Island Life
Anyone that knows us, knows we are big fans of house swapping. We have done it on and off for 10 years now. We have a lot of favourites for various reasons but this is the top of table and has been for a few years. Bowen Island is a short ferry ride from Vancouver but feels a long way from the busy city. We came here as part of a holiday on a points swap from Lovehomeswap 2 years ago. We went to meet the owner, Peter who is an elderly retired business man, at his home in West Vancouver and he told us about Daniel Prince and his family who were travelling around the world using the various house swapping sites with his 4 kids... the already sown seed started sprouting. I got in touch with Daniel, and remain in regular contact with him, he has since written a book which you can get on Amazon/Kindle called Choose Life. People ask us how, why and where we started with regards to a trip like this and his is a good guide with pointers, links and tips. There were many similarities in our experiences, including the odd medical emergency and we have stayed in many of the same house swaps along the way.
So, Peter's place on Bowen Island holds a special place in our hearts. Not only does it have an infinity pool and a stellar view but it offers proper island life. Slow pace, beach combing, a hike to a hidden mammoth sculpture, shack building, wood work in spades for Jinks and his new wood habit, regular visits from the cousins, boat watching, deer in the garden, cake making, ice cream on the dock, football in the park. A new edition this year was Frank, the house keeper, who lives in a cabin on site and as an alter ego... The Soup Fairy. He runs a local business, left delicious soups and freshly laid eggs in our fridge regularly and cooked us a big family meal on our last night. If Calsberg did House Swaps. This is it.
We have torn ourselves away after 10 days and we are now back on Vancouver Island again. After this, we cross back over the water and have 2 more stops on the BC coast side, including up to Desolation Sound with the cousins which looks stunning and will be our first visit there, then we head back to Whistler. You may have noticed we are missing a South to North USA 4@4 but it is coming... we only have one computer so fight over it when we get a chance to do anything on it!
