生活是片沙滩--海边沙滩生活（下）Life is a Beach -- Living by the Seaside (Part 3)

We spend most of our lives working just to go on brief vacations being on call Essentially seven days a week from 6 in the morning until 11 at night got to be heavier and heavier But what if you could turn vacation into a full-time job? This is something that just shouldn't exist here These travelers made their fantasies into reality and if you want you can follow the yellow brick road This whole island is floating on plastic bottles Escaped a paradise now because life's a beach Amigos, tienes algunas botellas plásticas pa'quí? For Richard Sowa Recycling day is the best day of the week. Gracias Because he's using discarded bottles to build his very own treasure island this whole island is floating on plastic bottles there's about a hundred and sixty thousand I Was living in England working as a carpenter for 13 years, so that life wasn't for me So I gave it all up moved to Mexico and built this Richard created his own private island from scratch one bottle at a time in Isla Mujeres, Mexico Isla Mujeres is on the corner of the Yucatan Peninsula Just at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico about seven miles offshore from Cancun In most countries they don't really recycle and so stuff is coming down the rivers into the ocean and Washing up on the beaches give me trash we can make more Greenland Back in the northeast of England got to the point where oh my god All the honking horns and the city noise and the smell of the fumes That life wasn't for me And I realized I had to get away from the cities and look for a more natural peaceful laid-back way of living But Richard didn't just want to escape to nature He wanted to create his own Eden and he found the perfect model in Mexico's ancient floating islands And my fantasy or my dream was to build a floating island Somebody showed me the floating islands of the Aztecs they made them on bales of reeds And I'm like, whoa That's kind of the idea that I got it's in this country already so in 2005 with just enough money for airfare Richard headed to the coast of Mexico to see if his vision would float When I arrived at Isla Mujeres, it became obvious to me that this was really the place This lagoon here the mangroves all around the edges give a lot of protection and the waves Stay small even in a big hurricane With the perfect place to anchor picked out Richard set to work building Isla Mujeres is first and only Floating island didn't really need any money to begin it. The materials are all around They're all in these fruit and vegetable sacks just like this The first layer is bags of bottles tied under old shipping pallets It's a bit like a lasagna in a way because we've got the layer of floatable trash and then a layer of sand We can just keep layering it up Trash earth trash earth. It all gets routed through with trees that weave through the bags to bind the whole face together and it just gets Solid it just feels like land Richard built his floating foundation completely for free and it's still growing Any trash that I generate I just put right back in the island This little heart-shaped island is about 30 meters long and about 25 meters wide right now By registering his man-made island as an ecoboat and anchoring it off the shore. He doesn't pay a penny In property tax or docking fees. I don't pay rent. There's no tax. I'm just very thankful of these things Richard has all the comforts of home completely off the grid solar power Running water and Even a wind-driven washing machine. We're washing clothes With the wind heated up by the Sun Look at that go My hope is to be totally self-sufficient I'm getting there step-by-step and Richard is growing a micro farm that he doesn't even have to water This one is called ice plant. It doesn't even need fresh water. It can live from the salt water and Actually, it's totally edible This is the Mexican spinach it's called Chaya you can cook it with eggs you can make soups with it Really nice and these are edible peas flavored like garlic totally delicious The bottle man and his floating home have become one of Isla Mujeres is most popular tourist attractions Drawing thousands of visitors every year Are you all okay with making a donation for the project Up to 20 people a day come over and have a look at the island Welcome. Okay. Let's have a little look around then Okay, let's see. We've got trees growing through the house here and then corals start growing underneath So you have your own fish and everything? Definitely amazing. I mean it's just to imagine that he made that out of bottles. I've never seen anything like it. No. Yeah Are you serious? Bottles and money. Oh my god Hallelujah and averaging around $50 a day Visitor contributions are more than enough to keep Richard and the island afloat You're like you normally go to the shop when you buy something new and it just decays and degrades with time This is the opposite starts off like as bags of trash It just gets better with time Tired of feeling bottled up in the big city Richard trashed it all to build his own idyllic non-refundable island most people when they get older