We’ve all had dreams of being on a tropical island while Pepe the Cabana boy waits on us hand and foot! But what if we really were stranded on an island, and without Pepe, what would you need to survive?

It might be a far stretch to think you’d be comfortable, however your resourcefulness would be a determining factor on this adventure. Maybe you have a friend with you…that would be fortunate. Someone that could take care of everything you couldn’t. And, you could do the chores that they were unable to. A division of necessities!

What would be the essentials you might just happen to have with you that would help surviving be just a little more comfortable. Maybe how you got there would be a factor. What could you salvage, presuming your boat ran aground, or drifted off course….Or maybe, an emergency (soft) landing on the sand was necessary, and unplanned!

What would you do for food and shelter? We are going to say, this adventure would be on a tropical island, with lots of fruit dripping from the trees. Then food clearly wouldn’t be an issue, but what about water? With all the lush fruit, there must be a water source. But where?

This is where your resourcefulness comes in. Remember when you were a child, and you had a very active imagination? Pretend you were once again playing with your friends in a big wooded back yard. Your imagination soared, and you could come up with all kinds of things to do, and games to play. This is the time you need to pretend you were that age again, and find water, food, and something to build shelter out of. Shelter might be the easiest thing to do. What would you need to do all this?

There are things to be salvaged from a boat or plane. Maybe pillows or a blanket or two. There could be all kinds of things to salvage that had never occurred to you as being of necessity. But then you’ve never been stranded on an island before.

Ok, so a knife, preferably a big knife, or a machete. That would come in handy cutting fruit off trees, and cutting palm fronds to make a shelter. It would probably take a bit of time to get organized and put all that together, but once you did…just think of how good you would feel to have accomplished shelter for yourself. Maybe while you were at it, before you collapsed out of exhaustion, to help your friend put together their shelter as well.

If I were doing this today, it would take me years to accomplish. But remember this is fantasy! And both or all of you will have enough energy to face each day, harvest food, make a shelter, and, still look for water.

While thinking about this, never go into the jungle alone! Mother was right, always use the buddy system. “Safety comes in numbers,” Mother would say, and I now believe Mother was right. This trip is not for sissies, and we are all bad ass women, but safety really does come in numbers.

Just about the time you’re about to give up, you hear something. It sounds to me like a waterfall, or running water. Thank heavens, water! Did you find anything to put fresh, clear, cool water into? It might be a good idea to keep something with you to keep water in should you actually find clean water to drink. So that’s another thing we will most definitely need….a container to keep fresh water in.

Now our list is growing, we need:

1. Knife/Machete
2. Blankets/pillows
3. Container for water
4. Food/water
5. Shelter¹

The last two depend on how resourceful we can all be. What can you salvage? Think about the possibilities, think of your younger self, and how you use to play for hours on end just being a kid! Playing in a total fantasy. Kids are good at this, and I remember spending hours just playing with my sister in our huge back yard. We were always pretending we were in a jungle with wild animals lurking behind the big trees. We were clever though, we were never eaten or even attacked!

I’d say rope or at the very least string would be helpful to tie together the palms for our shelters. With enough fronds we might even be able to make sides for our shelters.

Has anyone found a radio, or a phone that might be of help getting us off this island? That too would be a huge help. It’s possible at the moment we have not been labeled as missing!

Sooner or later it would dawn on us that being able to catch fish to eat would increase our choices for food. So a pin, or paperclip, even a fish hook might help with a string tied to a pole so you could fish, that would help! None of this would be easy, survival isn’t easy. It’s stressful, and scary, but I have no doubt that each and every one of you if challenged with a survival situation would be able to survive. You’d have your moments, but it would pass, and soon you’d pull your big girl panties up, and get it done! Yes! Each and every one of you!

Before you get rescued, and you will get rescued, you will have pulled it all together, and set up a fairly decent, and comfortable camp.. It might take a few weeks to be found, but you will be found.

When the whole thing is over there will be dozens of opportunities for talk shows, and news hours will want to interview you to find out how you did it. You might even be offered a book deal. How cool would that be. It all sounds overwhelming, but again I promise you it can be done,…..by you! It could help to get your friend or friends together and write a book together. Collaborate on a book, make it fun instead of reliving a nightmare.

I thank you for coming along on this fantasy journey. Just remember, you can do anything even at our ages. Hugs to all of you, Karen