1:06pm Friday 12th April 2013
By Alexa Copeland
A FORMER North-East man who auctioned off his life on Ebay is at it again by selling his Caribbean island lifestyle.
Ian Usher, originally from Darlington, hit headlines worldwide when he put his whole life up for sale on internet auction site Ebay in 2008.
The 49-year-old made £192,000 from the sale of his three-bedroom house in Perth and all his belongings, and now he is selling his Caribbean life complete with a private island off Panama, a house, two motor boats, canoes and chickens.
It is all on offer for £160,000 - less than half the price of an average London home – after Mr Usher decided he needed a new adventure.
He said: “I've lived here on and off for well over a year now, and love the place.
“But once again, when all the challenges have been overcome, and life has become pretty easy and comfortable, I have started to feel the urge for new adventures, and new travels.”
Mr Usher, who emigrated from Darlington to Australia in 2002, bought the island in 2011 after travelling the world on the proceeds made from selling his assets in Perth.
He compiled a list of 100 extraordinary things he wanted to do in his lifetime – including swimming with sharks, walking the Great Wall of China and riding an ostrich – and he managed to achieve 93 of them within two years.
After his travels Mr Usher worked hard to cultivate the two-acre island and build a house on it, but he says the time has now come to move on.
He said: “I've really enjoyed the process of building on the island, and overcoming all of the challenges.
“It's been a very steep learning curve, and it's been great fun, but now I've overcome most of the challenges, and life is pretty easy.
“Over the past few years I have come to realise that I seem to need a set of obstacles to overcome to make life fun and challenging.
“I also have many more places on my travelling list that I still want to see; I can't do that if I'm swinging in a hammock on the balcony sipping margaritas, can I?”
Details on how to bid for the island can be found at www.CaribbeanLife4Sale.com.
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