When we go on vacation to islands, we adjust to the lifestyle of the people who live there normally. In most places, we find it necessary to slow ourselves down and relax and take it easy while we have the opportunity to. However, in others we find it necessary to throw ourselves into the fast paced lives the inhabitants of the area are living. Either way, traveling to an island makes us run on “island time”.
In the words of The Beach Boys, Kokomo is a place where you get there fast and then take it slow. Although Kokomo itself does not truly exist anymore, it is now known as Sandals Cay, the idea of traveling to an island in the Caribbean to take it easy has become a popular thought amongst many tourists. Many take advantage of this slow lifestyle to open their minds up to various cultural differences they experience on the island, including trying things like dancing, new foods and drinks, and listening to steel drum bands. A relaxing island vacation is ideal for those who feel as though they need to unwind and take life slow for a change.
Many tourists in New York City have to speedup their lifestyle to keep up with the locals. Johnny Carson once joked about the length of a New York Minute being the amount of time between a traffic light turning green and the person behind you honking your horn at you. From something as simple as how quickly you order your coffee to trying to cross the street, speed is of the essence in Manhattan. There is no slowing down in the middle of a crowd of hundreds of people, as there is no time in the Big City for one person to hold up the rest of the world. Although it is not the typical form of island time, a New York minute will definitely take some adjusting to.
When on an island, one must learn to run on island time, whether you are speeding it up in New York City or taking it slow in Kokomo.
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