Kiribati itself is well off the beaten track, but once you're there, you can get even further away from civilisation by leaving Tarawa and heading for one of the outer Gilbert Islands. Air Kiribati offers a patchy service to all the Gilberts. I went to Butaritari and stayed with a family in their village, where everybody lived an almost purely subsistence-level existence, with no such modern worries as debts, bosses or deadlines. Food and fresh water is plentiful, natural hazards negligible and crime nil. This is all in a setting of strong community values, where everybody looks after the interests of the village as a whole, rather than just for themselves or their family, and takes place in an area of pure, unspoiled tropical beauty and traditional Micronesian architecture (everything made from wood and thatch; no concrete, glass, nails, screws or even glue). The people have next-to no money, but they don't need it, and it was truly a privilege to see this kind of culture at work.
If you want to go even FURTHER off the beaten path, you can go by boat to the Phoenix or Line islands, most of which are uninhabited and none of which (except Christmas Island) get any outside visitors. I didn't do this, but it would be quite an adventure!
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on Sep 23, 2006
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