When we first started looking at property in the islands, HA was emphatic that she wanted an outdoor shower. What? I was envisioning the rinse-off-the-sand, cold-water only sprayers that can often be found at public beaches. It didn’t sound very appealing.
What I discovered is that outdoor showers are a fixture of most island homes. For one thing, it’s more than warm and humid enough that you can comfortably shower outdoors, and they generally have hot water and are private. By having them outdoors, you’re not importing even more moisture into the house and contributing to mold. Mostly, though, there’s just something joyous about showering outdoors when you live in a place like this:
To reach our shower you walk from the front door down this jungle path:
The shower itself is in a cozy bit of tropical landscaping:
It is tucked behind this amazing outdoor Portugese bread oven:
The coolest thing, though, is that the previous owner put in landscape lighting along the path in in the space in front of the open shower, so this is what you see when you shower at night:
Since my beloved hot tub is still on the boat and I no longer have a swimming pool, the shower has become my daily dose of hydrotherapy.
—2p