What It’s Like Living on an Island | Life in the Pacific Northwest

April 8, 2021 by Emme

This was the moment I knew I must live here:

Until this day, my British Columbia dreams had always been set in Vancouver. In fact, the only reason I ended up on the island this day was because of a very uncommon layover between Toronto and Vancouver. I’d seen this stop-off as an inconvenience, something that limited my time in the place I loved so much.

Well, the universe does funny things to wake you up sometimes.

Turning to my boyfriend I said “This is one of the most beautiful airports I’ve ever seen”, and something inside me clicked. I was afraid to want it too much, though. If you ever Google how to move somewhere, there are always a large number of people who take great pride in telling you everything that could ever be wrong with anywhere. (Which is funny, because looking back at those articles now I find myself disagreeing with almost all of them, but that’s a post all by itself!)

Maybe it’s a product of the pandemic, but I’ve recently noticed a lot of people moving away from the bigger cities in search of something that perhaps better feeds their soul. In one week I will have lived here for one year, so for those of you are curious or considering the jump over here yourself, I wanted to talk about the best things about living on an island in the Pacific Northwest.

Island Time

The island lifestyle is unlike anything else, and it’s amazing how different seemingly similar places can be when seperated by water. There is a more relaxed atmosphere here; life moves at a slower pace, and people take time to enjoy simple pleasures. Communities seem more aligned with nature than their mainland counterparts, and everyone has a hobby (usually based around the outdoors or creating things with their hands). It took some time to recalibrate after moving from the hustle of Toronto, but over the last few months I’ve found that island time very much matches the true rhythm of my own heart.

Community

Neighbourhoods are small, faces are familiar, and everyone says “Good morning”. Even as a native to the English countryside, I forgot what it felt like to have neighbours who knew your name, and baristas who knew your order. Those kind of things don’t happen in the cities, and it’s a beautiful thing to be in a place that is much smaller, yet feel as though your part of something bigger.

Nature

If I haven’t already said it enough, nature is my driving force and true life love. If there is one thing that pulled my heart to live in British Columbia it would be the beauty of the flora and fauna here. This province’s lifeblood is the abundance of its natural beauty: the mountains, ocean, wild rivers, glacial lakes, and thick rainforests. Being here gives me a feeling of happiness so deep it’s as though it comes from right inside my soul—that’s what it feels like to live here; pure magic.

I hope you enjoyed this post; until the next one, you can find videos and content on both my YouTube channel and Instagram.

♥ Emily