People Who Live In A Tropical Paradise Share The Downsides Most People Don't Realize

Image by MustangJoe from Pixabay |
Although I've never lived in a tropical paradise full time, I've certainly traveled extensively and spent considerable time abroad visiting family members––when I was younger, I'd spend entire summers away––so I know what it's like to be in a place like that and what to expect.
But people who live in more temperate climates don't. They think it'll be sunshine and beauty 24/7. And while the sunshine is certainly a plus, they're bound to be knocked flat on their butts if they had to deal with torrential rain or other inclement weather. Oh, and did I mention the bugs? They're enormous. And terrifying, to say the least.
After Redditor redditindisguise asked the online community, "People who live in a tropical paradise that folks often daydream about, what are some things about living in this climate year-round that aren't so dreamy?" people shared their stories.
Here's an exhaustive list to start.
Ex-Hawaiian (the Big Island) here. Windward (rainy) side fun...
LFAs (Little Fire Ants). These are NOT the fire ants you see on the mainland. They are invasive little gold abominations that nest in trees and fall out and land on you and begin their incredible painful bites. Will also partially blind your pets by biting them in the eyes.
Rats. You live in a jungle, you got rats. Even if you can keep them out of your house, they love to gnaw on your car's electrical wiring.
Rat Lungworm disease. You don't want to know.
Termites. Swarms a couple of times a year. Will emerge in your house at night, drop their wings, and become horny little worms.
"False" Blister Bugs. Insanely attracted to light, will find a way in your house at night and fly up to the ceiling lighting fixtures, then clumsily drop onto you at random. Don't swat them; that's when the "blister" part happens.
Coqui frogs. Chirp "Co-KEE!" all night. Cute in their native Puerto Rico; deafening as an invasive species in a tropical jungle, where upwards of 10,000 per acre will screech for sex partners. You have to turn your TV's volume up at night. You can hear them driving down the highway if your windows are down.
Dengue fever. Usually not fatal.
Jungle Rot. Any exposed wood will not withstand 150 inches/year of rain and humidity. Water seal is ineffective. Paint constantly or replace your deck/stairs every few years.
Plus, the usual: cockroaches, mosquitos (see Fever, Dengue), humidity, and hurricanes.
All that said, we would still be happily living there if we lived on the leeward (dry) side, which has very few of these issues. But, we couldn't really afford it there; houses start at around $700K.
Well, that was traumatizing.
Still unconvinced? Still want to venture into tropical paradise? Let's continue.
"Your appliances burning out..."
Power going out all the time despite the $1000+ you pay for utilities in a home only 2 people live in. Your appliances burning out and needing to be replaced due to the frequent power surges. The groceries and gas being extremely expensive. Just the general high cost of living.
"I'm talking about..."
It's hot. I am not talking about your garden variety kind of hot, I am talking about a searing, humid miasma of what it must feel like inside the mouth of a dog. It's awful.
"It's only a tropical paradise..."
It's only a tropical paradise half the year. The other half is unbearably hot, humid, and rainy.
"The chain on our garage door opener..."
The cost of living is insanely high due to limited space, a lot of homes being bought as vacation homes, and everything needing to be imported. Traffic's awful because it's a small island with a moderate population but tons of tourists (the pandemic has done wonderful things for traffic but decimated our economy). Salt air from the ocean makes any metal rust incredibly quickly, so if you scratch your car you have to get it fixed right away. The chain on our garage door opener also has to be replaced more often than usual. And, yeah, lots of bugs.
"It's uncomfortable..."
You are in a constant state of being between damp from sweat, and wet from rain. It's uncomfortable, and you cannot get away from it unless you are showering, swimming or are wealthy enough to afford powerful aircon. You are tired all the time because you can't sleep. Your clothes are always stained and literally rot off you from being constantly saturated in acids that are contained in your sweat. How's that for a start?
Still want to go a tropical island paradise?
Do you really? Think hard.
"It's also hard..."
I live in Hawaii. While it's so beautiful here it is also very easy to stop seeing it. You get focused on your daily life and stop taking advantage of the things that tourists come here to do. It's also hard because my friends are total homebodies and I prefer doing things outdoors with other people.
"Time passes weirdly..."
Former Hawaii resident, now Florida. Time passes weirdly without the pronounced seasons. I hate snow, but it is hard to get into the Christmas spirit without it (grew up in the PNW).
