Couple who have been living off-grid on a remote tropical island for THREE YEARS openly discuss their biggest challenges

Living off coconuts, collecting rainwater and no telephone signal: welcome to island life.

Surfers Marjolein and her partner An star in a documentary in which they talk about how they left all modern conveniences behind to live off-grid on a tropical rock formation on the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia.

In the short film of Explore alternativesthey tell us what their daily routine really looks like and how they survive by living off the land.

Marjolein, originally from Belgium, explains in the introduction: ‘We live on a small island in Indonesia. The island we are on has a diameter of about 5 km and there are no villages or roads… so all transportation is done by boat with locally handmade wooden boats.

“We’re completely off-grid. What I like most about living here is the sense of independence. We can provide our own electricity, our own water, our own food, and that’s pretty cool.”

Surfers Marjolein and her partner Star in a documentary in which they tell how they left modern conveniences behind to live off-grid on a tropical rock in Indonesia

Marjolein, who is originally from Belgium, explains in the introduction: ‘We live on a small island in Indonesia. The island we are on is about 5 km in diameter and there are no villages or roads’

The couple says one of the things they love most about island life is a “sense of independence.”

The couple met while working at a surfing resort on another island.

But in an effort to try something different, they quit their jobs at the end of 2020 and bought the plot of land where they now live.

Luckily, An is a skilled woodworker and builder and he set to work building a small wooden house for them to live in.

In the film, Marjolein explains that the biggest challenge of building on the island is the logistics, as everything has to be transported there by boat, “even materials that are sourced locally.”

She adds: ‘Then all those other [building materials] those needing to come from the mainland must come by ferry that comes once a week.

‘Then we have to pick it up from the ferry, but the problem is that we have no internet, 4G or telephone reception here.

‘To actually order stuff from the mainland, we have to go out with our boat, try to find a better signal and send a message to the store on the mainland.

‘[Then we] hope they are online waiting for a response and yes…that could take days to order just one little thing. That’s why things don’t move so quickly here.’

The couple met while working at a surfing resort on another island

The couple built a small well on their property that they use for showering and washing dishes

To power their construction tools, the couple has a small generator and also a small solar panel with a battery to charge their devices and for lighting at night.

But Marjolein notes that they will have a ‘larger setup’ on the island ‘soon’, with more solar panels on an outbuilding.

When it comes to food supplies, the duo picks up some groceries from a store on a nearby island and also forages for fruits and vegetables, with seasonal produce including bananas, mangoes and durian.

For proteins, Marjolein says they are ‘heavily dependent on the ocean.’

She adds: ‘We go fishing about twice a week. We usually spear fish. We also have a casting net and a hand line.

‘Since we don’t have a refrigerator, we usually smoke the fish in our traditional Mentawai kitchen. That is an important part of our setup and it keeps the fish fresh for much longer.

“We also have chickens for their eggs.”

For protein they are ‘heavily dependent on the ocean’ and go fishing twice a week

For drinking water, the couple collects rainwater that they pass through a filter, while they have dug a well on their property for showering and washing dishes.

When it comes to food supplies, the duo picks up some groceries from a store on a nearby island and also goes out foraging for fruits and vegetables.

For drinking water, the couple collects rainwater and runs it through a filter, while for showering and washing dishes they dig a well on their property.

To make life on the island even more comfortable, the couple is currently building a larger house, complete with terrace, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

Marjolein talks about the construction project of the house and gives the viewers a tour: ‘WWell, right now we’re putting all our time and savings into this house.

‘WWe are now very close to moving, we We still have to paint one or two walls and then we also have to put all our furniture in, but that’s quite difficult here.

‘There are no furniture stores or anything, so we either make furniture ourselves or have local craftsmen make it for us.’

Although she loves island life, Marjoein says the hardest things are the unpredictable weather, the threat of deadly snakes and the lack of people.

In an effort to connect with other people, Marjolein recently started documenting her and An’s journey and adventures via YouTube

Although she loves island life, Marjolein says some of the hardest things about it are the unpredictable weather, the threat of deadly snakes and the lack of people.

She muses: ‘Because we live so remote, it can be a bit lonely sometimes and that’s not always easy.

“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges of living here for me.”

In an effort to connect with other people, Marjolein recently started documenting her and An’s journey and adventures via YouTube, on their channel called @OnsIslandLife.

She concludes, “It was really amazing to be able to share this lifestyle with people all over the world and connect with people.”