and they look back tend to say I wish I'd have done something a little bit more exciting or Took that opportunity that I was a little bit doubtful about so I forgot the fear and I embraced the fantasy and it became true. I Mean I can actually say thank God for the trash Thank God for the trash Life's not rubbish. No, no, no life's a beach Over a few rums and some crazy drawings and cocktail napkins. We went all-in In today's fast-paced world it can be hard to keep up That's why Matt Dickey Dickinson and Dave Grossman left it all behind To build a life where they marched to the beat of a different drummer We're both in corporate world. I was in Toronto doing commercial real estate. I was working in New York in law Very bored uninterested So we came to Nicaragua build this Dave and Dickey left the nine-to-five grind to jam in paradise and they've invited everyone to the party cuz they built a whole beachfront village to hang out in with 13 guest homes and a Recording studio on the shores of Playa, Madaris This is Madaris village, it's not just a hotel. It's a lifestyle here Come relax Serve do some work if you need to This idea of being in paradise be surrounded by friends to come around the table each night and just share ideas Nicaragua is about the size of the state of New York We're in the southern tip right above Costa Rica here and it's the least densely populated country in Central America So a lot of that is wide open beaches In Playa, Madaris, you can wave goodbye to the crowds 80% of Nicaragua is undeveloped and more than two-thirds of the population lives inland So the Pacific Coast beaches are clear sailing Just try to take advantage of the natural surroundings and the gorgeous ocean and the wonderful waves and enjoy life it's Way better than sitting on a crowded beach back in New York. Just have a beach yourself Life down here is a whole lot brighter than it was stateside for Dave and Dickey Five years ago. I was working in Toronto in commercial real estate about 80 hours a week I'd wake up go to work It would be dark when I got there when I leave it would be dark. I finally got fed up with it I was living in New York and I was told to get coffee for the whole office I wondered if this is what I had been working my entire life for so I took the order I threw it in the garbage got my ticket to Nicaragua and I was literally gone two days later Both Dave and Dickey happened to book the same bike trip on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua What locals call the land of beaches I got off the plane I met Dickey made very good friends immediately First time I saw this beach was from a surfboard actually when I first paddled out of just caught my attention away that no other beach could between the beautiful valley and the gorgeous rock of Madaris Everything was just so quiet and peaceful and the waves were coming in and and I sat back and realized this is that quiet place I think that I've been looking for it. This is it. This is where I want to live But Dave and Dickey didn't want this untouched coastline all to themselves Nope, they dreamed up a way to bring the party to paradise a beach utopia. They called Madaris village It's not just about this idea of creating this hotel where people come and they stay a night and they leave But rather to be able to have an actual home you can live out of that's in paradise that you can surround yourself with great people This is Madaris studios, this is something that just shouldn't exist here Dave and Dickey quit the corporate world for the beaches of Nicaragua and found a way to bring all their friends with them Madaris village is not like a regular hotel It's a place where people can come live like we do and down in Nicaragua They could go all in for just a fraction of the price of beachfront back in the States Well, it's not like buying a cabin or a cottage back home where you know You're paying a million dollars for a place that you can use maybe eight weeks out of the year But there's village actually means wood village. We have used a lot of wood in building this place It's like the Wild West here construction materials are cheaper labors cheaper here You could buy something for a hundred to two hundred fifty thousand You've got an unbelievable place that you can use for 12 months out of the year This is the first property that we built here as part of Madaris village. It has three rooms downstairs Main floor area here. We use palm leaves which they refer to as Rancho roofs down here They go up at a 56 degree angle keeps everything dry in the rainy season and shaded in the dry season Come up here. This is really the secret spot. We have a single bed up here The design inspiration was to really get people up above the tree canopy so that you can wake up in the morning To the view of the Madaris Valley and the sounds of howling monkeys Their village complete Dave and Dickey put out the call for folks searching for their own Endless summer at a resort that is more house party than hotel the moment I arrived on Madaris it was like everything I've been seeking for it felt like home right away Music has always been a very important