Also, the beach problem. When the beach is five minutes away, it's fun at first. But then you reach a point where you're like, "...it's five minutes away. I'll go another time. It's always there after all." And then suddenly it's been months and you haven't gone to the beach.
"Lived on an island..."
Lived on an island in Thailand for a while. It just gets really sticky all the time. Sometimes it feels like nothing ever fully dries. And of course, technology and infrastructure are way behind mainland standards.
Loved it anyway.
Listen...
I'm not a fan of being buried under snow right now (hooray for living in the Northeast!) but some of that sounds awful, doesn't it? Why can't a happy medium exist? Now if only Southern California wasn't so prone to wildfires...
Have your own thoughts after living in a tropical locale? Sound off in the comments below!
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In order to live a happy, healthy life, it's important to look to the future and leave your past behind you.
Even so, very few people don't find themselves laying awake in bed at night, or ferociously chopping vegetables in their kitchen feeling resentful, or holding a grudge from something in their past.
Losing a lead role in a school play, not making varsity, being excluded from a birthday party everyone else was invited to.
No matter how long ago it was, it's still hard to shake off the feeling of disappointment and anger you felt at the time.
For some, the bitterness is. like a pot of tea, and only grows stronger the longer it steeps.
Redditor xefarar565 was curious to hear the things people still can't quite get over, leading them to ask:
"What are you STILL salty about?
When The Teacher Was Wrong
"In a 5th grade science test the question was, 'are there any stars in the solar system'."
"I answered, 'yes'.
"Teacher marked it wrong."
"I went up afterwards and said, 'What about the Sun?'"
"He said, he meant that all the other stars are not in our solar system and kept it marked wrong."
"Although I am harboring this for 50 years now, he was all-around one of the best teachers I ever had and just passed away a week or so ago."
"But damn, that should have been marked 'right'."- tres_chill
"On a fourth grade math test we had to make a shape that had only four sides, one set of parallel lines, and only ONE right angle."
"There were probably more requirements but I cant remember."
"I remember almost crying at my desk and spending 20 minutes on that one question while constantly telling my teacher that it wasn't possible but according to her it was."
"And the next day we went over the answer key, and the answer had two right angles."- Gloomy_CowPlant·
"In fourth grade English class (EU) I've used the word 'gross' in a random sentence we had to write."
"The teacher argued that it isn't a real word, I said that it is, that I saw it a few times in video games and movies and she said that they aren't a reliable source."
"I said to her that I'm gonna show it in the dictionary, but she instead grabbed me by the arm and took me out of the classroom and locked the door."
"To this day I am still fuming about this."
"And then she had the nerve to be all chummy when I met her once in a supermarket."
"Gross."
"In both cases it was meant like 'disgusting' and I know there are even more meanings behind the word."
"I wonder if she knows by now."- kuroishi_x
Falsely Convicted
"When I was in high school someone tagged up the school."
"They announced there would be a reward for anyone who rats anyone out."
"I get called in the office and find out I’m suspended for vandalization."
"I didn’t do it and had no idea who."
"4 days later I’m allowed to come back to school because they found who actually did it."
"I just got an apology."- Imlouwhoareyou
When Nobody Believes You
"Me and some others in primary school were saying the biggest numbers we knew of."
"Everybody was saying like 100 thousand and a million and then I'm like 'a trillion'."
"And they refused to believe it was a real number."- Jhyanisawesome
When Parents Don't Believe You
"When I was in high school, I was occasionally allowed to drive my family's third car."
"It had a slow leak in one of the tires, so we were all supposed to check the pressure and put air in it if we needed to."
"I picked up a friend to go to a movie, and when we came out one tire was completely flat."
"It wasn't the one with the leak, so I put the spare on and drove home."
"I got absolute hell from my parents about it."
"How irresponsible I was to not check it, I'd have to pay for the repair, why didn't I call roadside assistance, etc."
"Took it to get fixed, repeat the whole lecture as we're dropping it off, and the tech who did it called my mom and told her he'd found a nail in the tire and there was no way I could have seen it coming."
"She refused to apologize and I still had to pay for it."- EradiKate
Huge Fee For A Crappy Job
"Being charged $1000 for a battery an alternator change."
"They also destroyed my starter motor in the process and rounded a bunch of my bolts."
