alone in a treehouse on an island

apparently there are islands off the coast of british columbia

i lived in vancouver for six months in 2021.

it was a cute lil chapter of my life: fresh out of college with my nyu tisch degree and no real sense of direction.

i was there from january to march, then again from august to october. during my second stay…i went on a hinge date with this girl and we got dinner at the cactus club in english bay (if you live in vancouver…you already know whats up) (side note…i’m obsessed with cactus club like i went at least once a week and i have no shame about it) and i asked her for recommendations on cool things to do in vancouver that aren’t touristy. she recommended that i should check out some of the islands off the coast of british columbia.

my first thought was…there are islands off the coast of british columbia?

she showed me pictures of these islands that honestly…could be best described as little clusters of trees rising out of the water. i’d never seen anything like it:

this is not my photo but just so you get an idea (photo creds)

and in that moment… i knew i had to visit one of them while i was there.

after the date i went home and immediately did some research because i was determined to find a way to make this shit work. i scrolled through airbnb just to see if i could find anything… and found this treehouse on salt spring island. a literal treehouse. this is the airbnb i stayed in.

i saw that and immeditely was like “that’s it! that’s the one!”

i mean…i was already in vancouver…and seaplane tickets weren’t crazy expensive…and i found a spot for me to stay for the weekend…it felt kinda like the stars were aligning here.

so my impulsive ass self booked the airbnb on a thursday morning…grabbed groceries for the weekend thursday afternoon, packed a backpack full of clothes thursday night, and by friday morning…the next thing i knew…i was on a seaplane…by myself…to salt spring island.

a photo i took from the seaplane

when i got to the treehouse…shit was crazy. the place was nestled between these massive trees on the edge of a mountain, overlooking the pacific ocean. It was on some national geographic type shit! it literally…didn’t feel real. it was so quiet, and all i heard were birds chirping and the sounds of leaves from trees rubbing against each other as the wind blew.

i went on my trip with no agenda, i honestly just pulled up and decided to see where the wind took me and i ended up spending the whole weekend in the treehouse. i’d wake up…made some tea…sit on the balcony…and just take in the view. like…look at this! if this was your view…i’d bet you’d also just wanna sit and chill and do nothing else but admire the scenery:

a picture i took while roaming around salt spring island

here’s a cute video of me in the trees (lol at the people fighting in the background of that video):

before I went to salt spring island, the only other islands i have been to before this were the islands in hawaii…fiji…and the caribbean. to me…islands have been defined as these warm, tropical oasis’s with light crystal clear water under a baby blue, cloudless sky and a sweltering sun with sand so hot and dry it scorches the fuck out of your feet every time you take a step.

but this island was nothing like that at all…like the sand is damp and cold, and instead of palm trees, there are douglas firs and western red cedars clustered together skyrocketing into the clouds. the water is so much tamer… lazy as fuck in comparison to the stereotypical tropical island. eighty percent of the time the skies are dreary and rainy, and wearing wet jackets on the beaches is the norm. it was quiet and sleepy. like…such a different brand of island that was so unfamiliar to me.

and as i sat there…wrapped in a hoodie…drinking tea…listening to mitski…sitting in an old wooden rocking chair and looking out at the view…i was reminded why i love travel so much! because it’s such a great way to step outside of yourself and remember that your version of reality isn’t the only one that exists.

it was a nice reminder that the world is infinitely bigger than my own personal vantage point.

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