Bowen Island is a sweet little escape from the busy mainland. A hop, skip, and a 20-minute ferry ride away and suddenly, you’re on a little island oasis where time slows down and the ocean views are endless. Prepping for a trip can get pretty stressful for us, so sometimes we crave something easy when it comes to getaways. Between packing up our travel gear, Ollie’s gear, (the kid does not travel light!), and all of our camera essentials – our trips can be accompanied by hours (and sometimes days) of planning time. So what if we could leave for a getaway to a local island with a backpack instead of a suitcase, and a mobile phone instead of a camera? Ok…you have our attention!

Enter the Google Pixel 4 XL from Best Buy. Imagine a phone that can do it all: the perfect travel companion. A Google Maps navigator, Quick Gestures and Google Assistant to help you interact with your phone quickly and easily, a big, bright and crisp OLED screen to make it easy to read every word and see every detail. Dual rear cameras to offer a stunning photographic experience to capture every moment of your journey. The more we travel with a toddler, the more we’ve come to appreciate having a quality camera in a small package, but never before have we considered leaving for a trip with nothing but a phone! The idea of making our lives a little less complicated is oh so desirable. We picked up our brand new Pixel at Best Buy. If you’re looking for a new phone that can do it all, now is the time!

We decided to spend a sunny day testing our idea of an” easy getaway” on beautiful Bowen Island, so we packed our backpacks with a few essentials, grabbed our new Google Pixel 4 XL and hit the road. The ferry ride over is a quick 20-minute ride from Horseshoe Bay to Snug Cove, and you can either walk on or take your car. The ferry ride itself is beautiful so if you make the trip yourself, be sure to take the time to get outside and take in the views! 

The first thing we noticed about the Google Pixel 4 XL camera is that the auto-focus with phase detection makes it extremely easy to point and shoot, especially when taking photos of a toddler who is ALWAYS moving. Having never used the camera before, it required very little learning time, and we quickly began playing with the portrait mode. We LOVE how you can easily adjust the point of focus and the level of background blur. 

There are countless things to do and see on Bowen. We cruised around the island, searched for hidden neighbourhood beach accesses, grabbed coffees and ate delicious baked goods at local cafes, and took a hike through a beautiful forest, all while creating lasting memories with the Google Pixel 4 XL.