How serious an issue is Island Fever?

for some its important to "get off the rock" for sanitys sake.....

it was never an issue for me  - but it was for my missus.....

I'm also from Vancouver and in all honesty I haven't felt confined yet. I've been here 2 months. I get twinges of missing the mountains, for sure, and wide even sidewalks, bicycling (oh wow I miss that), and big trees... Ok, enough.
Malta is very small but it really doesn't feel it, and if you spend a lot of time online you'll be ok. The grey skies of Vancouver in winter make one feel far more confined, I think, than the small land mass of Malta.

Isuppose it depends on what your used too , I think it can happen to anyone especially in the winter when there is less going on but if your working and you have things to occupy you , it becomes less noticeable

I know I had a moment in November time when I wasnt sure About things but I took a trip back to uk and realised why I came to Malta and couldn't wait to get back , I think it's cause I'm out of work so I notice it more , matt on the  other hand hasn't given it a second thought he loves it here unwaivered - I know once April hits and the weathers nicer and I can take dog to beach etc everything will be ok again

I agree, it's the months Jan - Mar that can make things seem a bit depressing.
Many places close and areas can seem deserted, particularly on Gozo, Marsalforn in particular.
As the islands' No 1 industry is tourism so those in the business need to take their own holidays during this time.
Doesn't worry me but I can imagine it may do for others.

So, this isn't that serious of a condition then. I was just curious why it kept popping up about island living.

Thanks for your inputs.

So you 'googled and tried this forum's search feature, but found nothing helpful' and read one person's blog and that one person left for the continent.

On that basis I would agree it isn't a 'serious condition' (Except in Maltese politics  )

Out of interest, where does it keep 'popping up about island living'?

Well, what I meant was that once I went looking for it, I saw it mentioned on some forums about Hawaii and other islands people relocated to. Then I started wondering what might lead anyone to having this sentiment.

Perhaps it's not simply because it's an island or the size of it but who and what are on the island.

also attitude  - your own and that of those who are already there!

its an individual thing - it affects some and not others. - it doesnt do any harm to get off the rock for a while  - and on the odd occasion i did get off the rock - not for long i admit  - i was glad to get back on it.....

yes we moved to another island but not for reasons of "the fever" ......just the right time for us.

Bit of a strange one really , didn't affect me to start with , probably because it was all new and still a novelty but fast forward 1 year and I couldn't get away fast enough !
Maybe living where we live , on the coast in West Sussex and surrounded by open countryside , the South downs national park and the sea on the other side , Malta , even with all the lovely sunshine , just couldn't compare to it. Really depends what you're looking for I suppose but for us , there just wasn't enough to do and in the end , the weather wasn't enough to keep us there ! - interestingly several of my ex-colleagues , all nurses , all Maltese , signed up to an agency which recruited flight nurses so every so often they got to leave the island for a day or two and they all stated they just had to get off the island for their own sanity !!! - Malta means different things to different people but we have absolutely no regrets about going there and I know several ex-pats who have been there years and absolutely love the place ! - I wouldn't let island fever stop you from going , definitely try it out and give it a good go 👍😀

I'm an American from San Francisco, so the move to Malta two years ago was obviously a *huge* change in lifestyle.

I've never felt island fever. That said, I do travel away every 3-6 months for work or pleasure (been to Istanbul 4 times!!) And it's true that the winter months can be difficult if you're not used to cold and damp. So if you have problems with that, be sure to get a home with modern heating, and you'll be fine. In the older homes, it's more cold *inside* -- it's very rare Malta is blisteringly cold outside.

One of the greatest gifts of being in Malta is that you're in the middle of the Mediterranean, and there's so much magic in that. Malta reveals new delights to me every week, and I've met people who've lived here their entire lives who claim not to have seen all of it.

Plus, it's easy to fly all over Europe, and it's not that expensive. Or take the catamaran to Sicily for a weekend, and you'll be enchanted all over again when you return home.

I think perspective is the name of this game. Wherever you live, if your life is home-centric, it doesn't matter if you're on a small island or in the middle of a huge continent if you don't often leave the confines of your locality. Conversely, if you're more of the "will die if I don't take a long overnight drive every weekend" sort, you may want to reconsider!

You simply don't know before you try it, personally we spent 13 years on a Scottish island and loved it, only moving off for family reasons, having just been over to Malta & Gozo in Feb we have made our minds up and its NOT Malta for us, you will laugh but its simply too busy, its Gozo for us, in fact we found Victoria a bit too busy. So you either like the peace and quiet of an island or not PLUS even on an island you have to pick the area you like best.
Island life throughout the world can be a challenge as we found on the Scottish island when my mum collapsed and we could not get off due to it being a Sunday - i.e.; no Sunday flights or Sailings.
What would my worst place be in the world? Answer, living in a city ANYWHERE.
The other advise is to not rush into things, many people do and many people regret it so just take time