Jumping in to Row our Life Away!

by MaryMargaret
(Ontario)

Well, we did it!

We bought a house on the east side of PEI and plan on selling our small-town home in Ontario in the spring to follow our dream and live our one wild and precious life, we are moving to the Island!

We leave behind all of my family, 4 children, 9 grandchildren and friends. :'(
Not sure if I can emotionally deal with that.
HOW did YOU say 'Good-bye, we're moving to P.E.I.???
My husband has 2 sisters living on the island already. (Charlottetown)

I would love to know HOW best to meet friends and/or neighbours.
Although I'm seen as 'outgoing', I do suffer from some social awkwardness and am a true introvert (recharge my battery with alone time). My husband can socialize with anyone!

We are retiring. My husband is a carpenter (among other things) and his passion is rowing his double-ended dorry; something that only happened twice this whole past year. He wants to row almost every day possible. The house we bought is on a beautiful wide river near Georgetown.
I love to go fishing in my kayak!
I also love to sing, jam, play piano, paint, read, garden, explore nature.

Yikes, why does this suddenly sound like a dating site?? LOL.

Hoping to be formally moved by June.
Hit me up with any advice or suggestions; such as returning to Ontario to visit family and all the logistics.

Life is short; eat dessert first. Or in this case, Life is Short, follow your dreams to the red dirt.


Comments for Jumping in to Row our Life Away!

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You inspired us..
by: Raquel

Hi Linda

I am inspired by your story and your courage to follow your dream.

I came across your page as my husband and I are thinking of buying a residential lot around Victoria. Just a land as we plan to build a vacation home for the family someday. Like you we are from Ontario, I wonder if we are making the right decision of buying a land. My view of PEI are all from YouTube videos and my agent showing me around virtually :)

How is it like there?
Congratulations on the purchase of your home in Prince Edward Island
by: Linda

Hi MaryMargaret,

Congratulations on the purchase of your home in Prince Edward Island. How exciting for you!

Spring is a great time to move. That’s when everything comes to life and your dreams will too.

It will give you something to look forward to in order to get through the dreary winter. Winter should fly by for you. :)


Saying goodbye to family and friends is tough. I found it very emotional before, during, and after our move to the island. I still have my sad days but all this Covid stuff doesn’t help either.

We haven’t been able to see each other much with the mandates and lockdowns over the past couple of years.

I must say it wasn’t easy telling our friends and family we were moving. It wasn’t a total shock however as we did let people know that we loved PEI after we had visited a few times and that we had considered retiring there someday (maybe).

We started letting our church family know that we were likely moving away from the area but didn’t exactly know where.

We started by lessening our involvement in church activities… mostly only taking on things that wouldn’t be affected too much by us bowing out at some point.

At first we didn’t know for sure if we were coming to PEI so we weren’t sharing anything with anyone in a definitive way.

My husband was pretty sure he wanted to come but I was on the fence. I wanted the excitement of a new adventure but I was really struggling with leaving loved ones behind especially my sister and our children.

When I finally decided that I wanted to make the move, I still wasn’t sure if it was the right decision.

When we told our friends and family they were pretty sad but also encouraged us to follow our dreams.

We talked about how we could visit each other over the years and that maybe at some point some of them might even want to move here as well.

Our two girls hosted a going away party for us which was absolutely heartwarming but heart wrenching at the same time. Most of our family were there to say goodbye. I cried a lot.

Even after we sold our house and headed down here, I still wondered if we had made the right decision!

I still wonder sometimes but we like it here on the island. It’s just wonderful to be so close to the ocean and there’s so much farmland wherever we go. It’s very peaceful for us. I can honestly say that I do not miss Niagara Falls but I do miss my family.

I’ve been back to visit a few times and we’ve had friends and family come and visit and to our delightful surprise, our youngest daughter moved here a couple of years ago. What a blessing that was/is.

Our oldest daughter said that when she retires she would consider moving to PEI as well. (I hope I'm still alive...lol).

As far as making friends here, we started attending a little church in Milton where we were warmly welcomed and befriended.

Also, several neighbours came by with cookies and gifts and a warm welcome to the neighbourhood which was very much appreciated.

There is also a little old school house up the road that meets every year to welcome newcomers to the area. They serve cookies and coffee/tea. We were invited to that and met many people who lived within a few miles of our home. It was really a surprise to experience the home town feel of a small community.

I don’t think that you will have a problem making friends. Some people say that islanders are snobbish but we haven’t found that to be the case at all.

We have met many people from Ontario and BC who have moved here as well. You’ll be surprised to find how many people from Ontario are living here.

As someone like yourself who has musical talents, you’ll fit right in and have a blast. There’s a lot of talented people on the island who regularly jam.

The opportunities to explore nature in PEI are endless.

There are trails everywhere and you’ll hit the ocean within 10 minutes of being anywhere on the island.


There are also many opportunities to meet with people who enjoy learning new skills: painting, singing, gardening, etc.

There are a lot of little "small hall" community buildings where like minded people meet for such activities.

Like you said, "Life is short" so follow your dreams. The unknown is scary and exciting at the same time. Don’t let your fears control you. If worst comes to worse, you can always go back but odds are that it won't be long and you'll be feeling like Prince Edward Island is "home" to you.

When you move here and get settled, feel free to contact me again. My husband and I can meet up with you two somewhere or you can come over for coffee and pie. Whatever works.

We’d be happy to be your first friends on the island. :)

Linda

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