"They left tools in the engine bay."
"I don't even have that car anymore and I'm still salty."
"F*ck you Midas!"- funkyjiveturkey
Undervalued At Work
"3 months ago I went on maternity leave."
"The woman hired to cover for me was being paid 3 dollars more than I'm currently paid."
"She was going to be kept on as a full time accounting assistant after I returned, but she couldn't keep up with my daily tasks and completely fucked up several databases that I had to correct when I returned to work the following month."
"When I asked for a raise, they offered me .50 after telling me how crucial I am to the structure of the company."
"Needless to say, I'm looking for a new job."- chumbokosh
It sometimes feels like it's impossible to get a bitter taste out of our mouth.
That's when we remember how in every recipe, you'll likely need a little bitterness to offset the sweet, salty and sour.
So, rather than stew in our anger and resentment, maybe take a minute to really think about how we somehow grew from these otherwise awful situations.
Try as I might, I just can't get into the Kardashians. I think most of us are tired of them, actually.
But their fanbase is massive and they are pretty much the American version of the royal family. They wouldn't have attained that status without a legion of loyal fans who eat up everything they do, contributing to a massive collective social media following.
But fans of the Kardashians are just the most high-profile fanbase you might know about.
There are others you might not be so keenly aware of.
People told us all about them after Redditor dominique4thewin asked the online community:
"What’s the stupidest thing that has a large fan base?"
"Convince one depressed powerful person..."
"Scientology. Convince one depressed powerful person that you have something to offer them, get them to spill some dark stuff about themselves and other powerful people, leverage that into convincing another powerful person you have something to offer them, repeat."
mattheimlich
Their buildings are enormous. Their offices in New York in California are as imposing as you think but the number of Scientologists is on the decline.
"I find it a bit weird..."
"I find it a bit weird that politicians seem to have fans rather than supporters."
1TadTHG
Usually it's not about the person but the ideas they hold (or say they hold).
"Many celebrities..."
"The Kardashians. Many celebrities in general. They shouldn't be worshipped like they are."
[deleted]
Celebrities need us more than we need them.
"Influencers."
"Influencers. I feel like small time niche group influencers aren’t a problem. They’re great for backpacking, as an example, where they test out the gear and give the pros/cons. It’s when they start to sell their endorsements to the highest bidder."
TheCobbledTiger
Don't get me started.
Sell, sell, sell. That's what they do.
"Flat earth."
"Flat earth. How many are actual believers vs people just 'joking' though? I have only met one actual flat earther in my life."
[deleted]
Oh, there are a lot. And there are entire documentaries about them.
"The base..."
"The fan in my bedroom. The base is ridiculously big for the size of the fan and it takes up too much room and I trip on it almost every morning getting ready in the dark."
Sharkn91
I see what you did there.
Mine has a smaller base and yet I still manage to trip over it.
"Moms exploiting their children for money and popularity."
SharpSubject8314
The number of parents who have monetized their own children for social media is too damn high.
90 Day Fiance
"The 90 Day Fiancé Universe (which is a thing thanks to their billion spinoffs)."
HelluvaMan
Technically we're all living in the 90 Day Fiance universe.
"YouTube..."
"YouTube reaction videos. They're awful."
scapegoat88
I just don’t see appeal to reaction videos. It is always fake super over the top reactions.
"I'm not talking about..."
"ASMR - I'm not talking about rain sounds or even a softly spoken story being told or something. What I'm referring to is a moderately attractive Japanese woman slurping down a bowl full of jelly an inch away from a microphone. Yuck!"
SamJamHamFam
It takes all kinds I guess. Not sure how any of that is remotely appealing.
One thing is for sure: After reading all of these, you're bound to see that there is something out there for everyone.
Have observations of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
Life is moving so fast.
Everytime we get used to something it seems like it evolves and we have to learn more.
I miss CD's. Spotify confuses me.
AOL chat rooms were simple. What the H*LL is Discourse? Or Discontent?
I miss TV just being on channels in the box.
There are so many apps I have cold sweats.
And I can just tap my credit card and pay for things?
It's too much.
But all the things I learned will soon be gone.
Like the OG Toys 'R Us.
Time to say farewell...
Redditor Substantial-Young-85 asked:
"What will die with millennials?"
Remember when cars were driven by people?
That's going the way of the horse and buggy.
