When I told my family that I was going to be in Fiji on an island that this newfangled eco-community Tribewanted was running as a backpacker / adventure experiment, everyone cocked one eyebrow and looked at me suspiciously. Where is it? Is it safe? But what will you do? These were questions that concerned everyone else, but didn't seem to be bothering me too much. All I knew is that I would have a south Pacific island nearly all to myself.

On the island (Vorovoro - just off the north central coast of Vanua Levu - a 20 minute boat ride from Labasa) solitude was as easy to find as gorgeous beaches and breath taking sunsets. But the unexpectedly rewarding part of the Tribewanted experience wasn't reveling in natures beauty, but rather being welcomed from the moment I set foot on the beach as a member of the community on the island.

The community is split - there are the backpackers, gappers, holidayers, and international nomads that have joined Tribewanted online (there is an online community at tribewanted.com) and come to spend several weeks on the island, and there is the local Fijian community, which during the week is about a dozen strong. But this divide between the communities vanishes the moment you start talking to people. Everyone participates in the work together, from construction projects to gardening to cooking and cleaning. The paying guests do have the option of sitting on a hammock all day reading the latest Harry Potter, but most people on the island choose to get involved in whatever projects are going on during the day.

Projects aren't just manual labor, either. Learning native songs and dances, called mekes, is a popular pass time, as the local chief has the habit of requesting mekes when he visits the island. The 4 Peaks Hiking Challenge is a popular afternoon activity, as is snorkeling, spear fishing, sunbathing, and hammock sleeping.

But the most rewarding thing about the Tribewanted life on Vorovoro for me was the escape. Not just the escape to a deserted island in the South Pacific, but the escape from the isolation of being stuck in my car during commute time, the escape from schedules and clocks and timetables, the escape from artificial environments and recirculated air, and the escape from surface conversations about the weather. (Amazing how all conversations about the weather in Vorovoro seemed so deep and to hide secret truths about the world!)

Vorovoro for me wasn't a place to go to when I was escaping from life, but rather a place to escape to, when I wanted to escape to nature and to community.