In 2020, life changed for all of us. For me, it was particularly life-altering. On December 25, 2020, I welcomed my second baby girl, Lilyanna. My eldest daughter and I were living in Calgary at the time, but the pandemic took us on an unexpected detour.
When COVID hit in April 2020, we found ourselves on Pender Island, where my family has lived since 1881. What started as a short trip turned into months of lockdown on the island. My daughter, then 8, and I spent the entire summer there, enjoying the solace and support of family. Eventually, we returned to Calgary for the winter, where I gave birth to Lilyanna. Her arrival came with complications, and she spent weeks in the hospital. By the end of January 2021, we finally brought her home.
After that whirlwind of a year, we moved to Pender Island full-time, staying six months of the year. However, with my eldest daughter attending school in Calgary, I found a solution by purchasing a condo there. This allowed us to travel back and forth between Pender Island and Calgary easily. My ex-husband wanted her to miss as little school as possible, and the condo made it seamless. I had two more children during this time—Alexander in March 2022 and Nathaniel in December 2023. Between raising my kids and traveling, I found myself juggling life across two provinces.
By March 2023, with three kids under the age of three, the Calgary condo started to feel impossibly small. So, I sold it. Traveling with three little ones in tow became too overwhelming. Now, with my youngest at 10 months old, I’m feeling ready to get back to a more mobile lifestyle. However, space remains a challenge for my growing family.
I still own a stunning lakefront cabin on Pender Island, but as beautiful as it is, it’s just too small for all of us. We found a larger rental home on the island and turned the cabin into an Airbnb so we could continue to enjoy it when needed. The new place we’re renting was also an Airbnb, and the owner allows us to stay there year-round, except for the few weeks they come back in the summer. It’s a pattern I’ve noticed across the Gulf Islands—homes that sit empty for most of the year, only briefly occupied in the summer months when people come to enjoy the natural beauty.
Living the Airbnb lifestyle has opened up opportunities for us to explore different places, and I’m hoping to create more consistency for my children in the spaces we call home. My goal is to establish homes in Calgary, Alaska, Mexico, and even Belize, all designed to feel similar, so my kids have that sense of familiarity and comfort no matter where we are. The winters on Pender Island can be harsh—dark, cold, and quiet, with very little open after 6 p.m. It’s a tough place to raise kids in the off-season, and I want them to experience more vibrant winter settings like Calgary, with its malls, movies, snowboarding, and indoor playgrounds.
I’m especially excited about a future space in Alaska, accessible only by float plane, where we’ll have no Wi-Fi or cell service, just books and games. I want to make it a tradition to take my kids there for two weeks every summer, a reset before school starts again. Each of these places, with their own unique charm, will offer my family a sense of consistency through thoughtful design and careful planning.
As an Airbnb mom, I’ve learned to adapt, pivot, and make the most of our changing circumstances. The journey is far from over, but I’m excited to continue building a life that feels both adventurous and grounded for my children. One space at a time.
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