To Walls
"I once tried to explain the my niece that phones used to be wired to walls. She's ten (she was six at the time) cell phones are all she's ever known. Among the reasons she guessed as to why they were 'tied' to walls: To stop people from stealing them."
N_Who
Without WHAT?!
"Memory of life without internet."
RagingDinoZ
"When I was a kid, we didn't have the internet."
Aido_Playdoh
"I remember asking our son one time if he knew how much tablet time I git when I was a kid (he was complaining that he was t getting enough). He guessed 2 hours. I told him 0, because the internet, let alone tablets, weren't really a thing yet. He looks confused and mystified."
TheHrethgir
Looked it Up?
"Remembering someone’s phone number."
Misttertee_27
"Still have my 3 best friends numbers memorized, when I haven't needed to use that info for 15+ years, as well as most of my family. Intentionally memorized my boyfriend's in case there's an emergency and I don't have my phone."
Particular-Payment59
"I know my parents' home number and a few friends from high school's telephone numbers. I do not know my wife's telephone number and when I do need it I always look it up on my phone."
-Handsome-Jim-
Music Tales
"Dubbing cassettes and burning your own mix on CD."
pfc_Frank
"Ahhhh, waiting by the radio for an hour for them to play your favorite song. You push record at just the right moment. Song plays! Only for the DJ to talk over the last 30 seconds. Sigh. Memories."
zenOFiniquity8
"Or somewhere yells into the basement or your room. Followed by “I AM TRYING TO RECORD A TAPE!"
kperalta87
Control+Save
"3.5 inch floppy discs."
Traylor_Swift
"I have a sealed 5 pack box of those in my room, wonder how much they are worth nowadays."
TrueF0xtr0t
Floppy what? Even I barely remember those. LOL.
Options
"Watching 'whatever was on.' Everything is always on now, you don’t stumble into an interesting (or awful) show because it’s the only thing mildly interesting on TV."
ChefJeff7777777
"that's not right surely"
"A coworker and I were talking a while ago and we started thinking/ talking about how the general population (not the ones going to school for it or people truly interested) most younger and older people don't understand a lot about computers. If it's not app, most people aren't really sure how to get to it on a computer."
"I thought, 'that's not right surely' but when trying to get a younger coworker (different dept) to add a printer he literally asked me "wheres the app I can't find it to add the printer" and I just like stared into the middle distance for a sec before just doing it for him. It was like navigating a computer wasn't something he'd done in his life."
"And he's only like 4 years younger than me. He's glued to a cell phone too so I was like yeah ok this guy should know. Nope. This is only one example though. However, when I really stop and think about it, the window from late 80s-00s were really the testing phase for home computers and most to all websites. So navigating them, learning basic code (OG, Myspace people)."
"And just figuring out computer language (not code just the terms) for normal people... really ended when cell phones became more popular. But it feels weird to have to explain stuff to someone younger than me while simultaneously doing the same thing when they are older. It's kinda frustrating tbh but mostly just mind boggling."
TheBohoChocobo
Split
"Playing multi-player video games with split screens in one room."
EngineerMinded
"Eeehh split screens will probably be a thing forever I mean if Nintendo is still strong and going in the 2080s then we will still have Mario Party."
Kiro_sage
"We used to do LAN parties. You could hook up to 4 Xboxes to each other any play a couple of people on each one. It was great. Cords running everywhere, but 4 Xboxes running at once mad for some fun times. You'd constantly be yelling back and forth between rooms and mom would lose it."
Odd_Description1
Travel Finndings
"Knowledge of pre-digital life. An appreciation for sending and receiving letters in the mail. As Arcade Fire put it, we used to wait. Memory of the USA pre 9/11. Using maps and Thomas Guides for road trips. Guys, I’m so old I remember the first time my dad used MapQuest to print out directions for a cross country trip, and how novel it seemed at the time."
MovieGuyMike
Manuals
"Apparently using a Haynes or a Chilton’s manual to work on your car. I hate using YouTube videos for car maintenance, but it looks like that’s all I have left."
RandomGovtEmployee
I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. Oh the memories...
What do we writers always say?
The truth is far stranger than fiction.
When we watch a movie there is constantly a scene where people are like... "THAT could never happen!"
Well it could and it has.
And there is more truths and facts throughout life just like fiction.
There is so much more to learn beyond science classes in school.
