Living on an Island

Many of us dream of living on an island. My family and I moved to Bowen Island in the early 1980s. Bowen is unique in that you can commute daily to work in Vancouver but still have the pleasures of living on an island. Every morning a fair percentage of the population would catch the early ferry for the 20 minute ride to Horseshoe Bay and either drive or take the waiting express bus into the city. In the early the evening, like the tide, they came back again. But coming back was sailing into a quieter more peaceful world.

Being a closed community of about 5,000 people, you get to know or at least recognize most of them in only a few months. You see them on the ferry or at the store. You also find out there are different types of people on the island, old timers, new comers and “summer” people. It usually takes about 10 years to turn from a new comer to an old timer. You have to show commitment. The “summer” people are universally scorned by old times and new comers alike.

During the summer the population doubles and the locals are overwhelmed by outsiders. Even if they have been coming every summer for decades they will never be part of the local community. They are annoying because they have nicer homes, better cars and can afford to buy the crafts the local artisans make. They can never be one of “us” but I don’t think they really wanted to be. Come September the locals breathe a sigh of relief as the summer exodus lets life go back to normal.

A great many people fall in love with the idea of living on an island. With Bowen being so close to the Vancouver it was an easy place for people to try this dream. People seemed to last six months, 2 years or stay forever. The six month ones find the romantic idea is far different from the reality and quickly go back to the exciting life of the city. They don’t like the closeness, the commute, the quiet or any number of other things that make island living different. The 2 year types give the place a real try but realize eventually that it is not for them. Old timers on the other hand love their island. Inconveniences are overshadowed by the beauty, the quiet, the intimate community and all the other wonderful things about living on Bowen. They make close friends with other old timers and are content to be where they are. Change is definitely out for them. The population met its optimum when they moved onto the island. They want everything to remain the same.

As with many two year types I gave it our best shot. I loved the boating, the fishing, swimming in the bay, parties on the beach, the house, the ocean, quiet trails and the village on a Saturday morning with all the neighbours. Children needed a better school. Living around a ferry schedule got to be impossible. Simple things like doctors or dentist appointment, even grocery shopping was a challenge. Feeling like an outsider because you had not been there long enough sometimes hurt. My family and I left and went back to the city. I do not visit Bowen now where the population has more than doubled and farms and forests have turned into housing tracts. I would like to keep my memories as they were in my little slice of time living on an island.