This is an overview post for the whole month. It will also help to introduce new members to the ideas we have had so far. If you have been in touch with the project, some of it might be old for you, please excuse us if those parts are boring.

The official census is here , add yourself over there.

There are two meetings in a week, on Monday/Thursday starting from 9pm East coast time for US and 10 pm for GMT 1 in the IRC chatroom the irc logs are accessible from here

It all started from here after this guy came up with the idea.

We quickly gathered about 1800 members and got this and this from the admins. The second time we hit the front page with this and gained additional 1000 members.

We now have our own Facebook community page as well, and wish that you all would join us there

We are governed at the moment by this document

A mission statement proposal:

Reddit Island will establish a resort located in the tropics, preferably with a retreat nearby, with the potential to establish long term residency. The members of Reddit Island will own the organization and fund the initial cost of the island and all subsequent activities and services that it must provide in order be financially sustainable and do so without degrading the surrounding ecology and environment.

Price: Estimated 250k US$ for construction of accommodation up to 100 people and 500k for the island, preferably with a financing, possible for up to 60-70%, with usually yearly percentage for a bit less than 8 in Panama, if we should lack the funds.

We try to look into ways of getting outside financial support for other stuff like a boat, equipment, solar panels, furniture and etc. We are looking for companies who are willing to offer discounts, maybe some are even willing to give away free stuff for publicity. If you have contact(s) with suitable companies, let us know.

Location: Tropical The locations that we have seen as most suitable for our needs at the moment are in Panama, in the Bocas del Toro archipelago and Philippines in the Palawan region. The last has some considerable cons concerning the legal situation and access to the hospital and airfields so it is not considered as the primary target at the moment. There are couple of other good locations, in Brazil and elsewhere but we feel that Panama offers the best return at the moment. There will be an survey started on tomorrow, Thursday the 13th May and it will show the overall attitude on this question and many of the small details we feel worth asking. The islands can be found here and are complemented often.

The perfect island should be not too far from a bigger settlement and close to some other islands preferably, for supplies and accessibility, but also because of the scenery and shelter from the sea and storms. The island can be shared with other people, given we can remain sufficiently separated.

Size: At least 30 acres, because we need room for ourselves and future additions and would be nice to have some extra wilderness with trails. Preferably 60 acres. This is a smaller problem on shared islands where we can hike on land not owned by us, but on those occasions, clear "border" areas will be designated.

Infrastructure: A small dock/pier. Main house for administration and communal dining area with kitchen and extra nearby buildings with rooms (dorms) for tourists/community members. Small nipa huts (in the beginning 15) for rent and members. A bar and a meditation retreat shall be built as well, for relaxing the mind. Overall projected costs, 50k $ for main house which would include the first huts and in the region of 60-70k for all together.

Electricity: 70k for 12KW nameplate capacity, and 40k for 8.6KW nameplate capacity, satisfying the needs for up to 60 to 100 people, in tropical conditions(ie. no a/c but a ceiling fan, communal washing machines, no toasters or vacuum cleaners and etc) with 17KW propane powered backup gen like this for 10k for gen and two week supply of propane, for starting up and emergency occasions. The main electricity supplier would be solar panels, like these, with up to 10x400W small wind turbines like these for reloading the batteries (in the night time) Cooking: there will be cooking stoves that run on propane as well. There will be heated (lukewarm) showers by the solar panels and bathrooms either in the huts or nearby.

Water/Sewage: Pressurization tanks, chemical metering pumps, submersibles, pipes, lining, skimmers, sedimentation tanks will set us back by 40k, plus 10k for transport and chemicals.

We would get Pump-tank-air compressor-chemical metering pump & (for a very small unit) 55 gal barrels of chlorine for up to 10 000 GPD (up to 20 people) - with a footprint about half the size of a football field. Waste water for 10,000 to 50,00 GPD(gallons per day - for 20 to 100 people) is about the size of a football field.

We would own a small boat for people transportation and rent a barge for the construction phase. We would operate a vegetable garden and a orchard with lime and mango trees and Coconut palms and etc, with possible on site distillation of rum and beer for personal consumption.

The organization structure is not yet set in stone but should the island be in Panama, as it looks at the moment, we will create a Corporation in Panama which will take about 7 days and hold the money before buying in escrow account, so there will be an added security layer and more trust in the enterprise. The land, when it will be bought, should be preferably titled, or on some conditions might be partly in the process of obtaining the title. There wont be private deed to land, the corporation will hold it. The board will be chosen by the members of the project and there shall be limits on the size of the shares one member can obtain. The minimum price for buy in projected at the moment seems to be 1k $ with considerably bigger amounts getting some privileges and possibly more access rights, decided by the members.

We are assuming at the moment that there will be outside backpacker tourism allowed and we would rent out huts and dorms for them, with prices up to 100$ for night for the biggest huts with most amenities. The members can bring in friends and they will get a smaller price. The members have priority for reservation and half of the accommodation options are reserved for them, unless its a special time, like the founding festival, when the huts and dorms would be only for members. There would be a designated camping site and local scuba diving operation, although probably that would be not owned by the corporation, because of safety and liability considerations. If in Panama, there will be a zip line nearby, and possibly built on our territory in the second phase of the construction. There are turtles, bats and sloths and all sorts of other mammals, not to mention small poison frogs in rainbow colors. (almost harmless as the poison is unable to enter the body of humans, unless it is pierced through)

The travel to Panama will cost up to 500$ to US Redditors and up to 1k for Europeans. There will be two daily planes to the Capital city (100$) and a ferry route(1.5h & 3$) and bus(8.5h & 23$) overland from the nearest city, Almirante to Panama City. There is a newly renovated airfield in Bocas del Toro town on Colon island and small hospital. There is also a hospital in Almirante (45 min) and fully equipped one in Changuinola 4h away. The recommended procedures are here with cheap weekly anti-malaria pills available.

The Bocas del Toro town (pop 3139) itself has three different PADI dive shops, many different styles of restaurants, a deep sea fishing outfit, numerous sailboat and catamaran cruises, mountain bike and moped rentals and a lot of fabulous seafood.

There are no hurricanes in Panama, as there are in the Central America and about one storm in a year. It's true Panama weather may be free of violence but it has a long rainy season - it can last up to seven months - from May to December. However, rainy season is actually something the local inhabitants and many of the transplants look forward too. The Hollywood image of torrential down pours for days on end is not correct. Yes, when it rains it can come down in buckets but most showers last for only a few hours sometimes just a few minutes, and happen typically in the night time . Even in the middle of rainy season it is typical to have beautiful sunshine for at least half the day. In June, July and August it is not uncommon to have many beautiful sunny days with a quick shower now and then.

The Philippine islands, while beautiful suffer from the lack of legal options, ie, foreigners can not own the land unless in corporation where the majority stake belongs to Filipinos and must lease for 25 or more years. Also, the access cost for international and local plane tickets for US based Redditors are up to 1k $ and about the same or more for Europeans. There are also few hospitals nearby.