Wikipedia has educated us all.
Truth is truth.
So let's hear some facts that'll surprise us.
It's been so long.
Redditor Aden_Elvis77 asked:
"What is something that most people won’t believe, but is actually true?"
I am not a "knowing extra facts person," so I'm here to be schooled.
Layers
"Think of an apple as the Earth. Human beings have never dug past the skin layer."
SithLard
"Think PF balloon filled with water. Just imagine the water is molten lava."
ffsudjat
Saviors...
"Humpback whales will turn on their back and let seals jump on their stomachs to save them from orcas because they freaking hate orcas."
"Edit: Just because this got attention, here are some fun sources..."
"Here are some photos of a Humpback saving a seal"
"Humpbacks attempting to save a calf from being drowned by Orcas"
"An incredibly well done Radiolab episode explaining the relationships between Orcas and Humpbacks"
chinabot1
Age is only a #
"The guy who played the villain in Karate kid 3 (Terry Silver , Thomas Ian Griffith) is actually 7 months younger than Ralph Macchio, (Daniel LaRusso). It’s weird because the karate kid was still supposed to be under 18 and the villain was supposed to have fought in Vietnam."
TheRedMarin
"Hollywood age is really weird. Sean Connery was only 12 years older than Harrison Ford, but played his noticeably older father in Indiana Jones."
JinimyCritic
"He's in the latest couple of seasons of Cobra Kai and I would not have guessed that. Good fact!"
Grimdotdotdot
Pressure
"The average blood pressure of a giraffe is around 300/190. They need to have a high BP to get the blood all the way up the neck to profuse the brain with oxygen. I am thoroughly impressed by their cardiovascular system."
anastasiaanne
"They also have a specific mechanism to not let their brain explode from too much blood pressure when they lower their head to drink. Truly fascinating creatures."
Doc_Plague
Breeding
"Komodo dragons usually reproduce sexually, but females in captivity have been known to reproduce by parthenogenesis, without the need for sperm."
Dusty_Roller
I really have no interest in anyone or anything's sex life but mine.
Read the label...
"There would be a lot more ancient Egyptian mummies if we didn’t grind most of them up to paint with or… eat."
Faust_8
"Victorians be whack. Mummy brown was a very popular paint pigment for the time, creating a rich brown color that couldn’t easily be replicated, and eating bits of mummies (mixed into other things mind you, it was considered a medicine and not a food) was thought to possibly cure diseases. Probably had 0 scientific backing behind it even back in the day but trendy rich people are trendy rich people no matter the era."
MadameCat
Important Dates
"Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, and Barbara Walters were all born in the same year."
Crooooow
"C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died on the same day, but it didn't really make the news because the day was 11/22/1963 and it was also the day JFK was shot."
SerialKillerVibes
"It's wild that Anne Frank or MLK might still be alive today if they hadn't been killed by oppressive right-wing regimes. Makes you wonder what we're missing out on."
BabyYodasDirtyDiaper
Taste Related
"Almonds are from the peach family."
RifleShower
"Cashews, pistachios, and mangos are related to poison ivy. If you are extremely sensitive to poison ivy you may also react to the others. Mango skin can cause the ‘mango mouth’ rash and cashews for example can give you a terribly itchy bu**hole."
howling_greenie
"If done right, marzipan (made from almonds) and persipan (made from peach seeds) almost taste the same."
CaptainThorIronhulk
Over the Water
"The shortest commercial flight in the world lasted 57 seconds. It was a Loganair flight between two Scottish islands, Westray and Papa Westray. It was recorded the shortest commercial flight, with the distance of 1.7 miles."
AnneKellyy
"It’s actually quite necessary. There are too few people living there to build bridges, and the seas are too rough for ferries, so the only real option is to use planes. As for the planes themselves, the ones operating the flight are tiny DHC-6 Twin Otters, which don’t use that much fuel relative to larger airliners."
griffin-meister
Pieces of Rain
"Humans can smell some components of the smell of rain (the geosmin part of petrichor, specifically) far better than sharks can small blood in water. We are very very sensitive to it."
"Edit: thank you all for enjoying this fact I really like reading all your replies and I’m learning even more about this. Now go own people in trivia! Science is awesome! Thank you for the premium/gold whoever did that!"
Ratmatazz
Well that was entertaining. I knew I loved rain.