I woke up this morning and looked out at the island I had helped shape. The community I had helped shape. Had it really been a year since this journey had started? That magical night of arriving on the island for the first time and seeing the sparse, messy landscape that would be our home? I continued to stare out at the island, reliving that night, gripped in nostalgia.

This island has come a long way since those first days. The two who had arrived here with me have moved on, but the island is as lively as ever. Melba and Apple are still here, with other villagers having moved out for new ones to come in. Some have extended stays while others only stay for a month or so before moving on again, but variety is the spice of life.

I stop looking out of the window to look around at my room – still full of all the toys I’d got for Toy Day. I really should get round to putting them in my storage. But even here nostalgia hits, as my house has seen a lot of upgrades since those first few days of living in a tent, and then the smallest house you could imagine. I’ve got plenty of rooms, all decorated with wallpaper and carpet, along with a few rugs.

The shop has seen to it that I’ve got a lot of furniture within my house as well, along with the crafting of various DIY projects that I’ve found within bottles or been given by villagers. While I haven’t placed all that much stuff around the island, I do try to make the area around the plaza look as great as possible.

And speaking of making things look great, it had taken a load of effort, but I had overhauled the entire island. A giant lake is within the north-west heights, which is where I’d moved my house. The rivers flow from this lake to the sea, with the far east having been completely flattened to allow for most of the villagers to live. In recent time I’ve also extended the plaza to give more space for villagers to enjoy gathering.

Having now left my house and taken a walk around the lake, I see a sea plane arriving down at the dock, which must hold K.K. Slider. Since his first visit to the island, plenty of other guests have appeared, all of whom have helped us celebrate with some sort of event. The first was Bunny Day, which felt a chore of an event, but that could have been because so much was happening all at once. Still getting used to island life and suddenly a massive amount of colour appears with all of those various eggs.

The other events have felt better to attend. They seemed to have less to achieve with them, and weren’t as disruptive to island life. All these people have fun personalities, and are a joy to interact with. All the events have provided special DIY and furniture to collect, which makes them also feel that bit special.

Even more special, though, is visiting the islands of other people. Last year I talked about visiting Chaos to see a meteor shower, and the visits have always been fun. My own island has received praise from the people who have visited, and I’ve also seen a fair few other islands thanks to the community portal known as GRcade. The people there are very friendly, with us trading items and helping each other with items and DIY recipes even when we aren’t visiting each other.

Now down at the south plaza, I look out to sea, with the sounds of K.K. setting up behind me, and I can’t help but feel what a great first year it has been on this island. With new events and people always coming along, and new ways of enjoying island life, I can see myself staying here at Halesowen for years, enjoying everything that comes. I only hope that such additions keep on coming to make this second year even better than the first.