A woman who lives on the Isle of Wight has taken to TikTok to reveal her biggest gripes with island life.
Jodie Emma, 20, who posts under the handle @x_jodiemma_x, talked her followers through the most inconvenient aspects of living away from the mainland – and the clip has already been seen by more than 1.6 million people.
She captioned the video: ‘By the way, I do not hate the island by any means! It is an extremely beautiful place and can get extremely warm in the summer months.’
The student wanted to give her followers an insight into what it’s ‘actually like to live on the Isle of Wight’.
From nowhere to go shopping to the hefty price of getting away for the day, read on for her list of downsides.
Jodie Emma, 20, who posts under the handle @x_jodiemma_x, talked her followers through the most inconvenient aspects of living away from the mainland – and the clip has already been seen by more than 1.6 million people
The cost of getting off island
The 20-year-old revealed that one of the biggest annoyances of island life is how much it costs to go anywhere else, even just for the day.
She said: ‘I mean the first biggest shock people have is just how expensive it is to actually get on and off.
‘We have two ways. We have a hovercraft and a ferry, with a hovercraft being walking passengers only, and on a ferry you can have cars.
‘The hovercraft is about £40 for a return and the ferry is about £100 one-way.’
She exclaimed: ‘There’s just nothing to do, you can’t just run away to Portsmouth and Southampton for the day because it costs a few day’s wages.’
There are ‘no shops’
Secondly, if you’re someone who loves shopping and is into fashion, you might want to reconsider moving there.
Jodie explains that there are ‘no shops at all,’ which is something she finds ‘ridiculous’.
The 20-year-old revealed that one of the biggest annoyances of island life is how much it costs to go anywhere else, even just for the day
She added: ‘If you are a young person and you need clothes, the only places you’ve got are Peacocks – but realistically who actually shops in Peacocks? – a New Look, a TK Maxx, or a Sports Direct.
‘We used to have a H&M but it went for no reason whatsoever. We don’t even have many food places either to be fair.
‘We don’t have a Nando’s or a Greggs. Oh my gosh. The biggest shock I had when I moved to the island, as I’m not originally from there, was the fact we don’t have a Greggs. It was horrifying.’
She admitted: ‘We also don’t have a Primark, which is really s***. A lot of people do go to Portsmouth or Southampton for the day, the mainland as we call it, and they come back with so many bags of Primark stuff because we just don’t have it.
‘We have a bowling alley but that’s like it. We used to have a skate rink and we do have Blackgang Chine which is like a traditional theme park.’
‘It’s not really rides, it’s more just attractions if that makes sense. It’s more like things to look at with very minimal, basic rides. Nothing like Blackpool Pleasure Beach or Thorpe Park, or anything like that.’
The student added that she ‘does not hate the island by any means! It is an extremely beautiful place and can get extremely warm in the summer months’ (stock image)
You always see people you know
Moving onto her final issue, the student advised that a lot of the young people on the island know each other and there aren’t many newcomers, despite being one herself.
She said: ‘When you go outside, you’re just bound to see someone you know.
‘It’s actually ridiculous. A lot of the population of the island is older people, people who’ve moved there from London to retire.
‘So, you don’t get a lot of people your own age who you don’t know – and no one really moves on or off. A lot of people just live there forever.’
Commenters were quick to ask the TikToker more questions and give their opinions, with one penning: ‘The locals really shouldn’t have to pay the ferry. You guys should at least have a massive discount card.’
‘How does Amazon Prime work?’ and ‘How does Vinted or depop work like sending there?’ queried others.
A third quipped: ‘I wonder why people decide to live here. There’s plenty of other locations by the sea. Honestly living there seems rather bad with the few opportunities given’.
Someone else wrote: ‘Sounds like a bargain getting off. Try living in the Isle of Man!’
Meanwhile, another island resident added: ‘I grew up on the Isle of Wight, when I tell people this they think I’m lucky but the best thing there is big Tesco’.
‘What do you mean you dont have Greggs?!?!’ exclaimed one viewer.
Another chimed in with: ‘Being from Newcastle and living on the Isle of Wight and finding out there was no Greggs broke my heart’.
Someone else quipped: ‘Everyone in the Isle of Man wants to get out of there so bad’.
Commenters were quick to ask the TikToker more questions and give their opinions
The video comes just after the news that an ’embarrassing’ £3.5million floating bridge on the island, which has failed to carry out 40 per cent of the crossings it was designed for, is to be scrapped after just seven years.
When it was first unveiled on the Isle of Wight back in 2017, Floating Bridge 6 was met with rapturous applause from delighted flag-waving locals.
However, the vessel – which charges a foot passenger £1, a car £3 and a Lorry £9 – has been plagued with issues ever since the first cars scraped the road as they disembarked the craft.
First established between East Cowes and Cowes in 1859, the 460ft journey is designed to stop users having to make the ten-mile trip via Newport.
However, the current chain ferry, Floating Bridge 6 – which needs a push boat to help overcome the strong River Medina current and runs at a ‘snail’s pace’ compared to its predecessor – has run into constant problems.
The council has been left red-faced with delays and break-downs, including one which required passengers needing a piggy-back onto dry land in 2017.
