The Isle of Man: An Introduction

As far as I can tell, I'm the just about the only Steemian currently writing from the Isle of Man. Because of that, I thought what better way to get started than by blogging a little about where I live!

I'll be writing a series of posts about the quirky, beautiful, infuriating and unique nation I currently call home, but for now-- a quick FAQ-style introduction.

Where is the island

The Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea, about halfway between Liverpool and Belfast.

Is it part of the UK?

No.

Well, yes.

Kind of. It's a United Kingdom "Crown Dependency" which means...we have our own parliament and make our own laws, but the UK looks after our foreign affairs. We have our own money, which looks funny but is worth exactly the same as GBP. Most of our laws are the same, except some major ones which aren't (a bunch of tax stuff, speed limits on the roads, beer-purity...more on all of that to come!)

What's it like living there?

Well, sometimes it's like this:

We have a very low crime rate, which sometimes leads to embarrassing situations like this. The front page of the local paper is dedicated to an online parrot-selling scam, because there just isn't that much news on the island. At its worst it's an isolated, insular community where everyone knows your business and there's not much to do other than try your best to avoid the parrot scams.

Other times it's like this:

The best thing about the island by far is its natural beauty. The craggy cliffs and rolling hills surrounded by stormy, melancholy sea are truly breathtaking. (The B&W pictures above were taken by @juddylovespizza, also new to Steemit!)

What else is there to say?

So much! I'll be posting a combination of history/current events and personal anecdotes about life on the island, always with lots of images taken by myself and @juddylovespizza. Follow along and you'll learn about the Isle of Man Tax Code (why are there so many billionaires with private jets here??), the TT (why are there so many motorbikes doing 180mph on the public roads??), The Steam Packet (why is getting on and off the island so incredibly difficult??) and more!!

If you've ever been to, heard of, or wondered about the Isle of Man, let me know in the comments!

!steemitworldmap 54.2361 lat 4.5481 long description d3scr