element of our vibe a lot of Talented musicians come through here. That's where the idea for the music studio came. Why not record this? This is Madaris studios State-of-the-art music studio right above the beach in Nicaragua The walls are about 18 inches thick with five different layers So even if you're standing right outside the window looking in you can't hear us and the sound is perfect in here This is something that just shouldn't exist here You've got this Unbelievable view that it looks out on so you can be jamming away in the live room and actually seeing the swell lines come in on the surf Yes, it's chill. You're at the beach, man. You're working, but you're at the beach We are proud to present Those could end up so machine Dave and Dickey left the big city rat race to become beach party and music moguls in Nicaragua We never would have dreamt of this five years ago sitting at our desk But it really just opened my mind. I found my passion. This is that dream that we set out to achieve. I Get questions from customers saying is this work? I said, well, this is my office. I Was working as an insurance agency manager in Wamego, Kansas I was ready to get away from that stress. I just had to say that's enough I was looking for something fun to do We're not in Kansas anymore Ron salt left the cornfields and transplanted himself to paradise Building his dream house his dream job You guys ready to go on a little trip and his dream life with a few Kansas touches on the tiny Caribbean island of Vieques Ron really brought the best of the Midwest from Kansas to Vieques I don't know why Dorothy wanted to go back to Kansas so badly. My Oz is here in Vieques Vieques is just east of the main island of Puerto Rico approximately 15 miles Vieques a former Spanish colony blends old world charm with the blue waters and white sand beaches of the Caribbean My house as you can see the beautiful bio Bay There are only about five to seven bioluminescent bays in the world and We think we have the best one This is all u.s. Fish and Wildlife Preserve. It's a park It's the largest one in the Caribbean and it will never have Houses built on it will never have hotels the way I feel when I stand out here and look at this wide open space Is so much different than what I felt in, Kansas As a US territory the island runs on American laws and regulations, but Residents pay zero. That's right zero Federal income tax to come from the United States. You don't have to have a passport It's the dollar so you don't have to change currency or anything like that. And that's what makes it easy These days Ron's life is a breeze, but it wasn't always smooth sailing When I lived in Kansas But my job was to ride insurance products for all the customers that I had for 21 years The stress of being on call seven days a week from 6 in the morning until 11 at night Got to be heavier and heavier and heavier. I just had to say no more of that life. I want a new life Friends suggested Ron decompress in the untamed paradise of Vieques Where there are more horses than cars, there is not a single traffic light in Vieques. It's very rural laid-back a Typical Saturday night in Vieques. You're going to find young gentlemen young ladies Bringing their horses to town just as a teenager in the United States might bring their hot new car to town Ron found his vacation spot was beginning to feel like a home What's going on? Enjoying your little toddy this afternoon. We're in Vieques, right? I was sitting on the sand here Contemplating my return back to Kansas, but at that moment I decided I'm staying here the way to make it happen was to Sell the insurance agency find a property here to purchase to have a place to live Welcome to the yellow brick Inn and if you want you can follow the yellow brick road It was the view that I wanted I came with $100,000 and built the house Ron's figured it out The way to make it here in Vieques is come and start a business. There are no Heavy requirements on permits to work You just have to look around and see what's missing and then provide that service or that need You just find something that you want to do and Get started since the closing of a US military base in 2003 tourism in Vieques has increased over 75% and Ron found the way to give all those visitors a unique perspective on the island by offering Vieques is first and only powerboat charters Welcome guys Welcome With a $400,000 investment Ron's charter business was profitable in less than a year We get to bring people to the island and take them snorkeling Paddleboarding kayaking serve lunch. They enjoy Vieques from Outside we call it looking in it's just a great experience for them. And for me personally, it's rewarding. I Get questions from customers saying is this work? I say well, this is my office Hey guys, what's going on and it's really not work it's more fun than it is work Tired of pushing paper on the prairie Ron created a perfect life in paradise and realized There's no place like his new home The fantasy was living on the beach and having ocean in front of me every day My fantasy came true Home is in Vieques, Puerto Rico. This is my home I'm here to stay