40-year-old left the U.S. to live on a ‘stunning island' in Japan for $710/month: ‘We're so excited about our future here'
40-year-old left the U.S. to live on a ‘stunning island' in Japan for $710/month: ‘We're so excited about our future here'
In 2021, my husband Evan and I sold our house and urban farm on the outskirts of New Orleans. We spent the next year and a half traveling through Mexico, before arriving in the fall of 2023 on Ōmishima Island in Japan's Ehime Prefecture.
We bought two abandoned "akiya" houses for a total of $26,000, and did the work to renovate both of them. Today, we own a guesthouse, our primary residence, and a small, growing honeybee farm.
For our monthly expenses, we pay about $40 for the internet, $15 for water, up to $120 for electricity and $10 for gas. We spend about $400/month on groceries, and $100 for our phone bill. We have a small truck that we bought for $2,000 and pay $300/year for car insurance.
Altogether, our lives look completely different than they did three years ago. We adore living on this stunning island, and we're so excited about our future here.
We fell in love with the island sight unseen
We knew that we wanted to live in a rural area with mild winters and a steady flow of tourism. We came to Ōmishima sight unseen, with the intention of staying permanently if we felt a connection. We realized very quickly that our instincts were correct.
The island has a population of a little over 5,000 people, living among several villages. In our neighborhood, everybody knows everybody.
This is partly the reason we were welcomed so warmly. When we meet people, they've already heard of us from a friend, or they know we did a favor for their relative. We've only been here 18 months, and we already have a great support network of friends and neighbors.
Ōmishima has perfect spring and autumn weather, with reasonable temperatures extending into December and January. February is the only cold month, but it still doesn't snow. I love that things move slower here.
A day in the life at the guesthouse
Our alarm is a twinkly song that the village plays over outdoor speakers exactly at 6 a.m during the week. The music usually wakes up our dog, Bosco, and our orange cat, Ponkan — he is named after a citrus variety that grows on the island.
Each day is different, depending on whether we have guests checking in or out, and the needs of our bees and crops. The majority of our work day, though, is scheduled around guest departures and arrivals.
I clean the guesthouse by myself, which takes a few hours. We have a clothes washer, but it's common in the Japanese countryside to hang laundry to dry, so on sunny days, that's what we do with guesthouse laundry.
After guests let themselves in, I give them a quick tour and answer questions. I really enjoy meeting new people and hearing about their travels, so greeting guests is a highlight of my day.
Our buzzy routine on the farm
We do everything on our farm by ourselves, including planning, making our own compost and biochar, planting, weeding and harvesting.
Our work on the honeybee farm includes hive health inspections, monitoring colony growth, building hive boxes and, of course, harvesting and processing honey.
Our local honeybee mentor has given us suggestions to help battle the most surprising seasonal task. Giant hornets can destroy a whole colony in a matter of hours, so during hornet season, Evan starts every morning with a visit to our honeybee yards, badminton racket in hand to swat away any "morning scouts."
This winter, our farm focus will be continuing to restore abandoned land. We still have lots of decades-old brush and debris to clear. Each time we expand, we need to extend the wild boar fence!
We have unparalleled views …
The islands are small but have steep mountains, so there's a unique and beautiful combination of forest, citrus orchards, rice paddies, beaches overlooking the calm inland sea, and Shimanami Kaido, the famous white suspension bridges connecting the islands together.
The neighboring island Hakatajima has a viewpoint in Hirakiyama Park that I love. In early spring, you can climb a tower and look over endless cherry blossom trees, with all the islands in the distance.
Ōmishimafuji Park has a long arch covered in wisteria — which honey bees love, so we are considering planting some ourselves.
… and delicious food
The island has many great restaurants, and a lot of them are run by husband and wife duos like us.
Some of my favorites are Ino Ino Stand for local wild boar hamburgers and gyros; Country Time for coffee and fluffy egg sandwiches; and Kitsune no Botan for unique Japanese dishes in a traditional izakaya setting.
My ultimate comfort food is okonomiyaki.
The ingredients can change, but it is typically shredded cabbage held together with batter, cooked on a hot grill table or teppan. For filling, you can have pork, shrimp, squid, or octopus, with dried fish flakes, dried seaweed flakes, okonomiyaki sauce, and Japanese mayonnaise on top.
The community has made us feel so at home
We found Bosco living under another abandoned house next to our property. Ponkan had been living around the island convenience store, surviving on the generosity of travelers.
I love animals, and thanks to ours, I got involved with One No Wa, the dog rescue on the island. They're amazing people: They even run a coffee shop where people can meet the adoptable dogs.
We like to take Bosco for a walk in the evening. It's fun to meander the narrow village roads and find new paths.
Our neighbors will often be out as well. It's an opportunity for exercise, as well as for visiting and sharing news. While we were renovating the guesthouse, several neighbors would gather out front every evening, checking on the day's progress.
We feel safe enough to keep our doors unlocked at all times, and we even keep the key to the ignition in our car hanging off the turn signal. Everyone looks out for each other here and knows each other's names.
Our life here is so rewarding, and our friendship with our neighbors is one of the the biggest reasons why.
Dani Benton is an award-winning photographer and the owner of Dani Benton Photography. She lives with her husband Evan, cat Ponkan and dog Bosco on Ōmishima Island, in rural Japan. Together, Dani and Evan run Benton Guesthouse and their growing honey business. To learn more about their homestead and home renovation experience, follow them on YouTube and Instagram.
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