Building friendships, organizing events, or putting yourself out there in a new community takes courage. And sometimes—despite the best intentions—it just doesn’t go to plan.

During my maternity leave, a family-tree project led me to an unexpected discovery: some of our ancestors had emigrated to Canada from Britain. Months later, when life felt less overwhelming, I revisited that detail with my sister. Together, we uncovered something extraordinary — a great-great-aunt, Ethel Jane Stanley Pounce, who left London, UK in 1910 for Galiano Island, BC to build a new life. As a British immigrant now raising my own child on Vancouver Island, her courage and isolation resonated deeply. This story became lost in my own family and documenting is my way of honoring her resilience and drawing connections between her journey, my own, and all the women experiencing motherhood in an unfamiliar life.

When I became a mother,  I also became a stranger — a new me in a completely new part of town in an unfamiliar country. Yet somewhere in that disorienting mix of exhaustion and wonder, something shifted. There was a kind of spiritual, miraculous energy that pushed me to rebuild from scratch — to find my people, my rhythm, and a sense of belonging. I had no family nearby, no mom friends to text at 2 a.m., and no established support system. It didn’t take long to realize that, for my own wellbeing and sanity, I needed to build a community — to find my people, my network, and a sense of belonging, one that would support both me and the version of myself I was becoming.

As a young family based in Langford, BC, we’re always on the lookout for easy, fun, and family-friendly escapes that don’t require hours in the car or on planes. Recently, we spent a few nights exploring Cowichan Bay, Ladysmith, and Salt Spring Island — and it turned out to be the perfect little adventure for all of us.