I moved to a South Carolina island where there are no cars. It’s like being transported back 200 years in time, but you can still get Instacart.

• Jerry Jaskowiak works remotely from Haig Point on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina.
• Daufuskie Island is “car-free” and has only 533 residents.
• The 62-year-old breaks down what living on the island is like.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed interview with Jerry Jaskowiak, a 62-year-old company president who lives on a small, car-free island off the coast of South Carolina. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I’ve lived on a car-free island that is less than 10 square miles for two years now.

My wife visited Daufuskie Island with some friends and loved the vibe, so she kept returning.

The island is a unique and magical place. It’s like going back 200 years. The dirt roads are lined with ancient oak trees and you can only get to the island via boat. 

The island captured my wife’s imagination so much, she wanted to move here

I didn’t want to move. We’d only recently finished renovating our house in Oldfield, South Carolina. My wife spent a year convincing me. The island’s charm, beauty, and history made her feel at home.

She asked what would make this move an easy choice. I answered: “$1.3 million for our house, one call with a realtor, and one viewing.” I thought it would be impossible to sell our house so quickly, but we had a contract later that day — it felt like fate.

Haig Point is a private community where most of the population of Daufuskie Island live

To be part of Haig Point you have to pay an annual membership fee of $25,660, or $30,759 if you want the golf membership that lets you golf essentially whenever you want — on top of a one-time initiation fee of $50,000. 

Before Haig Point, I already lived in a community that had fees associated with living there. The fees are higher at Haig Point to cover the cost of the ferry, but it didn’t take much adjusting to.

The membership covers the cost of staff and the amenities within the community. The community has a 29-hole golf course, an outdoor pool, six tennis courts, a pickleball court, an equestrian center, and some other buildings that require upkeep — the membership pays for that.

The biggest benefit of the membership is that you can get the boat to and from the island as often as you like, for free. A boat goes each way once an hour and you can bring guests with you, also for free.

Houses are a better value for your money on Haig Point 

The house we bought in Haig Point was cheaper than the one we sold. I think you get more house for the dollar here. That said, it costs a lot more to build or make renovations. 

We wanted to make some small changes to our new Haig Point house. Because there’s no bridge access to the island, contractors have to take the boat 30 minutes each way. The contractor who began the renovation estimated it’d cost $250,000 for the job, we hit $200,000 halfway through and decided to finish the rest ourselves and spent about $375,000 in total.

The island is considered “car-free” but you may see a few vehicles being used by maintenance staff. Haig Point has a big golf community, and as a result, golf carts are the main form of transport on the island.

You can buy a nice, rebuilt golf cart from a dealer on the mainland for about $11,000. We got one of those but also purchased a fancier one with hard doors to keep you warm when it gets chilly for around $15,000.

You can still get Instacart and Starbucks on the island 

We always get asked where our groceries come from. We can either go to the mainland supermarket or order groceries online using Instacart.

The delivery driver will bring your order to the boat terminal on the mainland and then the staff will bring it to the island. 

You can either pick it up from the Welcome Center, which is about five minutes from my house, or it can be delivered to your front door — for no extra cost, though we do tip. Because the Instacart guy is only delivering it on the mainland, the delivery fee is no more than if you lived there.

There’s a vendor from the mainland who runs a farmers market every Saturday selling produce and fish. 

There are some small, independent restaurants on the island and even a Starbucks in the Welcome Center. Food on the island is slightly more expensive than on the mainland, with a markup of about 10%.

Working remotely from such a beautiful place has improved my work-life balance 

I work remotely as the president of an investment-accounting company. Internet connection is super important for me. I have to be on calls and frequently use 50 terabytes of cloud storage.

Luckily, the internet connection here is the most solid I’ve ever dealt with. I get a gigabyte download speed in my house for $120 a month. In my previous house, I was using the same company and I got half a gigabyte for $100 a month.

I’ve worked remotely since 2014, so moving here really didn’t change my work at all. Living here is really perfect for remote workers — I wouldn’t want to commute to the mainland every day. 

I think the island has helped with my work-life balance. After work, I can walk down a winding road for five minutes and be able to look out across the Atlantic Ocean — it’s pretty cool. Or I can go play a few holes of golf. It’s so easy to step away from work and do something completely different.