enjoying the scenic views and taking the time to go on walks, swims and reading books. She said: “I love being by the sea, the bird song is so loud.
“I had never seen the milky way before, but the stars are amazing. It’s like something out of a novel.”
