One day, Michael said, "Miyoko, how about living on a deserted island only two of us for a month?"   Miyoko thought it was an amazing idea. Doesn't this sound like Robinson Crusoe?  Miyoko was a girl who grew up reading "Robinson Crusoe's Adventure" or "Two Years’ Vacation", and wanted to live on an uninhabited island in the South Sea alone someday.

     Miyoko has had her own deserted island in her heart since she was a child. Her island is similar to those in the books of her childhood, but Miyoko is the only human who lives there. On her island of her mind, there is a small mountain covered with thick trees, and good water flows from the mountain.  The stream crosses the white sandy beach and pours into the sea. Miyoko builds a two-story hut overlooking the beach at the banks of the river and lives with dogs and cats. Miyoko solved day to day problems like how to get food and use of plumbing.  Miyoko even made a blueprint of the hut when she was in the Elementary school.

     Miyoko was an only child of the family.  She was shy and enjoyed spending time with her pets and insects much more than with her family and friends. Miyoko has never told anyone about her uninhabited island. If she talked about it to anyone, she felt like someone might come to the island. She didn’t like it.  Miyoko is now an adult. Her deserted island is always somewhere on the map of her heart, but she is less and less likely to visit there because working, studying, socializing, and becoming an adult were very busy and rather fun.

     Palau school begins the school year in September and ends in June. There is a graduation ceremony at the end of June. July and August are summer recess.  There is no homework during the summer recess.  The students have leisurely free time until they move on to the new school year in September. Teachers come to school every day during the summer to study for themselves and prepare for classes in the new school year. Most teachers take a month or so of vacation during the summer. Miyoko and Michael decided to start living on the deserted island as soon as the school entered the summer recess in early July. At first, Miyoko wanted to leave Banana in Koror with someone for a month while she was on the deserted island, but she couldn’t find a responsible person to take care of a cat for such a long time.  At the end, she decided to take Banana to the island. 

     There are many deserted islands in Palau, but all have owners. There is no such thing as an island that belongs to no one. The uninhabited island that Miyoko and Michael are planning to stay was owned by a businessman named Leo who lived in Koror. To be precise, it is an island owned by Leo's clan, but since Leo is the head of the clan, people called it "Leo's island". Leo runs a small supermarket in Koror. He is short, always has a happy smile on his face. He has a plump tummy of a pregnant woman. Is that a beer belly?  Miyoko secretly wonders what's inside the tummy.  Michael asked Leo to let him and Miyoko live on his island for a month. Half of the island is deep forest with rugged rock and cliffs, and the other half is beautiful white sandy beach. The forest is getting higher and, at the end, it ends at a steep cliff. The cliff falls into the sea, so people can land only on the sandy beach. It's very similar to Miyoko's deserted island in her mind, except that there is no river on Leo's island.

     As there is no groundwater, Leo brought a number of drum-cans onto the island to collect rainwater. It rains regularly about once every 2-3 days in this area, so the drum-cans are always full of rainwater. People who come to the island and fishermen who escape from bad weather can soothe their throats with this water. Miyoko and Michael rely on this rainwater for a month. Water-insects inhabited in the water.  As the barrels are open, there are lots of leaves at the bottom. It's not clean water, but neither Miyoko nor Michael has ever been sick from the water in Koror. Miyoko wasn't worried at all about the water quality. 

     At that time, mobile phones were not invented yet, so once one goes to an uninhabited island, there is no way to call for help no matter what happens. But both of them never worried about what to do if they got sick while on the island. Besides, isn't it an adventure to take some risks?

     Miyoko and Michael made a list of things to bring. The idea was that they would bring only the minimum. They will live by catching fish from the sea for a month. But they decided to bring some rice and taro just in case. They also need a small pot to cook the rice. On a deserted island, Banana will eat Miyoko's leftovers. They decided not to bring canned food. They wanted to see how much they could do just from the sea.

     Miyoko decided to bring soy sauce for sashimi.  She would pick up flat sea-shells as plates. A sharp knife is a must. There also must be a lot of matches. There are ways to make a fire without a match, but it's almost impossible to make a fire without a match if it's raining and you only have moist material.  She also brought coffee filter paper. Every morning in order to make a day’s worth of drinking water, Michel and Miyoko would remove debris from rainwater with coffee filters.  

     Neither Miyoko nor Michael had any intention of spending a month taking a nap every day. Both of them had plans that they wanted to accomplish in a month. Miyoko was asked by the principal to make a new textbook, so while she was on the island, she planned to make a draft for the textbook. She needs a lot of reference books, paper and pencils.  Miyoko knew that there was a big table and bench made by Leo under a tree on the beach.  It would be a perfect spot for her project.  On the other hand, Michael wanted to build a hut.  He got the permission from Leo, the owner of the island, to build a hut. Leo might have thought that if the hut was successfully built, it would be a good place to take a nap for himself. Michael intended to build the hut without using any nails. Instead of nails, Michael would use a thin but strong rope taken from palm trees fronds. Michael would use mangrove wood taken from the other side of the island. The spear gun for catching fish is a must-have item. They also need a tent to sleep. It gets cold in the nights, and often rains. You can't sleep without some shelter. Even if they plan to bring minimal things, there were many items they shouldn't forget such as blankets, flashlights, large plastic bags to avoid rain, and insect repellent for Miyoko. And most importantly, they would bring the canoe to the island for fishing.