Skookum Tour – Wrap Up

It’s been well over a week since I returned home and I would be remiss if I didn’t write some final words about my adventures on Vancouver Island.

Donna (Retirement Reflections) and Deb (Widow Badass) have both written great summaries of our time together. There have been so many possible stories and giggle-induced moments I could write about here, but the thought that crosses my mind with each memory is how welcomed I felt.

I will always carry that enduring feeling of having been lovingly enveloped into this family of friends. Thank you to each of Donna, Deb, Erica (Behind the Scenery), and Ann (Unretired Life).

“Family of friends” is completely the right term to use here. Welcoming someone who is not family into the safety of one’s bubble during a pandemic is like accepting them as family, and I know that each one of these ladies have taken their social bubbles very seriously.

I feel genuinely honoured by the generosity of this privilege. Only 7 months ago it would have been a simple gesture, but the world has now changed.

Sign on unisex washroom

Just being on Vancouver Island this summer has been an extraordinary event.

Hiking Jack Point

I’ve travelled a lot over the past 20 years, so getting on an airplane for 5 hours is not an event I consider unusual. However getting on an airplane for 5 hours during a pandemic is … especially as numbers are starting to creep upwards again in Canada.

There have been new challenges – from sitting for hours and hours in a mask, to having to convince a reluctant spouse that I hadn’t lost grip on reality. This amazing trip wouldn’t have been possible at all without the kind understanding of my husband. This is a man with strong opinions at the best of times … and we all know this hasn’t been the best of times.

Hike at Jack Point

And lastly, there is my host, Deb.

I’ve stayed at Deb’s place when she lived in Ontario, and she has stayed at mine. We’ve travelled together, and returned home even stronger friends than we were before.

But could even a solid friendship survive me as a houseguest for 10 days?!!

Well, apparently yes ❤️ The Sisterhood is still strong, and we’ve decided that our upbringing by Dutch mothers probably has a lot to do with it.

Only real sisters could be so dissimilar and so alike at the same time.

We share easily with each other, from silliness to rants, but it’s also the still moments in-between where real friends can be comfortable in the silence of their individual thoughts.

And we both need that to recharge.

Paddling with Deb in Nanaimo off Saysutshun (Newcastle) Island

I’ve been asked numerous times about my favourite experience while on the island, but on a trip like this one, it’s impossible to say. From the first giggly day Deb and I spent with Erica in Victoria, to the last margarita-fuelled day we spent with Donna in Nanaimo, it was all wonderful.

If this post reads like a sappy love letter, well it is. The friendships we make in life are precious. However, the ones we make in the virtual world have an even greater sweetness, if for no other reason than their improbability.